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We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet. Help Us Build It.

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Re: We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet. Help Us Build It.

#61

Post by mattmaroon »

gm wrote: post #30
webwright wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Watching things happen and writing about it IS important. There's no shame in admiring startups but not spinning one up. Of course, he HAS spun one up. He's got a big blog network in lots of countries, built up Crunchbase with a team of great devs and a reportedly cool API, etc. TechCrunch has tons of custom software. And it's profitable.

Admiring's fine, it's criticizing that I have a problem with. It takes all of half a second to say "Twitter stability sucks," but it takes a LOT more work to actually make a Twitter that is stable. Anyone can say what's wrong with the world.

Criticizing, too, is important. Without it, Twitter's stability would never improve. Hell, even with it, it seems unlikely to happen.

Re: We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet. Help Us Build It.

#62

Post by cubrilovic »

noonespecial wrote: post #56
cubrilovic wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

our supply chain guys sourced it - we haven't set yet if we are going LCD or exact specific specs (we need to run power tests). the dual touch pad sitting behind it is coming out of a company that hasn't seen their tech integrated into a major product yet. im sorry we cant mention company names just yet - we are doing this through proxy (ie. using a supply chain company, design firm and manufacturer). I am hoping I c…

It always seems like it works out this way. Secret sources to be named "soon". Untested near-products that aren't quite ready for release... Lets do it with stuff we can get and see what happens: Main Board: (truly open, schematics and all) : http://beagleboard.org/ ($149) Screen : Lilliput 8" 1024x768 touch screen ( http://www.case-mod.com/lilliput-809gl80npct-lcd-touch-scree... ) ($259) Network : 802.11g wifi ( htt…

wow you are way off

Re: We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet. Help Us Build It.

#64

Post by greyman »

gm wrote: post #30
webwright wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Watching things happen and writing about it IS important. There's no shame in admiring startups but not spinning one up. Of course, he HAS spun one up. He's got a big blog network in lots of countries, built up Crunchbase with a team of great devs and a reportedly cool API, etc. TechCrunch has tons of custom software. And it's profitable.

Admiring's fine, it's criticizing that I have a problem with. It takes all of half a second to say "Twitter stability sucks," but it takes a LOT more work to actually make a Twitter that is stable. Anyone can say what's wrong with the world.

This sounds to me like you are implying that journalism is a less important profession, since they are only criticizing things and writing about them, and not actually change them directly? Or, I don't get your point... (ok, Arrington is something between journalist and a blogger, but my objection still applies).

Re: We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet. Help Us Build It.

#65

Post by greyman »

wmf wrote: post #19
imp wrote: post #10

He really is just describing a Nokia N810 tablet. When a reader suggested that, Arrington replied: "yes, although we want to build it a lot cheaper and have a much bigger screen." So, he expects to replicate the N810, but with a bigger screen and better price? How is he going to beat Nokia and still make a profit?

What does TechCrunch have to do with profit? If bubble companies can build software, why not hardware?

They are profitable, AFAIK, so that's what TC have to do with profit.

Re: We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet. Help Us Build It.

#66

Post by gamerates »

I do a lot of reading online (one of my fav. sites being: http://www.aldaily.com/). I've been searching around for something like this for a while. Something that is easy to read on like the kindle, but can surf the web. Basically what I've been looking for is a sort of digital reader. I still print out a number of longer articles just because I find them easier to read on paper (and much more portable).

This seems like a possible solution to that problem and could be the future of the news industry.

Re: We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet. Help Us Build It.

#67

Post by Tichy »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #25
brm wrote: post #7

Dead simple is near impossible to create with this many chef's stirring the pot already

Yep. Three words: "Openmoko Train Wreck": http://www.vimeo.com/1366042?pg=embed&sec=1366042 After I saw this video, I really appreciated the time and money the Apple engineers must have spent in designing the iPhone keyboard. I've got a new policy: I refuse to get excited about open-source vaporware. Talk is cheap. Design is expensive, and having one thousand people work for one hour each is no substitute for having…

Any information on who actually worked on OpenMoko? Just because it is OpenSource doesn't mean that there are zillions of volunteers working on it. It might still just have been one company that screwed up it's product.

Re: We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet. Help Us Build It.

#68

Post by Tichy »

ivankirigin wrote: post #27

Can someone point out a successful open source hardware effort? I'm tracking bug labs, open moko, and some router efforts. None are mainstream. None come close to the appeal of Apple products. Hardware is really hard. Most people reading TechCrunch probably don't understand this.

Doesn't mean that hardware has to remain hard forever. Maybe something could be done to make it simpler. Some things already have been done. For example, it is very simple to build your own PC out of readymade components.

Re: We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet. Help Us Build It.

#69

Post by menloparkbum »

rms wrote: post #49
cubrilovic wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the price point we are at in our spec already is at $150 so we have left $50 or more to add cooler shit

Where are you getting the screen?

+1 to where are you getting the screen. I recently (4 months ago) was involved with a touch screen project and the available screens were garbage compared to the iphone. if techcrunch has a source for awesome touch panels that is amazing but I'm skeptical. the rest of the hardware is tricky but at least doable. the software stack will take at least four times longer than estimated, perhaps moreso now that every armchair programmer on the internet has been invited to participate.

Re: We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet. Help Us Build It.

#70

Post by corentin »

Tichy wrote: post #68
ivankirigin wrote: post #27

Can someone point out a successful open source hardware effort? I'm tracking bug labs, open moko, and some router efforts. None are mainstream. None come close to the appeal of Apple products. Hardware is really hard. Most people reading TechCrunch probably don't understand this.

Doesn't mean that hardware has to remain hard forever. Maybe something could be done to make it simpler. Some things already have been done. For example, it is very simple to build your own PC out of readymade components.

By hard, we don't mean "difficult to understand and master"; one can learn electronics on his own in the same way he can learn programming. The tools and skills required are on par with software (well, the tools are usually better); it's just that hardware requires much more capital and time to build, and you have to deal with a lot of logistics and business issues.

A small team with no capital can build a ready-to-ship software product. A small team with no capital can build a working hardware prototype, but the step from prototype to actual, ready-to-sell product requires lots of resources.

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