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New Web-Based Netbook From Litl — Based On Clutter, Uncluttered

Posted by timothy on from the looks-nifty-will-it-ship? dept.

cananian writes "The webbook company of Gnome's own Havoc Pennington (with a healthy dose of ex-Nokia and ex-OLPC engineers) finally shed its secrecy today, with a new web site and an article in the WSJ. Technical specs on the hardware were found by Engadget last week, and now comes a bit more information on the software behind the UI. Most of the client software is written in JavaScript with GTK/Clutter bindings, and the UI has some superficial similarities to Pentagram's designs for OLPC's Sugar."

23 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. $700? by BonquiquiShiquavius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why would anyone spend $700 buy a device that is dependent on the web to function, when a netbook costs half and can access the web and still function when offline?

    1. Re:$700? by CannonballHead · · Score: 3, Funny

      Normal netbooks can't get propped up like easels. Duh! $350 netbook hinges!

    2. Re:$700? by BikeHelmet · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'd rather spend $400 for similar functionality.

      http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/

      I say similar, because it fits the same usage scenarios, but with a different approach. (Not so much a web based one)

  2. Why this won't fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    This product will be awesome for one simple reason:

    The founder is named Havoc Pennington

    Seriously! That's a Bad-assed name. That's like halfway from what you might expect Duke Nukem to name his dog or child.

    I'll buy one, just so I can claim I have a Havoc machine.

    1. Re:Why this won't fail by interval1066 · · Score: 2, Informative

      If you're in Gnome development you'll see Pennington's name all over a dozen forums and readmes and all kinds of crap. He's a powerhouse behind GTKMM, the graphic apis, the list just goes on for ever. Even so, I'm not paying USD700 for a netbook. I just paid $330 for a very decent model with an 11.6" lcd (and Atom proc, of course.) That will do me just fine.

      --
      Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
  3. Re:let me be the first by Abreu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Really? Why?

    It looks like a regular Atom netbook... Why pay $700.00USD when you can get a netbook with similar specs for half that price...

    --
    No sig for the moment.
  4. Hmm... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cute; but I'm really not seeing ~$500 worth of improvement over a mini9 running Moblin. Or buying a netbook for normal use, a chumby for widgets, and booze with the rest.

  5. $699 by harris+s+newman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For $699 I can get two eee 10" netbooks. Forget it!

  6. Seriously, somebody's been drinking the kool aid by Croakus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a classic example of what happens when a bunch of engineers get together and they're all so dead on convinced that they've got the next great idea that they don't stop for 15 minutes to look at the market, learn what their potential customers actually want, or even write up a business plan. No one is going to pay $700 for one of these. It's just not going to work. How is a salesman at Best Buy supposed to talk me into buying a device that has no hard drive, a tiny screen, stores all of my data out on the Internet, and doesn't run Microsoft Office when there's a cool looking 15" laptop siting right beside it for the same price? It's just not going to happen. Mark my words. This will all end in tears.

  7. Re:Can I build my OWN Back-End "Cloud"? by agoliveira · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes, you can.
    Check on the new Ubuntu Server 9.10. It does have all the tools you need to create a private cloud.

    --
    Scientia est Potentia
  8. Re:let me be the first by grcumb · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let me be the first to say that this thing's gonna be huge!

    Really? Why?

    It looks like a regular Atom netbook... Why pay $700.00USD when you can get a netbook with similar specs for half that price...

    Dude, it's a joke.

    Litl is going to be huge. Get it? Little? Huge! Ha. Haha.

    Heh....

    ...Okay, you're right. I totally get why you missed that.

    That wasn't so much 'whoosh' as 'wha-atever'.

    --
    Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
  9. LOL by foo+fighter · · Score: 2

    $700?! And it doesn't even come with the stupid remote? I don't think so.

    Apple gets away with this because they have an established brand and reputation.

    I can't believe they don't even have a video of the UI they are hyping. Show, don't tell.

    Wow. This is just ridiculous. Is the Internet being punked?

    --
    obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
    1. Re:LOL by Tony · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Apple doesn't try to get away with this: when you spend $700 on an Apple computer, you get a real computer, not just a web device; or, you get a teeny-tiny portable computer that doubles as a phone.

      While I like the idea of the litl, the price tag is a little hefty. I'm really not considering getting one, and I buy *everything.* (I have an Openmoko phone, an iPhone, and a Google dev phone. I'm a sucker for new tech.)

      --
      Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
  10. Re:let me be the first by blind+biker · · Score: 2, Informative

    Why pay $700.00USD when you can get a netbook with significantly better specs for half that price...

    Sorry for the FTFY. Had to be done.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  11. finally a computer for grandma by amoeba1911 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is going to be more awesome than WebTV! Because old people REALLY DO want to use computers... despite not being able to use a cell phone.

    I foresee a not so Litl flop on the horizon.

  12. WSJ article by cananian · · Score: 2, Informative

    The WSJ article was not linked, but it's at http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/11/04/litl-introduces-its-web-based-netbook/

    --
    [ /. is too noisy already -- who needs a .sig? ]
  13. Netbook? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2, Funny

    With that weight, it's more of a netbrick than a netbook.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  14. Re:Seriously, somebody's been drinking the kool ai by Eil · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In the late 90's, hundreds of companies[1] thought that Network Appliances were going to be the next big thing. Turns out, almost nobody wants a device which is 100% paperweight as soon as the network goes away. Until we have wireless broadband that is ubiquitous, robust, and (most importantly) cheap, network appliances are going nowhere.

    1. Sun was the biggest of these, see their "The network is the computer" marketing slogan

  15. Not sure about the device itself by lennier · · Score: 2, Interesting

    especially the "stores data in the cloud" bit - hasn't the Danger fiasco told us that's a bad idea jeans? But gjs looks cool.

    --
    You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
  16. As I sat a Starbucks in Boston today by MarceloR2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    the folks from Litl started setting up their demo table. I glanced over and saw that they had a small gadget that looked like a laptop (appeared to be the size of of a Macbook Air) with a flip screen. As I was reading an interesting article, I overheard some explanation of what the machine did and I was tempted to get up and check it out as I am always open to new gadgets. However, that temptation quickly went away when I overheard the price being quoted after the explanation of what it did. For a good five or ten minutes I put my reading material aside and tried to imagine just what market this device is trying to cater to that one would be able to justify paying $695 (the price I overheard) for. In my quest, I came up empty handed and promptly went back to my reading. At lunch time I got up and left without so much as glancing at the demo table. I doubt any reasonable person will spend more than a minute in the same quest before they promptly dismiss it.

  17. my 5 cents by Device666 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sell what you think you can build, instead of building what you think you can sell. If not you'll get a solution to a non-existing need resulting in zero business.

  18. Chumby by Vyse+of+Arcadia · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Anyone else reminded of the chumby?

  19. If it was ARM, then it would have a chance by thatkid_2002 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If this was ARM based, I would probably jump on it (and it would probably be a little cheaper) but it is just the standard netbook with a fancy interface. There is plenty of fancy interfaces around so I don't know how this Litl plans to compete.
    There is a lack of good ARM based netbooks! Always Innovating has the only half decent one.