Back in October of last year there was some interesting news about a site (WePC.com), made in conjunction with Intel and Asus, that would allow users to submit concepts of their ‘dream computer’ and have it voted on by a large community. The idea was that the best concepts would float to the top and Asus would take these and build a community designed netbook, while Intel would power it.
I took another look at the site today to see if we had made any progress, but from what I’ve found, it seems like we won’t actually see a community designed computer in its own right. I can’t say if this has changed since the initial launch of the website, but the About page seems to set a slightly different tone than the rest of the site.
Imagine your perfect PC. Now imagine top engineers and innovators working around the clock to make that Dream PC a reality. That’s the dream WePC.com is all about.
ASUS and Intel have created WePC.com, a place where users like you come together to share ideas, images and inspiration about your ideal PC. But what if it’s not just talk. Your designs, feature ideas and community feedback will be evaluated by ASUS and could influence the blueprint for an actual notebook PC built by ASUS with Intel inside.
If the words ‘could influence’ weren’t already unlikely sounding enough, you have to consider that they are only talking about a ‘blueprint’ here. While it definitely sounded like WePC was actually going to produce a community designed netbook based on the best ideas, it seems now like the site is just a glorified feedback center for Asus, and a free source of concepts for them as well. There isn’t a lack of advertising either, with one part of the site saying “Buy a dream PC now!” that links to an already existing Eee PC. Wasn’t the point of the site to design our own dream PC? Is it crazy of me to still wish we would actually see a community designed computer that one could purchase come from this project?
February 25th, 2009 at 3:37 am
Leave it to Intel to waste a good idea.
This PC already exists, it’s called the Pandora.
http://openpandora.org/
lets just hope we can see something from them by April.
To follow the progress of the team, a cool site is
http://openpandora.wordpress.com/
Pandora:
* ARM® Cortex™-A8 600Mhz+ CPU running Linux
* 430-MHz TMS320C64x+™ DSP Core
* PowerVR SGX OpenGL 2.0 ES compliant 3D hardware
* 800×480 4.3″ 16.7 million colours touchscreen LCD
* Wifi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth & High Speed USB 2.0 Host
* Dual SDHC card slots & SVideo TV output
* Dual Analogue and Digital gaming controls
* 43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
* Around 10+ Hours battery life
Reply (threaded)
February 26th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
While Pandora is cool (In so many ways)… …Its not quite my dream PC. Interestingly enough, the upcoming Asus EeePC T91 is actually the closest thing I’ve seen thus far on the market that could even come close to my dream PC.
Reply (threaded)
February 25th, 2009 at 9:28 am
I think if UMPC manufacturers want an idea, there already is a wealth of ideas in the forum on this site. I know my design is best, but there are some good alternatives which others like as well.
Reply (threaded)
February 25th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Hi Ben, thanks for the post and giving a shoutout to WePC. We will be making a big announcement on the site in the coming weeks to your very point. ASUS and Intel have been discussing the communities ideas, listening to conversations, talking with engineers, and are just about ready to kickoff the next phase of this project. Thanks for your patience and please stay tuned!!
-Matt
Reply (threaded)
February 25th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Thanks for following up with us Matt, I’ll add your update to the post and keep an eye on WePC. Looking forward to this interesting announcement!
Reply (threaded)
March 2nd, 2009 at 2:43 am
Hi Ben, FYI on WEPC.com announcement of PhaseII. Check it out: http://twurl.nl/1hr6if
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March 10th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Hello webmaster I like your post…
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