I should have been in bed but I got hooked into an excellent Gillmor Gang videocast (below) this evening. Robert Scoble, Mike Arrington, P Rangaswami, Kevin Marks, and Saul Hansell talk a lot about the iPhone and Driod war, discuss the differences and then, all of a sudden, at about 39 minutes in, the conversation switches to the Crunchpad.
As I watched, I sent three important tweets out:
- “crunchpad is steamrolling” , “costs keep coming down”. “big news on that shortly” says @arrington
- Crunchpad is going to sell “for something between three and four hundred dollars” , web-only says @arrington
- “soft revenue”, “sponsorships” on Crunchpad. Sounds like ad-supported “without impacting the user experience”
There’s more in the video below.
$300-$400 dollars PLUS advertising (sponsorship) is what everyone will be talking about. For mass-market couch-surfing, that’s too expensive. The Archos Android tablet and iPod Touch have already set the pricing bar (and possibly the sizing) for home-based sofa-surfing devices.
To be fair, I don’t think Mike Arrington expects the Crunchpad to be selling millions and he understands that the home ‘pad’ market is just taking off so this, like many other 1st attempt projects, could be more of a learning and branding exercise than anything else. If you think about how Nokia are playing with their Maemo devices it’s much the same. They are nurturing awareness and developer support for a time when the market is ripe. That could be 2010, 2011 or beyond but you have to be ready to strike when the conditions are ready.
Clearly the Crunchpad is alive, it’s going to cost between 300 and 400 dollars, it’s Atom-based, it’s going to be sponsorship-supported, web-only and we should expect ‘big news’ shortly.
Related recent article from Ben: Slates, slates, they’re everywhere, they’re in the water, they’re in the air
Via: Techcrunch
November 15th, 2009 at 12:56 am
RT @chippy Sponsorship-supported Crunchpad is alive. ‘Steamrolling’ says Arrington. http://bit.ly/6RLu7
November 15th, 2009 at 12:59 am
I'm off to bed. Will have dreams / nightmares about Crunchpad i'm sure. http://bit.ly/zr1W7
November 15th, 2009 at 3:30 am
Is it heavy for coach surfung? If not, then it can be a deal inspite of $400
November 15th, 2009 at 2:36 am
Sponsorship-supported Crunchpad is alive. ‘Steamrolling’ says Arrington. http://bit.ly/28Pdpk
November 15th, 2009 at 3:47 am
I don’t understand how that man can get so much coverage for such a vaporware AND lacklustre product.
There are a bunch of tablets that are 1- already available 2- equally or less expensive 3- a lot more flexible.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:18 am
for example?
November 15th, 2009 at 4:30 am
I’m a bit leery of this device being web only. Chances are if anything that’ll be the only reason I wont buy the crunchpad. That is of course only if one can’t hack on a different OS in place of its stock one. Though I wont get ahead of myself, too many tablets/umpc’s are announced and never released. Wouldn’t surprise me if this were one of them in the end.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:40 am
It’s a Dullmor Gang.. doh they’r boring as hell.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Uh, well… With that news (spondership based, web only) the device is as good as dead for me. Say what you want about “without impacting the user experience”, to me it sounds like preinstalled adware.
Though my main point about not buying the device probably is that it has too much of an delay to the announced (rumored?) release date with too many better options in sight or on the market.
November 15th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Crunchpad is alive says Arlington. Nice but when is it going to be on the market? http://j.mp/3I1qNK
November 15th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Thinking about the Crunchpad [Update: http://bit.ly/zr1W7 and wondering if it will be the first Google Chrome device?
November 15th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Crunchpad coming soon from @Arrington and company? http://bit.ly/qsLle
November 15th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Crunchpad is alive, it’s going to cost between 300 and 400 dollars, it’s Atom-based http://bit.ly/13WK3U
November 15th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Yeah web only device would be a shame, I’d at least want to be able to access my media on the home server.
I’ve always thought this but why can’t someone just release a tablet version of say a netbook like Samsung NC10? Keep the internal and just produce a new chassis and add a touch screen. Yell if the modding community can do it for pennies.
http://www.netbookchoice.com/2009/11/09/dell-mini-9-slate-tablet-mod-now-gets-accelerometer/
November 15th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I’m not that happy about a browser based OS I don’t like the idea but I’m sure ubuntu and other OS’s will be ported to it
also I don’t know any tablet device (that’s not a arm processor) for that price
November 15th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Glad you did this post so I don’t have to suffer through the video.
Maybe this is the Murdoch tablet that will cause pennies to flow into his malignant pockets to save his newspapers.
As it is, when Apple finally announces the iTablet in January, this is dead. And the clone makers in China rev up their engines. Note to China: I don’t think anyone would want to buy an iTub. You might to consult an English speaker about naming. Just sayin’.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
the BIGGEST thing this device has going against it is having Mike Arringtons “name” attached to it. he is 1 of the most disliked people in the tech industry, & not just by the general public but also by other tech bloggers. Mike Arrington is constantly made fun of & insulted by others in their own podcasts.
normally i dont condone that type of behaviour but in this case he actually deserves it. i’m actually kind of glad too see how bad his device is failing, poor design, poor capabilities, price keeps increasing, ad supported. he has proven he cant do any better than any of the manufactures hes been insulting for years. hopefully now he appreciates the hard work that manufactures go through & this latest embarrasment of his will help humble him.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Thanks, by the way, Gillmor is spelled Gillmor. His Twitter account is http://www.twitter.com/stevegillmor Thanks.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
finally, news on the crunchpad. sounds like it's actually going to be released. $300-400 price target now http://bit.ly/2k0KZq
November 15th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
A video discussion about smartphones–Droid vs. iPhone– and whether the Crunchpad is really coming. http://bit.ly/3cqIGc ^DD
November 15th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
RT @nytimesbits: A video discussion about smartphones–Droid vs. iPhone– and whether the Crunchpad is really coming. http://bit.ly/3cqIGc
November 15th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
RT @nytimesbits: A video discussion about smartphones–Droid vs. iPhone– and whether the Crunchpad is really comin http://bit.ly/3cqIGc ^DD
November 15th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Sponsorship-supported Crunchpad is alive. ‘Steamrolling’ says Arrington http://bit.ly/43SsvL
November 15th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
A video on Droid vs. iPhone– and whether the Crunchpad is really coming. http://bit.ly/3cqIGc ^DD (via @nytimesbits
November 16th, 2009 at 1:00 am
Correcfed. Apologies to Mr Gillmor.
Thx.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:52 am
People have been couch surfing for a long time using regular notebooks. I know it doesn’t sound as exotic and as exiting as a thin slate, but no one has figured out how to make a slate useful. One fundamental problem with the slate is that you have to hold it with at least one hand to angle the display properly at your eyes. The laptop has a hinge that can prop up the display at the desired angle and it stays there by itself. That doesn’t sound particularly cool because we take it for granted, but take that capability away and it will immediately be felt.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:23 am
"“crunchpad is steamrolling” , “costs keep coming down”. “big news on that shortly” says @arrington.. http://bit.ly/43SsvL
#News #Tech
November 16th, 2009 at 4:19 am
If it’sfor couch surfing, why would you want to access your media on it? Presumably you’ll have access to your home media via your AV equipment (and a much better experience).
November 16th, 2009 at 7:45 am
For couch surfing, I think we need a universal remote with a browser. I won’t mind paying couple of hundred dollars to upgrade my Logitech universal remotes if they can provide browsing experience at least similar to iTouch.
November 16th, 2009 at 8:34 am
A video discussion about smartphones–Droid vs. iPhone– and whether the Crunchpad is really coming. http://bit.ly/3cqIGc ^DD (via @nytimes
November 16th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Its a fair point. I have a similar view that this product is too big for couch-surfing. The ideal (that i’ve found so far) is a 5″ tablet at under 300gm. It can be held in one hand which also feels extremely natural.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
reading that a "sponsorship-supported crunchpad is alive. ‘steamrolling’ says arrington" http://j.mp/3KVHeQ
November 30th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
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