In a turn of events that has sent the blog world into a frenzy, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington said on Monday that the CrunchPad tablet computer that he announced more than a year ago is officially dead.
According to Arrington, Fusion Garage, his company's manufacturing partner, said that it would take over full control of the CrunchPad project and cut TechCrunch out just days before its debut.
"Bizarrely, we were being notified that we were no longer involved with the project. Our project," Arrington wrote on TechCrunch. "[Fusion Garage CEO] Chandra [Rathakrishnan] said that based on pressure from his shareholders he had decided to move forward and sell the device directly through Fusion Garage, without our involvement."
Fusion Garage, according to Arrington, wanted to offer him the opportunity to "assume the role of visionary/evangelist/marketing head." The company would also acquire Arrington's rights to the CrunchPad name and brand. Arrington said that Fusion Garage and his company "jointly own the CrunchPad product intellectual property," but Arrington's firm solely owns the CrunchPad trademark.
For now, we only know Arrington's side of the story. (Disclosure: I wrote for TechCrunch in 2008.) He claims that he was ready and willing to launch CrunchPad with Fusion Garage. He said that he is "enraged, embarrassed, and just...sad." He plans to unleash a flurry of lawsuits on Fusion Garage.
But as you might expect, TechCrunch isn't providing the only word on the matter. Blogs across the Web are giving their two cents on where they stand on Arrington's announcement and the CrunchPad itself. Some support Arrington and still hope the CrunchPad will hit store shelves. Others aren't so sure.
Let's take a quick look around the Web to find out what others are saying.
Supporters
Gizmodo: "The whole situation is lousy, and FusionGarage certainly doesn't come out looking all that smart in it. I can't imagine anyone wanting to work with them again after this, but I guess we'll have to wait and hear what their side of the story is."
OSNews: "This is all very sad. The CrunchPad had a lot of promise, because it was driven by the very best incarnation of the Hacker Ethos. Talented and driven people, who surveyed the marketplace and failed to find a device that met their wants and needs, pulled together hardware and software talent to bring their dreams to reality, and designed a very appealing-looking device. It's a thin, light, open, relatively inexpensive device for "couch computing," and because the designers were motivated by a desire to have the device for themselves and make it available to as many others as possible, there were no hidden agendas or app stores or value-added nonsense or artificial limits on use, such as exist in the iPhone or Kindle or Sony eBook ecosystems."
Slashgear: "Away from the production wrangles, it's disappointing news both for anybody interested in portable electronics and for those to whom the CrunchPad project represented the potential for individuals and small companies to come up with an idea and make it reality."
Techland: "It seems as though Fusion Garage was being pressured by shareholders to ditch Arrington and co. They seem to forget that Arrington is a former lawyer and a pitbull at that."
Ubergizmo: "Of course, we haven't heard both sides of the story yet, but based on what we've heard (from TC), it all does seem a little sad. At least it has generated its fair share of marketing and publicity for TC, and that's worth something."
Detractors
JKOntheRun: "A basic on-screen keyboard for a 12-inch slate simply won't cut it for most people. It's too large to thumb-type on, which means you'll be holding the device in one hand while pecking with another. And the price is another issue. $300 buys you what I'd consider an equally portable, yet far more function device in either a Netbook or a smartphone. Unless there was a subsidy model in play, a web-only tablet isn't what folks expect for $300 or more."
Technologizer: "Arrington has always said that the CrunchPad sprung from his own desire to have a "dead simple" tablet he could use to get online from his couch. I get his desire. Well, mostly: I've never been entirely clear why the CrunchPad would be a better couch computer than a more typical, versatile cheap portable computer."
Wired: "Arrington's earlier promises regarding the CrunchPad never panned out, and his latest missive only points to his inability to walk the talk."
So while it seems that the Web is split over where they stand on Arrington and the CrunchPad, it's arguably John Gruber over at Daring Fireball who best summed up the CrunchPad news: "No word from Popular Mechanics yet on whether they get to keep their product of the year award."
Now it's your turn. Share your thoughts on the death of the CrunchPad below.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Are you listening Microsoft tech support?
Like practically everyone, I've been the victim of poor customer service. I've talked to people who didn't know what they were doing, or how they were going to help me. I've talked to people I couldn't understand at all. It's easy to get frustrated.
Things need to change. Apple has stayed on top of the customer service game, while Dell, which once held that crown, has customer support quality issues that simply shock me. Suffice it to say that when you contact most tech companies, you simply don't know what you will get. A knowledgeable, understandable tech support agent? Maybe. An agent that sticks to a script and doesn't really listen to you? Unfortunately, too likely.
Here's my tech support wishlist:
... Read more
After the terrorist attacks in Mumbai rocked the world, the Indian government found that the terrorists involved in the incident used Google Earth to reconnoiter strategic locations on the ground. For that reason, an Indian lawyer wants it banned from use.
According to a petition brought before the Bombay High Court, Google Earth "aids terrorists in plotting attacks." The lawyer, Amit Karkhanis, has asked the court to force Google to blur or remove images of strategic locations across the country while the case is being heard.
On top of that, the Times Online is reporting that the gunmen used "complex GPS systems to navigate their way to Mumbai by sea. They communicated by satellite phone, used mobile phones with several different SIM cards, and may have monitored events as the siege unfolded via handheld BlackBerry Web browsers."
So far, Indian officials have not asked the High Court to ban the use of those devices. Regardless, India's possible ban on Google Earth and other such bans across the world on devices, Web sites, and search results that are deemed dangerous for citizens, certainly raise a red flag.
Should tech companies hold back neat features in their gadgets or services that we would all want just to avoid providing a handful of criminals with something that may aid them in their illegal endeavors?
... Read more
The 50-inch 1080p Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U can be ordered from Amazon for just $1,881.
(Credit: Amazon)I normally don't shop on Black Friday, but this year I'm making an exception.
No, it's not because I'm moving into new digs and I need to furnish the place with shiny, new tech (I do), or that I'm addicted to buying tech goodies (I am). Instead, I'm shopping this Black Friday for two main reasons: prices are much lower than they were last Black Friday and--call me a patriot or a fool--I want to do what I can to help businesses and the economy.
Prices this year are outstanding. A 32-inch Sony LCD HDTV can be picked up at Circuit City for just $499, and the beautiful 50-inch 1080p Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U can be ordered from Amazon for just $1,881. Some of the low-end GPS models from TomTom and others can be purchased for under $100 this year and notebooks from HP, Dell, and even Apple are discounted Friday.
I can't remember any other year in recent memory where so many high-quality products could be purchased at such discounted prices. GPS devices for under $100? A high-end Panasonic plasma for under $2,000? A Sony LCD for just $499? Are you kidding me?
This year, it's too tough to pass up.
... Read moreYesterday, I asked my readers a question: What should Apple do with all its extra cash? I made the argument that the company should invest in new products and do whatever it can to expand its business (including acquire other companies) and solidify itself as an even more important company in the industry.
But after reading through the comments, it became abundantly clear that some readers thought I should have included a payout back to investors in the form of dividends. After seeing that, I decided a follow-up column on that topic was in order to fully explain why many companies in the technology industry are loath to offer dividends to investors.
Sure, technology stocks may be a great place for investors to diversify their portfolios or maybe even get rich with the help of stocks like Apple and Google that keep performing extremely well. But for those that are looking for steady income from their shares in the form of dividends, the technology sector is a bad place to start.
The reason why is quite simple: most of the companies in the tech sector are obsessed with growth and need to manage huge research and development budgets. And because few competitors boast residual dividend policies, few companies feel the need to fork over cash to investors for their support.
And unfortunately, there's no sign of that trend changing.
... Read more
At this week's Intel Developer Forum, Steve Wozniak took the stage and discussed his career and his hope for the future of tech. All the while, it had me thinking about what I would like to see happen in this brave, new world of technology and how I hope that derivative products don't ruin this industry's appeal to the mainstream.
"We had dreams that computers would improve education and improve communication and help us achieve a lot of tasks. A lot of us in our group understood it," Woz told the crowd. "What we were doing was not (figuring out) how build a computer. It was how you get a computer that fits into the home. Price, looks--a lot of that stuff. It gave us more passion. We used the word 'revolution' all over the place.
"The rewards are in your head."
As a person that loves technology and has dedicated his life to the covering, opining about, and using it, I hope Wozniak's words inspire not just engineers, but companies that are looking to do special things. I hope that what Wozniak says so eloquently will resonate in the offices of Dell or the garages of companies we've never heard of before.
I hope that innovation, that simple premise that we see so little of today, will lead this industry forward and become the cornerstone of its development from now on.
... Read moreIn this episode, I discuss why it's imperative that tech companies be more honest and stop playing the PR game, while trying to pull one over on us. Honesty is what will set companies apart from competitors!
And as always, drop me a line or follow me on Twitter!
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