No For Kno, Finally. It Was DOA Anyway.
Technology February 21st, 2011
Boomtown reports Kno, makers of the flip-open dual tablet designed for the education market is planning to sell off the hardware business, and focus on software only. Says Kara Swisher:
That’s because marketing a new and complex product like the Kno takes a lot of effort and cash, especially since it is an increasingly competitive market for mobile and portable computing products that includes Apple, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Google, Amazon, Dell and many others.
Oh, really? I think not. It’s not about marketing.. it’s about recognizing the product was Dead On Arrival… a ridiculously impossible design. And no, I’m not just discovering it now, I declared in DOA when it was announced:
The Kno is Not a Tablet. It’s a Workout Device
At 5 and a half pounds it’s not exactly a lightweight tablet you would want to hold for hours…
Tags: Apple, books, CloudAve, e-reader, hardware, IPad, Kara Swisher, kindle, Kno, que, situational device, tablet, Tablet computer
Your Computers Are Slowly Killing Themselves
SaaS, Technology November 14th, 2008
How old is your work computer? – asks the Wall Street Journal.
Mine is a year-and-a half old. The dual-core former screamer (obviously not the one the the pic to the right) has become an average slow machine now that quad-core is the standard, but I could not care less. I don’t need a faster, bigger computer for work, in fact not even for video-conferencing or watching movies.
In fact I (and most of us) don’t even need 1-2 year-old computers, either, now that browser is the computer.
Now, you’ve heard this a zillion times, but let me present another side: the more you use your computers, the slower they get. In fact it gets worse: you don’t even have to use your computers, they get slower by themselves.
Why, and more importantly, what’s the solution? Read the full article on CloudAve – while at it, might as well grab the feed here. 
Tags: computer upgrade, dual-core, gmail, Google, hardware, laptop, mcafee, netbook, notebook, pc, quad-core, security, virus-scan, Web Applications, zoho
The TechCrunch Fablet
Technology July 21st, 2008
Fablet: FireFox + Tablet. The $200 device Mike Arrington & Co wants to build:
We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet For $200. Help Us Build It.
I can’t figure out if this is real or a joke.. but we’re far from April Fool’s Day.
I have a strong Deja Vu feeling though. Last year I shared a Bloggers’ table with Ismael Ghalimi at a conference and watched him feverishly work away on the Redux Model 1. He showed me some of the documentation, in a matter of a few hours exchanged specs then placed an order with component suppliers – the guy was totally obsessed. As skeptical as I had been before, I started to wonder if he might just be able to pull it off – his energy level was just radiating…
But in the end, all the effort (and quite some money Ismael spent along the way) came down to nothing (at least for now): The Office 2.0 Conference gadget will be an HP 2133 Mini-Note PC.
That said, the Redux Model 1 was one guy’s heroic effort, while this project will largely be crowdsourced. Still, the hardware business is tough … I have one advice to Mike: talk to Ismael.
Update: It is not a joke:
The reason why we announced today is because we have the manufacturing/prototype etc. setup now, along with design (which we will also post for feedback etc.)
Update (7/23): Two days later, here’s the commentary from Ismael: Where is the Redux Model 1?
Tags: fablet, firefox, hardware, o2con, office 2.0, Office20con, tablet, techrunch, web tablet
Zoli Erdos
