post

The TechCrunch Fablet

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.smile_angel

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?

Comments

  1. i want one!

  2. Oh, me too, only question is who delivers it and when:-)

  3. One other – how much????

  4. Hey, the 2 part is firm, just how many 0’s? 🙂

  5. spoken like a true enterprise veteran!

  6. Seems like a nice thing, I like it a lot. 🙂
    Well, as long as the number of zeros stay below 0 – or, in case it climbs to 4, you change the USD to HUF 🙂

  7. Number of zeros stays below 3. Doh. Although, 2 dollar price would be awesome:D

  8. did you say fablet?

  9. Yes, indeed. A Fabulous combination of Firefox + Tablet 🙂

  10. I guess it might just come from Apple with an extra 0 added to the back of the price:-)

Trackbacks

  1. […] admit I was skeptical when Mike Arrington first announced he wanted to build a  lightweight  Web Tablet.  […]

  2. […] a lot better-looking, albeit not as thin as the original sketch.  That said, if this thing is really in the $300 range, I’d love to buy […]

  3. […] admit I was skeptical when Mike Arrington first announced he wanted to build a  lightweight  Web Tablet.  […]

  4. […] admit I was skeptical when Mike Arrington first announced he wanted to build a  lightweight  Web Tablet.  […]

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