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Mike Arrington has an idea and I like it. He wants the tech community to build an Internet tablet that is inexpensive and that does one thing well…he wants it to browse the Internet. He’s laying out the specs and for the most part, I like his specs.
Mike wants an Internet tablet that isn’t meant to do much beyond browsing the Web. Simplicity should lower the cost. He wants it to be Macbook Air-thin, with a touch screen that runs Firefox and Skype on top of a Linux kernel. He just wants a single button for power, a headphone jack, a built-in camera, low-end speakers, a mic, Wi-Fi, a USB port, a built-in battery, half a gig of ram, and a 4 GB solid state hard drive.
I’m on board in support of the mission. This is actually my dream for Geek Brief … the democratization of product development. I want the tech community to work together to create a piece of kit that we want to own. If you want to jump on board, Mike is arranging the details at, Mr. Cynical’s post here.
Samsung added something new to the digital camera mix. A couple of analog meters show photographers the status of their battery and their smart card and it looks better than anything I’ve ever seen before.
The Periodic Table of Videos is right up my alley. I love when scientists figure out how to present science in a way that makes it fun. With the Periodic Table of Videos you get a standard Periodic Table of Elements where clicking on an element leads to a very fun video demonstrating what that element is all about.
Also The Big Lebowski is 10 years old and available in a commemorative edition that collectors will want.
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July 21st, 2008 at 10:28 pm
That’s what she said!
July 21st, 2008 at 11:05 pm
A touch screen table would be great. I agree with you on needing to be over $400 when it first hits the market for it to be any good . Get the product out to market first, then as it becomes more popular, get prices to come down.
I certainly is something that could be great. Replace the nettops (or whatever the correct tech term is) with these for a large number of people. I know I would love to have one instead of something like an EEE or Wind. Have it around the house and for e-mail and web browsing it would certainly be great for getting away from just sitting in front of the PC. Maybe add an IR port on it too so a plug-in could allow it to be a universal remote, until more appliances function on WiFi.
One of the markets it serves could be the one for people who like lots of the iPhone functionality, but not how small it is, same for the iPod Touch here on size. Something that could be used rather than a laptop and have that households PC become mainly for work and gaming.
Really great idea, something I’d want, I just hope if it gets done, it is done right so that it came come to market instead of fail and then we have to wait 10 more years to see someone try again.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Mike Arrington’s Internet tablet is intriguing. Something like this really has to happen, whether it comes from a big company or a democratized collection of hardware and software people. As more and more of our media content comes from the web, we need a portable device that can deliver it wherever we are. I don’t think the perfect web tablet yet exists. Could this be it? I’m a little concerned that the only connectivity is WiFi, as I’ve found that often hard to come by, running around town with my N810, but to go to something like 3G brings in the spectre of wireless providers, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing for a project trying to stay simple. I hope this goes somewhere. I’m ready to pre-order right now.
And the analog gauges on the camera are just fantastic. Is it silly to buy a digital camera solely because of its cool retro gauges? Probably, but I never claimed not to be silly.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:24 am
I think that would be a cool device. However, I would be more interested in a more hidden device. Have the processor be the size of a modern cell phone. then have the screen and speakers be in a set of cool sunglasses and have the input interface be in 3D space in front of you. Like in the movie minority report or in the movie paycheck. I agree $200 might be a little low. I don’t mind spending a few bucks to get something really cool.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:56 am
Listening to episode #394 I was excited to hear that other people are concerned about switching dozends of lights (and other stuff) carefully orchestrated.
I’ve been using a custom solution to this for about a year now. I have a batch of very cheap manageable power strips and control them using USB or Bluetooth. At about $10 per socket these devices are way cheap. I use them everywhere. In some server rooms, to automated my house, and even as disco lights ;)
It seems these strips are not very popular or known, mostly because the software is windows-only, has a lacking interface and is missing some key-features (like bluetooth discovery and setup).
I briefly searched for US retailers, but non seem to carry the product. Is the Gembird Silvershield SIS PM / SIS PM BT (for Bluetooth) available anywhere?
My app can manage these strips with a slim hud-style interface, has lighting scenarios and program macro support. If there is cheap access to these strips, I’ll polish the app a bit and release it (as freeware of course). Some feedback on the availability and possible interest in an app would be nice ;)
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
This Internet tablet (InTab) anyone…? would be alright but would need either heavy duty corners and shock protection for the internals or someone would have to offer a shock proof cover because I can see this being dropped constantly. Or maybe it will be so cheap it will be the first disposable PC. I said maybe! :)
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Hi Cali!
I just though you might wanna know about micropledge. It’s a website that if you have an idea you can put it in, and then if people find the idea interesting they can pledge for it, and when the amount needed is reached some developper or a group of developper agrees to do the job, and everything comes together.
Great idea no?
Hope you like it!
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
If it doesn’t have a reflective display it is pretty worthless and not cheaper than a EPC. We need a kindle type display so you can take it outside.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 pm
The Nokia Internet Tablet (N810) has most of the functionality you are desiring. It does more than you ask and perhaps is thicker than you might like, but it is awfully close and what you describe is exactly how I use it on a daily basis. It has every one of the features you describe plus GPS. It costs about $400 today.
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I’m not sure I’m convinced of the need for this type of device. I’m really not sure what it’s target market is. If it is for portable web surfing then won’t most people think it’s too big? And does it really need a 4GB SSD? Wouldn’t 2 be enough for a web browser and some cache?
If it is just for ubiquitous web availability throughout your house, couldn’t it be bigger and more powerful, thus replacing a PC? There’s no need for something ultra portable in your house.
I think it is going to fall into the, “My phone does all that for less money and is also a phone and media player and is smaller” or “The screen is too small and a keyboard would be nice and if it was a little more powerful I could do more with it” conundrum.
Apple has proven with the iPod and iPhone that a big screen isn’t necessary for portable web surfing and replaying media.
While I think the idea of building something based on a community of experts is a great idea, I think you still need to have a product that people want. Otherwise it will just be forever known as that product that the community built but still ended up sucking.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:56 pm
I’m really intrigued by the idea of democratizing development. This is partly what I’m trying to do with Graphsy (www.graphsy.com). Graphsy is a web app for drawing graphs and I wanted to release a really really early version of it with hopes of other people helping me drive development. I’m a grad student so don’t have lots of time or money, but I’ve been looking for a web project to do for fun. This seemed like a good idea. Basically I’m looking for people to give me interesting things to make that all lead up to something useful at the end. To help with that I’ve set up a feature request system that borrows ideas from Digg and lets people vote on what they want implemented.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Really nice show, some great ideas.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
You asked in the episode, regarding the Periodic Table of Videos, if the FUN of science had ever been shared with us like this. Only once I remember, in the PBS series “Cosmos”. Carl Sagan really did a great job exciting viewers with his love of science. It’s worth a look.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Hey Cali, great find about the Periodic Table of Videos! Reminded me of a science podcast I watch by Robert Krampf: http://www.krampf.com/experiment_vid.html He makes videos about all sorts of scientific concepts and makes them very easy to understand. I’ve learned a lot from Dr. Krampf and I think it’s something you’d enjoy!
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Awesome! Thanks so much, Kevin! I’ve already gone through several videos and enjoying them thoroughly!
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:28 am
How about making the tablet double as a desktop monitor – put it on a stand and you can stare at it lovingly all day – pic it up and take it with you and it becomes a mobile browsing tool?
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:53 am
For the trim tablet PC, you may want to check out http://pepper.com/
The device is very solid, linux, bluetooth, wifi, 2.5 HD, sound, touch screen.
I always called it my couch top instead of a laptop.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:22 pm
You mentioned that you come across many ideas for potential products. It would be interesting to hear about some of them, would you be willing to write up a few?
July 28th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
The tablet is an interesting idea, but I can tell you what I’d rather have.
I want a piece of software that would allow me to control all the filters and adjustments in Photoshop directly using a MIDI-type device so that I can work without ever having to open a palette, just by twirling knobs or pushing sliders.
So far nobody’s done it. Maybe you can badger somebody into doing it. Thousands of Photoshop users would thank you.