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Tech maven Arrington to build $200 Firefox web tablet
Tired of waiting for an affordable and simple touch screen tablet to surf the web, Michael Arrington, the Silicon Valley maven of influential blog TechCrunch, decided to take matters into his own hands. He wants to create a $200 net tablet with a screen as thin as a MacBook Air. The Mac-like design will have just one button, turning it on and off. Running Firefox over Wi-Fi, he wants it to have half a gig of RAM and a 4GB solid-state hard drive.
Sure, other huge computer corporations are diving deep into the net tablet space, such as Dell with its $2500 Latitude XT, and Apple’s rumored Mac Tablet coming this Fall that’ll probably cost even more. But Arrington sees this as a people’s effort, and has already started working with a supply chain company to build the machine. Those tech types tell Arrington such a thin-screen Firefox Tablet could be built to sell for a “few hundred dollars.”
Arrington is asking for help to write code for the new machine, and says once he gets a prototype up and running, he’ll give one to whomever helped him develop it, and then he’ll “open source the design and software and let anyone build one that wants to.” More power to you, Michael. This would turn the world upside down. We'd buy one in a heartbeat. Is this a genius idea or a fool’s errand?
Via Techcrunch
By budgethero at 11:44 AM ON 07/22/08
"yes the iphone is a wonderful piece of machinery that has appeal that can make the earth's rotation hesitate." but surfing the net on such a tiny screen seem confining. and typing with those little buttons seems tricky. oooor i could bask in the glow of a computer screen sized....computer screen that would easily fit both hands in length. throw in a headphone jack (and maybe an optional keyboard's plug) and ill be checking my email at Wendy's.
By maven2k at 12:12 PM ON 07/22/08
I think this is a great idea and I would definitely get one. There should be more things like this. Isn't this in the same spirit of what the internet was supposed to be? Firefox (and Mozilla) seem like they haven't forgotten this, that's why I use their stuff. Kudos to Mr. Arrington for making something cooler and less expensive than the iPod Touch for casual web surfing on wifi.
By montag at 12:35 PM ON 07/22/08
Dumb. It looks nice, and that's fine, but I have several objections:
1. Nokia already has several Internet Tablets out, one of which has been going for around that price for quite a while.
2. Ipod Touch.
3. If you have a machine that can run a browser, it will have sufficient hardware for playing simple games, running a calculator, playing music, reading ebooks, and many other things. A lot of those are a pain to do in a browser and wouldn't make sense if you had to have an internet connection to run them.
4. What qualifies a tech-magazine guy to create hardware? And why use his magazine to do it? This smells of doomed publicity stunt.
I think there are some interesting ideas there, but they would need to address a lot of these objections to make me want this more than an N800 or an iPod touch.
By CJW at 1:37 PM ON 07/22/08
Cheap web tablets have come and gone before. Generally they are as robust as vapor trails.
So, for $200 this is priced just about right. Being able to do one trick, browsing the web, is modest at best. Will it run Flash so that I can watch The Office on it while hanging out on the back porch (or toilet)?
I would still opt for an iPhone because it is infinitely more portable.
By merd at 3:09 PM ON 07/22/08
i think it's a great idea. its at a price point that speaks to americans in today's tight economy. i agree with CJW. tablet on the toilet. news on the throne. dont strain your eyes or arse while you relax and read.
i don't see this as being dumb at all. in fact. i love nokia, but their tablets are nowhere in the park of 200 bones. touches, ipods and such are small to read. wonderful for on the go. this is more like portable, round the house wiFi convenience doohickey.
By borddog2142 at 6:38 PM ON 07/22/08
Not dumb i have the nokia tablet and i would be much happier with something that was normal tablet sized. Also it doesent need that much ram. just give it bluetooth wifi N, 2 usb ports and speakers. idk does it have a kickstand? also they have those cheapo comps that they send to devoloping countries that are way sick (esp the new concept. cant you just make them give it to a consumer without also making us pay for theirs?
By Stinomus at 6:31 AM ON 07/23/08
So it'll run Firefox and the concept image shows Safari, interesting start...
By drjekel_mrhyde at 12:17 PM ON 07/23/08
This would be perfect for watching hulu or any other web movies site, hoping by the time if this does surface that Netflix will be open to it
By WNelWeb at 10:03 AM ON 07/24/08
This idea is long overdue and comes at a good time. The web is more accessible than ever before and there should be an affordable machine for nearly anyone to access and take advantage of it.
Go Arrington!
By mgmann at 10:12 AM ON 07/24/08
I think it could be a fantastic idea for those low-techies (my mother-in-law) who want to take a small simple step into the internet to do research, communicate with and see pictures of family. It would be less complicated than a whole computer or web-surfing phone and easier to see than a small handheld.
By Anon at 11:40 PM ON 07/24/08
montag is a douchebag that wants a ton of buttons and extra stuff U have 2 worry about stopping working ... Technology is advancing, leave the stone age behind
By Anon at 11:41 PM ON 07/24/08
montag is a douchebag that wants a ton of buttons and extra stuff U have 2 worry about stopping working ... Technology is advancing, leave the stone age behind
By doomsought at 10:07 PM ON 08/04/08
It just needs a USB port that will let me hook it up to my PC and use it for a screen and I'll go out of state for it.
By timo at 6:54 PM ON 08/23/08
So this is getting no where then.What you need?
on your cellphone!
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timo:
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