So what happened to the Techcrunch Web Tablet?
Michael Arrington of Techcrunch started a big buzz recently with his idea of a Net Tablet. The blogosphere and techscape jumped on the idea of a cheap (sub $200) touch-screen slate that would be used just for working on the web. His Net Tablet would no doubt run a form of Linux for cost purposes and provide a handheld platform for surfing the web, doing email and other online work that we geeks do so much of. The idea was well received, the original Techcrunch article had over 800 comments in a very short time. We even covered it here. Arrington moved the Net Tablet conversation over to TechcrunchIT where it shortly had over 1100 additional comments. The level of commentary alone demonstrated how appealing a low cost net tablet is to a lot of folks. Techcrunch promised this would become a real project with the creation of a developers web site coming in "just a few hours". That was over a week ago and I haven’t heard anything else about the net tablet. The dev site is nowhere to be found, at least it’s not been publicized if it exists. So what’s up with the Net Tablet? Just another pipe dream?
Mike Arrington had a wish and posted about it. That was all, nothing really serious. TechCrunch is a rumor blog, this is expectable from them.
I have to admit I’m totally perplexed by this. This story came and went in under 48 hours. Techcrunch is not a fly-by-night websight. It seems so odd. I would love to know what happened to this…
How about “just another silly idea/article on TechCrunch”
All it took for it to enter FAILsville was the proper perspective:
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/techcrunch-wants-your-slave-labor/
:O A hater’s rant! Well thank you for putting that project in proper perspective for me Mike!
Yeah…what happened? I started designing the thing, thinking that there was a going project. But it seems it was a vaporware idea. Well, I am going to just give up and do it myself, anyone who wants to join me should email me…it’s a pretty short email address at xa dot net.
Is it just me or is http://www.techcruchit.com gone and redirects to http://www.techcrunch.com now? The link in the story above pointed to the thread on techcrunchit this morning, and now it just bumps me to the techcrunch homepage.
A web only tablet has to be ultra cheap because it would be a toy as it can not be a persons main computer. Even the UMPC’s that are slates do not have much popularity becuase for full windows people just want a touch type keyboard and the UMPC slates are too big to carry without a bag. Its a catch 22, nobody is going to make much money for a tablet cheap enough for toy freaks and UMPC’s already proved that even for a reasonable price people consider a full pc computer without a touch type keyboard a secondary toy and do not buy them.
Oliver, people would spend the money on such a ‘toy’. Look at the premium that people pay for such things as an iPhone. I wouldn’t spend the money on a iPhone but I would on such a tablet.
Without any more from TechCrunch, I am just going to move towards making this unit myself, in my spare time.
I think all people need a phone and they need a mobile computer but they do not want to have in most cases multiple versions of each.
That is why for many whom have extra money they will buy the best phone (iphone or windows mobile phone, etc.). The same goes for computers people in general do not want a laptop plus a tablet plus a UMPC, etc. People just want one computer to that is ideally small enough to carry in a large jacket pocket yet has the largest touch type keyboard and running full windows. That way the computer would be their only computer.
To me a tablet just for web falls into a pure toy as Iphones can do web if you are ok with the very small screen and just want to view things. Laptops, etc. can do web and be a full computer so most would not want multiple devices.
People whom see a computer as their hobby are the only ones wanting mulitple computers, etc.
Well, it could be much simpler: I think they got some “secret investors” on board, signed a NDA, created a bus plan and now work “closed-source”…