The rumours around an Apple tablet device, and with tablet device I mean an iPod Touch but larger, have been circling around the internet for a long time now. As usual, Apple's secretive nature means we know absolutely nothing for sure. In the meantime, Micheal Arrington, who quit his iPhone in favour of an Android headset out of frustration with Apple, and Fusion Garage have been working on their own tablet device. The release date is getting closer, and the specifications are - allegedly - actually here.
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2008-04-10
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2006-03-27
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2006-01-26
While I understand the desire to keep the CrunchPad simple and focused on a certain type of usage...the choice to only include a single USB port is somewhat disappointing...
This means if I want to use a USB stick, a keyboard, a mouse, and possibly a wired ethernet device (yes, I would definitely want that, even if the primary use was wireless) - I gotta use a hub... what if I also wanna hook up an external DVD drive.
A minimum of two ports would have been nice at least - but the lack of integrated keyboard, mouse, and wired ethernet sort of suggest more would be necessary (I'm imagining a situation where I want to reinstall the machine from scratch and need the keyboard, ethernet, and external DVD drive combination to do so).
Edited 2009-08-01 00:17 UTC
Member since:2008-07-15
Member since:2006-01-26
It would have to be an intentionally crippled version of linux
In any case, if I can't plugin a USB stick or some other mass storage device to look at photos, play MP3s, or watch video...this thing is gonna be a dud out the door.
Member since:
2006-11-12
First line from the article:
Does this "journalist" really believe that no one has yet released a touchscreen tablet computer?
It often seems like these starry-eyed, Apple-centric writers were born just this morning.
Member since:2005-12-21
Member since:2006-11-12
Okay. Let's see...
From the article:
Rumours of a 10-inch Apple tablet device in the vein of the iPhone and iPod Touch have abounded over the last few months. Early this week, the Financial Times reported that Apple's device will be available by the end of the year.
Fusion Garage's Singaporean founder, Mr Chandrasekar Rathakrishnan, 29, said he is not worried about the possibility of going up against Apple. 'It's two different market segments. The Apple tablet will likely be applications-driven. Ours will be Web-driven.'
If anything, he said, the American technology giant will help the Crunchpad by raising awareness of such products. Analysts see a touchscreen tablet as a forerunner of the Next Big Thing in computing - touchscreen PCs and laptops.
Yes. I guess that "the article was about another company entirely" -- if one is reading it from within a reality-distortion field!
I count ten paragraphs in the article, and four of those paragraphs concern Apple! The article makes eight direct references to Apple and Apple products (which I emphasized in bold).
Actually, you're sort of right -- the article should be only about the Crunchpad. But, no... another Mac-worshipping "journalist" had to somehow involve Apple.
Member since:
2008-07-15
Am I the only one that isn't buying into this Cloud thing so heavily? Having no local storage seems quite the stretch, especially seeing as how we don't exactly have ubiquitous wifi in most areas of the world as of yet. I guess that's marketing for you though, take an old concept (thin client computing) and slap a buzz word on it (cloud) and suddenly everyone thinks its this great new concept that will change the way we do computing. Perhaps in the future it will, but somehow I don't see it happening until most of the world is covered by Wifi in some fashion. Until then, some amount of local storage is a must have at least.
Member since:2005-08-28
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True, but that one's been done to death... and the respective answers are, naturally: on one of several possible servers hosted by whichever company has your data, and only as long as they want you to be able to control it.
Member since:2005-07-24
And as the recent Kindle atrocity clearly illustrates, "they" have no compunction against deleting your data (including your own notes) literally right out of your hands, off a device that you own, if you leave them the physical means to do it. Which just goes to show that that the average black hat cracker has more ethical fiber than these companies that we're supposed to trust.
"Don't be evil", my ass.
Member since:2005-04-01
Member since:2005-07-24
There is nothing intrinsically bad about "The Cloud". In fact, I really like the concept from a technical standpoint. The problem is the lack of a proper legal and/or technical framework to protect the consumer's rights and privacy. And considering the lobbying clout of the entities who want us in their cloud, I doubt we'll ever see the legal framework.
And as with so many things, Star Trek predicted this possibility way back in 1967, as the scene which begins at 2:30 of this video clip clearly illustrates:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8Oj52UFYmY
Member since:2005-07-06
yeah, it is one of those "great in theory" ideas but...
Besides the reasons sbergman mentioned, there is also the issue of network reliability which is no where NEAR what is needed for "Cloud Computing".
There's also issues with speeds, network transmission delay times.. ugh. Nothing will ever beat local storage and processing. It is just impossible for remote processing/data storage to be as fast.
For most users, it'll probably be "good enough". But I can imagine myself trying to use it and going insane.
Member since:2008-07-15
Maybe, but I doubt it will happen soon. Network rliability and availability is not nearly good enough for it to happen yet. And even when it does, speaking for myself anyway, you can pry my traditional (non-cloud) based computers from my cold dead hands before I'll trust all my data exclusively to some external server over which I have no control.
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2006-01-18
Member since:2008-03-27
And cheaper! I was excited about the Crunchpad last year when the concept was announced. But now that the price and the final product has been leaked, I am bit disappointed. I go and get a 15" notebook for around $400 that is very good specs. Too bad this could have been something very good product if the price point was around $200.
Member since:
2005-08-28
World's first tablet PC? Sign me up! I mean, I've always... wait, what? That's not even the world's first tablet PC with a touchscreen, as the article author seems to single out... touch-based input is the POINT of a tablet. My friend just had his 12" HP tablet PC die after four years, so this isn't even recent. Perhaps the solely touchscreen-based approach comes closest to the status of 'first', but I doubt that's true either.
So, ignoring the sensationalist reporter, what do we have?
An entirely new OS, entirely cloud-based computing, 12" and 1.2 kg? That somehow already has Flash to view Youtube videos? Somehow I think the article's author has never heard of Linux, or has a different understanding of the phrase 'developed in-house'. It doesn't sound terribly promising, especially if you can't store anything (or update, probably) and have to be near wifi to do anything with it.
Edited 2009-08-01 02:10 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
that part isn't true either. my dad used to own one of these but ended up returning because it sucked.
http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-Tablet-PC-V1100-Graphics/dp/B000078...
http://hk.viewsonic.com/en/products/tabletpc/
Member since:
2005-07-06
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2006-01-04
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I rather think it has, and a regular LCD screen does not change it, rather the opposite as it keeps the cost down.
With it's indented usage target it's biggest selling point is the form factor, combined with a color display. It's not supposed to be a dedicated e-book reader geared for hours of heavy reading. Besides for that use dead tree books still has an upper hand in usability, quality and cost compared to e-books.
A device like this intended user are the more the casual reader with a more varied usage pattern, like web surfing, light e-mailing, use of social sites, chatting and some limited reading. And you often would prefer to do this without the need of a decent work space, like a table and a good chair. Anyone that have used a laptop in a couch will understand. The form factor makes it ideal for things like check your favorite news site during a commercial break when watching TV. And the number of people having a usage pattern utilizing such a device are far greater then the heavy readers requiring a dedicated e-book.
Edited 2009-08-01 10:19 UTC
Member since:2006-01-04
Member since:
2005-07-12
The title of the article over there at "Straits Times" (oh yeah, that looks like a reputable news source) ALONE is making my bullshit alarm go off like no tomorrow.
"The worlds first tablet PC" - on what **** world?!? Tablet PC's have been around since the **** 486 days that I can remember, this is nothing NEW it's just the technology is getting the weight and form factor under control.
"Racing to be the first" - well, then they lost that race by 17 YEARS... Christ how many tablet models did IBM make BEFORE they became lenovo's? Hell, I think the first was the Thinkpad 2521 back around 1992, 10" monochrome screen, 20mhz 386SX... anyone remember Go's "Penpoint" OS it shipped with?
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:700T
Hah, look, it even used SSD's.
I used to own an IBM 730T - 486/33 with 8 megs ram - Anyone else remember that bastard child of Win 3.1 known as Windows for Pen? I still remember a co-worker bragging about his Newton, so I opened up my bag and pulled out the 730 dropping his jaw through the floor.
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:730T
So... What the bloody blue hell are they on about? Been hitting the opiates a wee bit too hard or something?
Reminds me of one of my grandfathers sayings about the media: "Whenever they cover something you know about reporters get every detail wrong. If you cannot trust them for things you know about, how can you possibly trust them for things of which you know nothing?"
Edited 2009-08-01 14:20 UTC
Member since:
2005-07-06
The good part is that its a tablet and it seems small enough for it to be carried around easily. But having no storage would be a huge deal breaker for me. Although it is a strict internet device, its virtually useless if you don't have an internet connection. If I'm traveling I will not pay $10 for internet access at some airports. That is why I need local storage, so I can load up some small time-killing games locally and play them instead of being on the internet. And the price is a little more than what I'd want to pay. I agree with someone above, I'd rather have a netbook over this.
