TechCrunch's Michael Arrington Wants a $200 Web Tablet

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/21/we-want-a-dead-simple-web-tablet-help-us-build-it/' target='_blank'>http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/2...lp-us-build-it/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"I'm tired of waiting - I want a dead simple and dirt cheap touch screen web tablet to surf the web. Nothing fancy like the Dell latitude XT, which costs $2,500. Just a Macbook Air-thin touch screen machine that runs Firefox and possibly Skype on top of a Linux kernel. It doesn't exist today, and as far as we can tell no one is creating one. So let's design it, build a few and then open source the specs so anyone can create them. Here's the basic idea: The machine is as thin as possible, runs low end hardware and has a single button for powering it on and off, headphone jacks, a built in camera for video, low end speakers, and a microphone. It will have Wifi, maybe one USB port, a built in battery, half a Gigabyte of RAM, a 4-Gigabyte solid state hard drive. Data input is primarily through an iPhone-like touch screen keyboard. It runs on linux and Firefox."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1217275731.usr1.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>Now this is something I'd pay $200 for! I'm baffled why someone hasn't created something like this already, but I was equally baffled as to why it took until last year for someone to build an affordable, small Web-focused computer like the Asus Eee PC. I've a firm believer in the concept of a low-cost, thin and light computer in every room - something that acts as a portal to your information. If this product materializes, it's a small step in the right direction. What would you like to see on this? I'd want to see an embedded version of <a href="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/" target="_blank">VLC Media Player</a> so it could handle all manner of video and audio files. A USB port would allow for a nice 8 GB USB flash drive for playing back video files off of, and I'd like to see it have an SD card slot for photo and video viewing (or more storage). What would you like to see this product have? Would you buy one for $200? $300?</p>

[Stinger]

The closet thing around at the moment is probably the Nokia N800/N810. I have no idea how much they cost these days but I assume it's more than $200.

[Reid Kistler]

Not clear as to how LARGE this $200 miracle is supposed to be - PDA Sized (like an iPhone) or Tablet sized (like the Dell mentioned) - ??

Difficult to imagine getting a larger unit to market for only $200; difficult to imagine a pda sized unit making much of a splash.

Tablet systems have been trotted out several times now and have never seemed to gain much traction outside a few specialized markets. Would a 'tablet' WITHOUT storage or processing capability be likely to catch on? Would we then need to carry a phone, a pda / notebook, AND a web-serving device???

Looks cool in the pix, but with limited functionality would expect a limited market...

[Hooch Tan]

I think the apparent popularity of netbooks and the explosion of iPhones does show that the market might be ready to accept tablets, however, even assuming that at the $200 price point, no profit is made, I find that such a device could exist still hard to swallow.

The device would certainly help fit into the same market as the netbooks we're seeing and for consumer needs, it would certainly fit the bill with a few exceptions since a large amount of consumers have no greater use than webmail, surfing and light document editing. However, CPU, battery and screen would be what I'd see as the most expensive components which have this minimum barrier to be considered acceptable. If we could drop the considerations of YouTube (or at least optimize it somehow) and flash games, everything else might fall into place.

I'm like Jason. I would love to have several panels throughout the house to use for surfing, but my greater goal would be to also help with home automation. At $200, I'd be very interested, but I think it's still a few more years away.

[hamishmacdonald]

I wanted something like this, too, so I bought the HTC Shift. But it cost £750, not $200.

[alese]

I would love to have something like this and I too don't understand why no one tried to built it.

But...

Nokia 800 is allready around $200, so if you want small PDA sized device, it's allmost there.
Also Asus EEE is very close to this mark and you can get touch panel addon on e-bay for $50, so if Asus would add touch screen and discard the keyboard on their 2G or 4G EEE I guess they could come really close to the desired price point - it wouldn't be "Air thin", but I guess it would do the trick.

[Felix Torres]

The reason nobody's built one is:

1- They can't. Not to those specs. It is simply unrealistic. Never mind the "free software", the hardware can't be built for that price even with China prison labor.

2- The products that come closest (Nokia tablet, etc) haven't sold particularly well.

First off, the hardware expectations are out of sync with the reality of this decade. Maybe in another 5 years you could build a linux computer running an ARM or ATOM CPU and a browser-capable screen but not today. And not running Firefox. Opera mini maybe. Safari, possible. Even IE. But not Firefox; that hasn't been vetted on anything but full laptop/desktop hardware. And a touchscreen big enough for that screen? What planet is he living on?

Look at what is in fact practical:

1- Start with the cheapest Eee PC Surf; $299 with a 7"wVGA screen, 512MB RAM and 2GB SSD. Throw away the keyboard and go for a full slate layout. Savings? maybe a buck or two from the hinge and keyboard. And you need that to get in a clickable Trackpoint nipple joystick controller to match up with an onscreen keyboard. But forget about going ultra-thin or adding a touch screen.

2- The OLPC meets the requirements on Price but with 256MB RAM, a 433MHZ Geode CPU and 1GB flash storage its pretty lean even for a Linux laptop. And it weighs over 3 pounds and comes in at about an inch and a half. No touchscreen, either.
One Laptop per Child (OLPC), Laptop: A learning tool created expressly for the children in developing nations (http://laptop.org/laptop/hardware/specs.shtml)

3- Amazon Kindle/Sony Reader, etc.
If you don't mind grayscale and a static display the screen is perfect. Most ereaders run either Linux or WinCE and most are well under an inch thick. No touchscreens, except the iREX but the cheapest in that family runs $699. Most spec out with 200-400MHz ARM CPUs (we're all familiar with those from the PDA/smartphone world, right?) 64MB RAM, 256MB Flash ROM storage, and run $299-399.
MobileRead Wiki - E-book Reader Matrix (http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix)

Mind you, I'd love a toy like that.
At *double* that $200. But its not doable, more's the pity.
If it were, don't you think Apple would be selling one for $699?;)

[Menneisyys]

Why go for the Dell Lat XT for simple Web browsing? You can get a HP TC1100 for fifth(!) the price and man, it IS a great tablet! I simply love it!

[Felix Torres]

You can get a HP TC1100 for fifth(!) the price and man, it IS a great tablet! I simply love it!

I have the older TC1000 and I love the form factor.
Since the TC1100, HP tablets have gone steadily backwards on usability with each succesive generation...

[rhelwig]

The machine is as thin as possible, runs low end hardware and has a single button for powering it on and off, headphone jacks, a built in camera for video, low end speakers, and a microphone. It will have Wifi, maybe one USB port, a built in battery, half a Gigabyte of RAM, a 4-Gigabyte solid state hard drive. Data input is primarily through an iPhone-like touch screen keyboard. It runs on linux and Firefox.

Not USB, Bluetooth. Then you can use something like a stowaway keyboard, or a full size Bluetooth keyboard, and a mouse and whatever else.

I have an OLPC, and if the CPU was about twice as fast, the RAM doubled (or better yet, quadrupled), and had Bluetooth so I could use a real keyboard, then it would be a really good machine.

I like the idea of a cheap websurfing machine. A 7-8" 1024x768 or better resolution screen is a MUST. For my purposes, besides FireFox, it needs a terminal. Given that, it would become my primary machine.

[Jason Dunn]

Not clear as to how LARGE this $200 miracle is supposed to be - PDA Sized (like an iPhone) or Tablet sized (like the Dell mentioned) - ??

I think it's envisioned as being a Tablet-sized screen...maybe 10" or 12" diagonal.

Would a 'tablet' WITHOUT storage or processing capability be likely to catch on? Would we then need to carry a phone, a pda / notebook, AND a web-serving device???

It would have local Flash stroage - just not much of it. It would have processing capability - everything has to have a processor, but this would be a low-powered processor, just enough to run a browser, and maybe Skype.

[DWAnderson]

In addition to the unrealisticly low cost estimate for such a device, the reason these don't get built is that a normal Windows laptop can do so much more for just a little more money.

See http://thunor.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!71C238B5E0E3724D!855.entry

[Jason Dunn]

...the reason these don't get built is that a normal Windows laptop can do so much more for just a little more money.

I don't buy that argument. I've been hearing the same thing over and over for years: they said it about Pocket PCs, they said it about the Asus Eee PC. For some people, and I guarantee that Michael Arrington is one of these people, form factor matters. As long as the basic functionality is there (WiFi + Web Browser), nothing else matters in terms of added features. Form factor matters: size, weight, shape, design. He wants a slim, light tablet device for Web browsing, and you're suggesting that a six pound beast of a laptop that costs more than twice his proposed price-point is basically the same thing. Nah. ;)

People say the thing thing about the Asus EEE - "Why buy an underpowered, Linux-based device when for $200 more you could buy an entry-level laptop?". The answer is that the entry-level laptop is probably doing to be three times as heavy, and three times as large.

Form factor matters to some people - that's why completely impractical sports cars are sold all the time. :D

[Hooch Tan]

People say the thing thing about the Asus EEE - "Why buy an underpowered, Linux-based device when for $200 more you could buy an entry-level laptop?". The answer is that the entry-level laptop is probably doing to be three times as heavy, and three times as large.

I also think that Software as a Service, especially in the form of web applications has progressed far enough that a web browser is by and large all that you really need. One could rephrase the question "Why buy a power hungry, heavy, bulky entry-level laptop when I can get a light, small netbook that fits all my needs for $200 less?"

I'll definately agree that for those who need some real horsepower to do CAD designwork, play 3D games, deal with massive spreadsheets, video edit, etc. this kind of tablet wouldn't be a fit, but it's not trying to be either. Most of the time, people just need a browser and internet access to do what they need.

[Jason Dunn]

I also think that Software as a Service, especially in the form of web applications has progressed far enough that a web browser is by and large all that you really need. One could rephrase the question "Why buy a power hungry, heavy, bulky entry-level laptop when I can get a light, small netbook that fits all my needs for $200 less?"

Yeah, exactly. James Kendrick has been working in the cloud for a little while now (http://www.jkontherun.com/2008/07/working-in-the.html), and he's able to do almost everything he needs (a Skype client is apparently still a missing piece though).

I'll definately agree that for those who need some real horsepower to do CAD designwork, play 3D games, deal with massive spreadsheets, video edit, etc. this kind of tablet wouldn't be a fit, but it's not trying to be either.

Indeed. I think the biggest mistake people make when they think about a device like this (or a little device like the Asus Eee PC) is that they try to envision it being their ONLY computer and doing EVERYTHING that their main computer does. That's ridiculous and not the point - there's a reason why these things are cheap...they're meant to be a second or even third computer. They're more like appliances than computers, and for that tasks they're meant to perform, that's just fine.

[Fritzly]

The so called "Smart Displays" were supposed to do something similar; I liked the idea but they were not so succesfull. Yes they were more expensive etc. etc. but they came out many years ago, if I remember correctly around year 2000. Btw I am still waiting for programs to control a fully automated house from a PDA; the ones available are not so "cool".

[kerrins]

I want something like this not only in every room of the house, but the car too. In fact, it might be easier in a car because it would have an existing power supply in place. A hard drive could be there too, so not just a handful of flash, but a full on 500G drive. I want to drive into the garage, have the car BT sync with my music in the house (complete with playlists between adults and kids). I want a GPS built in, so I can drive using it and 3G connectivity, so I can google a company/place and have it match with the GPS and figure out how to get there. I want voice capabilities. I want it to read aloud my emails, and allow me to respond audibly and either make it a wav file to return email or convert to text. I don't just want music in the car anymore...I want connectivity.

[Jason Dunn]

The so called "Smart Displays" were supposed to do something similar; I liked the idea but they were not so succesfull.

I think, like many things, they were before their time - the right combination of technology, at the right price point, just wasn't available. Look at the first Windows CE-based HPCs: small, lightweight, great battery life (8+ hours), basic functionality...but they sold for $800+. Now look at the Asus Eee PC and others of it's kind: similar functionality, but better technology, all delivered for a price 1/3rd that of the original HPCs. Timing is everything with technology...

[Rocco Augusto]

I have always wanted something similar to this which is why I was super excited to get the Nokia 770 and why I really wanted an Origami device. After playing around with both though I quickly realized that while the concept is cool, technology has betrayed us once again for the time being.

Some of the ideas here of an ASUS eee with a touchscreen and no keyboard sound like a fantastic idea though! I would love to see some of those :)

[Felix Torres]

Some of the ideas here of an ASUS eee with a touchscreen and no keyboard sound like a fantastic idea though! I would love to see some of those :)


Well, you can start with this lil thing, released last may though not broadly available:
http://gizmodo.com/364339/gigabyte-m700-umpc-has-2-gb-ram-7+inch-touchscreen

Its not ultra-thin nor does it come within sniffing distance of $200 (I think its around $699) but it does offer the desired functionality, albeit with an HDD rather than an SSD...

We're getting there but I doubt we'll get there this decade.:cool:

It might help if Apple is really working on a large format iPod for this fall (instead of the rumored Mac Tablet); a $699 iPod touch with a 7" wVGA touch screen with support for Fairplay-wrapped epub files would allow Apple to pretend they've invented ebooks and it might (finally!) light a fire on the PC OEMs that are so blindly ignoring the $499 UMPC Slate form factor.

Me, I decided to stop waiting for a reasonable spec'ed Slate UMPC and just got a new Tablet PC and a dedicared ebook reader; that should last me for the next three years until the dust settles and we see a true webpad/digital media player. (One hopes...)

But I'm not holding my breath.