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Arrington's CrunchPad Dies
adeelarshad82 writes "Michael Arrington announced the death of the CrunchPad on Monday morning in a blog post heavily spiced with angst and drama. According to Arrington, the Crunchpad, a 12-inch Web tablet expected to be priced at about $300, was just days away from launch. At the last minute, however, Arrington received an email from Chandra Rathakrishnan, the chief executive of manufacturing partner Fusion Garage, apparently trying to cut Arrington out of the product on the eve of the launch. Fusion Garage, according to Arrington, wanted to market the device itself under its own name; which obviously was the deal breaker. Arrington claims that the company had overcome obstacles at every stage in the business such as deals with Intel, retail launch, securing venture capital and angel investments. Interesting bit is that some were already speculating that the Crunchpad was not real."
But here's to hoping it relaunches with an ARM processor running Chrome OS! This seems like the perfect application for it, really.
It wouldn't be a surprise if the whole thing was just a hoax. Like the other article says:
Arrington, who is not a journalist (and has never professed to be one), regularly talks to financial guys, with close ties to virtually every major technology company. He's also plugged into these same companies at even higher levels. Oh, and he also invests in companies he writes about. At times, this can make his information incredibly prescient and also highly self-serving. The problem is, no one can tell the difference.
And a few days before launch and dies for such a stupid reason? Please.
We still acknowledge that Arrington and TechCrunch bring some value to your business endeavorIf he agrees to our terms, we would have Arrington assume the role of visionary/evangelist/marketing head and Fusion Garage would acquire the rights to use the Crunchpad brand and name. Personally, I don’t think the name is all that important but you seem to be somewhat attached to the name.
Translation:
I'd like to cash in on Arrington's hard work. Does he have some sort of puppeteer's slot in his ass or lower back where we could shove our arm during launches? Or is he run by remote control? Does he come with instructions or ... how does this 'Arrington thing' work exactly? Please toss him the offer of looking like Steve Jobs in the eyes of the public but being my subservient bitch behind the curtains and being forever financially crippled. If he requests vasaline, we may be able to find some funding somewhere but we're not making any promises. There are sharks and there are sheep ...
Honestly, I applaud Arrington's levelheaded response. I believe mine would have consisted of nothing more than "WTF?" and an image.
Aside from all that, I'm sad because I really was excited to see what came out of this and would have been interested after the price dropped a bit. I mean, depending on battery life, you'd have to be nuts to get a Kindle over this.
My work here is dung.
It -isn't- real.
Not until they're actually being produced.
So yes, this is vaporware (at least for now)
If firefighters fight fire, and crimefighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight? - George Carlin
I would have been a customer for this device, but after this I will not now or ever buy anything under the Fusion Garage brand.
On the other hand, let's see what Fusion Garage ships. Might be ok. Too bad Arrington gets cut out of the deal. You'd think a lawyer would have better smarts about these things.
Oh, wait....
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
It would be more accurate to say CrunchPad was miscarried.
When you write "days from launch", do you mean that there are thousands of boxes of these things sitting in distribution centers, waiting to go to stores?
Or do you mean they were hoping the printer was going to deliver a new batch of "CrunchPad" decals in a few days, designed to fit over the "Dell" logo on the laptop they were going to use in upcoming demos?
The Kindle is actually $260 now, and it has an non-backlit eInk screen with a three-week battery-life. It has always-on, free 3G internet access, and it has accesses to the gigantic Amazon digital book store.
This thing might have been a cool (concept for a) gadget, but it is certainly not a replacement for the Kindle. The Kindle is aimed at (and is perfect for) people who like to read BOOKS.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
I wonder if I'll still stick to my principles if the "wrong" company will produce this thing..
...smells like Apple or Microsoft got hold of some of the shareholders or of the CEO.
Hows that for conspiracy?
AC
Some of us were highly skeptical of the claims he was making all along. Curious to see that the whole thing died because the contracts apparently forgot to include a clause that his company actually owns the device they're producing (one of the first things any company would 100% ensure is in there). Fitting end for a guy who seems like such an asshole.
Unless they rework everything that touches the co-owned intellectual property, there is no way Fusion Garage can legally ship anything. Arrington said as much and stated that a lawsuit would be waiting for Fusion Garage should they attempt to ship anything without CrunchPad's approval.
Too busy to RTFA, but is that some kind of toilet-based tablet?
This whole thread has been modded Troll. I'm guessing the CEO of Fusion Garage somehow got mod points.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
Lending further suspicion to the whole matter....
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
It seems to happen from time to time. I figure it is people 'protesting' something to do with the moderation system.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Meh. I'm holding out for a Nook. More open, more features, same price.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
I'm not sure what Arrington is bringing to the party here. He's not an engineer that I know of, but more of a money guy. It seems like Fusion Garage was doing all of the heavy lifting on the project. It's not clear how much skin Arrington had in the game. If he was providing serious development capital, he has a point. If all he was providing was "vision" and bloviation and hype via his blog, with maybe a seriously minority share of the capital, then he should STFU. There must be some sort of written contract for a venture like this. Let's see what it says.
Personally, I don't feel that the branding of something with "Arrington", "Tech Crunch", or "Crunchpad" brings a lot to the table.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
Airing your dirty laundry on your blog is a sure-fire way to alienate the very people with which you want to reach an agreement. You've no doubt made it harder to resolve your differences amicably, even if Fusion Garage were the ones being dicks.
Cory Doctorow talking about cloud computing makes as much sense as George W Bush talking about electrical engineering.
This is pretty run-of-the-mill back stabbing in OEM/ODM business.
1. The manufacturer sees an opportunity with a weak 'partner'
2. Screws the partner.
3. Profit!
The thing is 'Fusion Garage' would have screwed him even if they worked a geographic restrictions deal out. If there was any meaningful market acceptance, any number of bigger OEM's would have taken their lunch in ~24 months.
Sad it has to go like this, but this very common unless you are an HP/Apple/Dell. Typical chicken-egg capitalism problem.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
Even a geek with full-blown asperger's syndrome could predict how Arrington and his crew would react to this approach to renegotiating the IP rights. If they had been at least moderately smart about it, they would have come forward with some sort of half-serious offer like buying out some of TechCrunch's equity in the IP or agreeing to assume TechCruch's liability for the business side of getting it out there, warranting it, etc. in exchange for a greater cut of the pie.
This... just comes off as a blatant attempt to stab a partner in the back if this story can be believed.
Meh. I'm holding out for a Nook. More open, more features, same price.
My wife's is supposed to ship today. She placed her order within an hour of announcement and hopefully won't get hit by the 2010 bump.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
To be fair, it sounds like the technological side of the job was fairly simple. Knock together some commodity parts, put on a coat of polish, all set.
The "dealing with everybody's least favorite social primate" part, on the other hand...
The only reason anyone is talking about this is because of Arrington's relentless zeal for self-promotion. I never thought this thing was going to happen, and in regard to keeping Arrington's name in circulation, it was a smashing success. The only thing missing from this soap opera is that Google/Microsoft/Apple diabolically combined with SMERSH to stop the CrunchPud before it could lead to world peace.
I got notification from UPS a bit earlier today that they had a package for me. Since the only package I'm waiting on at the moment is a Nook, I think your wife will be getting hers. (I ordered a few days after the announcement.)
'Sensible' is a curse word.
Interesting bit is that some were already speculating that the Crunchpad was not real."
Internet claims unreleased product is vaporware. Not interesting.
Quoted link in TFS is referring to googlephone, not crunchpad FWIW.
Whether these claims of backstabbing to death a product just before release and if it is par for the course as some posters have claimed is what flips my interesting bit.
It went hours without crashing.
...Good selling point.
Translation: I'd like to cash in on Arrington's hard work.
I have no reason to doubt that Arrington is being screwed here, and that he does in fact have intellectual property rights that are being trampled on, but how much hard work did he actually do on this thing? My understanding is that he mostly said, "I want this thing with these specs at this price, make it happen" and his manufacturing partner is the one that actually built it.
Arrington is providing (a) his services as a sort of ideal end-user (i.e. if this one tech-savvy guy really, really wants a thing that works exactly like this, there's probably a market for it) and (b) a ready-made market in the shape of his extensive and influential (in tech circles) audience. The latter indeed took hard work to amass, but he's not the one who actually built the CrunchPad.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have a shot-gun clause with a hard time limit in any significant partnership agreement. This "co-owned" 50/50 split stuff is BS and is way too likely to go sour.
If they had a shot-gun clause in their agreement, this would be a simple matter of one party or the other buying full rights and continuing on with the project, no legal system and multi-year drawn out court battles designed to put all the money in lawyers pockets. The issue would be resolved in a matter of days and both parties would essentially be happy.
Open Source Time and Attendance, Job Costing a
That thing looks great, too. But how many books are available for it? Until most publishers wise up and start offering DRM-free books, the size of the library your ebook has access to is an extremely important factor.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
He lampoons startups every day and finally tries something on his own and realizes it's harder said than done, what a surprise. This guy is a dick and always has been; it's kinda nice to hear he's having trouble!
...but how much hard work did he actually do on this thing?
Doesn't matter. The post clearly shows (if accurate) that Arrington owns a piece of the intellectual property that make up the CrunchPad. Its as if a bunch of different people got together to make a pizza chain with one guy coming up with the name, logo, mascot, and business plan, and the other guys deciding to ace that first guy out yet retaining all of that first guy's input. Its a blatant rip-off of Arrington, no matter how much work he did. If you own a piece, you own a piece. That fact isn't up for debate. I bet you'd be pissed off too if this happened to you; even if you spent all the development time sitting on your couch channel surfing.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
FTA: It was about the thrill of building something with a team that had the same vision.
Obviously, Arrington assumed too much about his partner who, along with the partner's shareholders, had a different vision.
Leo LaPorte is laughing his ass off and noting that Karma is a bitch.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
So was the Crunchpad the most award winning vaporware product of all time?
That thing looks great, too. But how many books are available for it? Until most publishers wise up and start offering DRM-free books, the size of the library your ebook has access to is an extremely important factor.
Nobody would ever trade ebooks like they trade music. Nope.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
I have no reason to doubt that Arrington is being screwed here, and that he does in fact have intellectual property rights that are being trampled on, but how much hard work did he actually do on this thing? My understanding is that he mostly said, "I want this thing with these specs at this price, make it happen" and his manufacturing partner is the one that actually built it.
This needs to be propped up as a shining example of what will happen to all U.S.A. IP companies in the next century unless they get manufacturing back in the US again. It's just the start of the rest of the world realizing: "Hey, we're making this stuff; you're just the guys who gave us the ephemeral part." (well, not really, China's realized it for a long time now, but they just make off-branded copies)
Ya, and in 2 years we will see yet another RIM style lawsuit, this seems to be the style of things now adays. Either way, this is the first time I have seen this device and I sure would have bought one. But I think the apple tablet might be along the lines of what I will end up getting.
CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
At least the company _let_him_know_ they were gonna cut him out.
There is nothing stopping them from going ahead with production and marketing.
As in the music business: if there's a profit, then there's a problem.
If the lawyers can't feed it's moot.
Who knows? Tablet vaporstuff is in vogue... even Barnes and Noble can't ship one. Bezos is selling 'em like hot cakes.
I think the patent on paper has expired.YMMV.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
I have no reason to doubt that Arrington is being screwed here, and that he does in fact have intellectual property rights that are being trampled on, but how much hard work did he actually do on this thing? My understanding is that he mostly said, "I want this thing with these specs at this price, make it happen" and his manufacturing partner is the one that actually built it.
Well, to Arrignton's credit he (or the TechCrunch side of things) did build the first prototype. He also provided office space for Fusion Garage and no doubt was integral in the testing. There's also a lot of talk about setting up distribution and funding although it's hard to say how much of that was Arringtons doing. Overall I would say Arrington has contributed at least an equal share into the project.
In other news:
Somewhere in an asian bazaar you can now buy the first version of a $299 "CrumblePad" in either pink, lime green or yellow.
Large volume container shipping will begin in January, and the "Disneay" branded child friendly version with preloaded pirated Disney movies dubbed to chinese is in the works.
Actually, that's one of the advantages of the Nook in my opinion: It uses an open, standard format (EPUB) as it's normal book format. The format supports DRM, but doesn't require it, and there are quite a few ebook stores out there already selling books in epub format. Nearly every other ebook reader on the market is also supporting the epub format. (The exception is the Kindle, which uses a proprietary format.)
Current bestsellers are likely to be DRM'd if you can find them, but most of everything else is available and non-DRM'd, if you look.
'Sensible' is a curse word.
In slashdot parlance, you are spreading FUD. The Kindle most certainly uses non-proprietary book formats. You can use mobi, txt, and pdf directly, for example. Any other format can be used by via conversion.
Having a more limited selection of books for the Nook is not an advantage of the Nook; it's an advantage of the Kindle.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
Looking at the specs, it reads PDF, eReader and EPUB in addition to B&N's own format, so a lot of ground is covered outside of just B&N's store (eg Project Gutenberg) but you're right, it will be up to publishers to say "we want nook users to be able to read this" either through B&N or some other means.
If B&N moves forward with opening it to developers (even if we're only allowed to use wifi) I will buy at least one.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
I was totally expecting this comment to come from PizzaAnalogyGuy. I was wrong. =p
And this is an issue how? People trade BOOKS and there are even publicly funded entities facilitating this! I've spent at least $300 on books by an author that I found I liked after borrowing books from a friend. Libraries are good for (active) authors as they introduce them to readers with zero financial risk and if they enjoy them enough, they are likely to buy their own copy rather than wait for the library's.
I admit that the ability to loan a copy immediately is a change, but you could easily set things up to switch from DRM to DRM-free after the first month (pirated copies will be available regardless by then). This avoids the nasty side effects of the DRM managers folding, depriving you of goods that you paid for.
Doesn't matter. The post clearly shows (if accurate) that Arrington owns a piece of the intellectual property that make up the CrunchPad.
So, patents are *good* today? It's tough to keep track...
Seriously, Arrington clearly bit off *far* more than he could chew. Any jackass can "invent" a tablet. "10 inch screen, wireless, touch input, long battery life, less than $300!" How hard is that? The hard part is actually designing, manufacturing, and bringing the product to market. Those things are *very* difficult. That's why all those great ideas everyone comes up with never happen.
Arrington's posts about the CrunchPad were *always* exaggerated and idealistic in tone. These are good signs that he was deluded and had a fantasy of grandeur. This was compounded by the slashdot-types who would *love* a CrunchPad.
Arrington clearly had the desire, the drive and the imagination, and even that's a lot. After all, he got a lot further than any of us would have. But he clearly didn't have what it takes to make the product real. If the product *really* was just "days away" from production, and if he *really* has done all the work people are attributing to him, he could just take his project to someone else. But he can't, because he really *didn't* do as much as he thought, and he really *wasn't* just days away from production.
Too bad, too. Because the CrunchPad sure did *sound* like a great *idea*.
mobi is a proprietary format (it is owned by a company, and they control the format), and Kindle's version isn't straight mobi, it's a slight modification. Txt and pdf aren't ebook formats. (They are text and e-paper formats, respectively. Yes, there is a difference.) And the Nook can use those as well.
epub is a true open format: available to any without licensing fees and such. Software is available freely to convert books and other text into it, and out of it should you so choose. (Provided they haven't been encrypted using the DRM provision, of course.)
And it's the Kindle that has the more limited selection: Epub is the more common format, and the Nook also supports the older (proprietary) eReader format, that has been used for around 10 years, starting on the Palm platform.
I fully expect to be able to read 70-90% of my current library of ebooks without conversion on my Nook. I'd have to convert 100%, using Amazon's service, on the Kindle.
'Sensible' is a curse word.
Aside from your snide reply to being asked a very legitimate question...
Do you really think anyone cares? Slashdolts always make these claims that they're going to boycott this or refuse to work with some company because of an issue of some sort. In fact these claims have also been the basis of many a fanboi crying that Microsoft is going to fail any day now. I've been hearing that claim every time MS fumbles the ball for 10 years. I still have yet to see you guys get one right.
This product is fail, IMHO, from a technology aspect. But the truth of the matter is that I wouldn't care less about the political aspect of the company unless they were skinning animals alive or selling children into the slave trade. If they had a good product I'd put my money down to buy it just like anyone else.
Sorry but if you really think you're going to change this kind of thing you need to work on companies that really deserve the beat down first. This, to me, is just one businessman taking advantage of the short sightedness of another businessman. Every society has this happening all the time. And why should I boycott a company because someone else wasn't smart enough to cover themselves?
Which makes me think Fusion Garage had a bit of group think between a bunch of non-lawyers that convinced themselves that they would get away with something like this.
If the product *really* was just "days away" from production, and if he *really* has done all the work people are attributing to him, he could just take his project to someone else.
[citation needed]
I'm not sure if your confusion stems from the fact that this is to complicated for you to understand, or that you don't want to understand.
First, the Kindle supports mobi. Regular, non-DRM mobi format. Your claim otherwise is factually, indisputably false.
Secondly, it's the number of books supported that matters. If a book is only available in a format the Nook can't read but the Kindle can, the fact that the Nook supports your favorite format doesn't count for shit.
So in conclusion: both the Kindle and the Nook support open ebook formats. The Kindle also supports the format used by the Amazon store; the nook does not. If the number of books available from the Amazon store is much larger than those available for the Nook, that's a serious advantage for the Kindle as an ebook reader.
Good luck to B&N. I hope they get full publisher support eventually. Without it, the Nook will be a 2nd-class citizen of the ebook world.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
Don't you see? The "shareholders" never had any intention of letting this go to market. This is not about an attempt to steal intellectual property. It's about eliminating competition for similar proprietary technology (Nook, Kindle, Apple's eventual tablet, etc.) The large media players are doing everything they can to reign in the Internet. The ruination of the CrunchPad is a victory for them.
:T:R:A:N:S:
If all you claim is true than it will be an open and shut case in court. My guess is that Arrington did a lot less than he said and has no paper to back up his claim of being an owner of the IP.
I don't think any company worth their VR would fumble the ball this bad but I have been wrong before.
What I don't understand is why Fusion Garage owns any of the intellectual property whatsoever... From the TFA it's not even clear that Arrington properly retained sole ownership of the "CrunchPad" trademark, it's all intermingled and joint. He says in TFA it's like "Foxconn calling Apple and telling them they are stealing the iPhone," but it isn't like that at all. Foxconn is a bloody vendor, not a partner.
You'd think the least he would have done is had non-compete language in the recision provisions of their joint venture, since this sort of outcome seems like it would be pretty easy to predict, doing equity deals with strangers, with no history or track record, informally sharing office space and all manner of IP back and forth.
Basically what Fusion Garage did is they hired Arrington as a consultant and marketer (as they say, an "evangelist") and now they're telling him to take a hike, and this ostensibly-smart "insider" finds himself without recourse.
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
First, the Kindle supports mobi. Regular, non-DRM mobi format.
That's not really the point... Find me the documentation on the mobi format. I've tried, it's harder to suss out than .doc. Have you ever hexdumped a .mobi? It's a trainwreck. The only effective way you can make or read a .mobi is by licensing an app or library from the company that owns the format. There's may be no DRM, but it certainly isn't "open."
Are you forgetting Techcrunch (and several related sites) itself? I'd say he already did the startup thing on his own and appears to be doing quite well.
Also he was co-founder of another startup a few years ago which deadpooled. So he's been there, done that too.
The point, if you missed it, is that very many books are available for the Kindle. If the publishers don't release books in a format the Nook can read, it doesn't matter much at all what format it supports.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
Ok, double-checking: The Kindle supports both it's own version of mobi, and the normal mobi format. Sorry, I was confused there.
Mobi is not an open format: It is based off of an open ebook format, but it is a proprietary format by the Mobipocket company, who licenses it and controls what and how devices can read it.
ePub is an open, documented format by an international standards body, that can be implemented freely.
Amazon lists that they have over 360,000 ebooks available.
B&N lists just under 105,000.
Those are what are directly available through their own sites. Baen.com also has ebooks available. As does Fictionwise. And Project Gutenburg. And TOR. And Google books. And eReader. And probably a few dozen others I can't think of at the moment. All of the above have downloads in ePub format. All but Google have in Kindle format as well.
Converters - for every platform - can be found as free downloads for ePub. A free converter to mobi format can be downloaded from Mobipocket's website, for Windows 2000/XP only. (And requires Internet Explorer.)
The number through the dedicated sites is relevant, but is not the whole story. It is slightly easier to find ePub books from other sites, and it is definitely easier to create your own. (Especially if you don't run Windows.)
That's short-term, and right now. Longer term, ePub is easier and cheaper to support, and is supported by more different types of devices. (Including one, now, with the market visibility of the Kindle.) It's also a slightly newer format. Amazon is going to find itself in the position of being a sole defender of a file format (which they do not even own, and have to pay to use), while the rest of the industry is standardizing on a different format. It might have the installed base to defend that, but I doubt it overall.
Both formats are already widely used, along with a good half-dozen other formats. (Which are dieing slow deaths.) Every major publisher has books for sale someplace in both formats. Minor publishers are likely to have their entire catalogs.
While the Kindle was the only major player, there was a slight move to standardize on it's format. However, the rest of the ebook market (fragmented and invisible as it might be) had been moving steadily towards ePub. Now there is a major player using that format, which is a real open standard, and not just the format of the dominant company.
I think both formats at this point have enough of a mass of books for any normal reader to be likely to find books they would like to read in it. Mobi/Kindle may have a slight current edge, in sheer numbers. ePub is easier to use and freer, while being extremely competitive in title selection.
(In computer-history terms: mobi is .doc, and ePub is a well-designed ODF, and it's still the start of the document format wars. I think the format that the publishers and device manufactures can use easily will be the dominant format, since the install base is still small.)
'Sensible' is a curse word.
of skeevy Russian mobsters, obliterated supercars of questionable pedigree, handguns and paradigm-changing gaming handhelds...
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I'm not arguing in favor of patents. If you start a business and I steal it from you, not just take the idea but tell you to your face that you were a partner but are no longer, and my lawyer slaps you with filed papers to that effect, is that a patent issue? Or a simple civil case, name your poison- say theft, breach of contract, breaking of agreements, christ, I could go on...
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
I have a hard time believing that they were days away from launch, and there is not a stockpile of units somewhere with the "crunchpad" branding written all over them. I could see the deal falling through days before manufacturing begins, but once you actually make the devices it's kinda the point of no return.
Unless they're just going to hit a bargain bin in some third world country. But it sounds like Arrington is already too heavily invested if it was indeed days away from launch.
or else!
Bezos says he's selling them, but he hasn't released any sales figures.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
It's true; his wife is getting my package right now.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
With a book store one third of the size, it sounds like the Nook will only satisfy people who read primarily copyright-expired works. Those of us who want books written in the past seventy years have only the Kindle as a legitimate ebook option. As much as you talk about the format, you forget that it's the books that matter--not the binding. Some day, if BN can get enough publishers to play ball, it may be a contender. But right now, the Nook is the Zune to Amazon's iPod.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
I do not think you know what it means.
how much hard work did he actually do on this thing? My understanding is that he mostly said, "I want this thing with these specs at this price, make it happen" and his manufacturing partner is the one that actually built it.
That sounds a little like Steve Jobs.
It is relatively easy to invent things; it is another matter entirely to get enough people to care about it. I'm sure everyone here has thought up a patentable idea, the difference is the drive to do something with it.
The CrunchPad was supposed to have open hardware & software, right?
It was almost finished and ready for release, right?
So where's the hardware design & source code? Or was all that "open" talk just BS meant to get support from the slashcrunch crowd?
Ah, but will he let others look at his wife's nook?
I drank what? -- Socrates
*Patents* *aren't* *universally* *good* *or* *universally* *bad,* *and* *I* *wouldn't* *expect* *someone* *who* *thinks* *as* *much* *to* *be* *able* *to* *separate* *their* *opinion* *of* *the* *man* *and* *the* *product* *from* *the* *discussion* *of* *legal* *responsibility* *that's* *going* *on.*
In all likelihood is was a group of fscking MBAs. I've never met an MBA that wasn't turned into a complete a**hat by his stint in MBA school. It's like they teach negative morality there. 'Anything is ok that makes you money. If you don't think that way you are a chump, etc.'
That school of thought is a big part of the reason we just had a massive economic crash. I hope he tears these guys a new a**hole.
"There are laws that enslave men, and laws that set them free. " - Sean Connery as King Arthur
The culture in most B-Schools is really kind of interesting and disgusting. My office is directly adjacent to my institution's business school and I'll sometimes have lunch in their cafeteria, because the food is decent. I suppose that when you're charging a quarter of a million for a degree you are somewhat required to provide edible food. It's hard not to notice that nearly every single student or faculty member there is a tool. I only wish I was making a generality.
Take the ugliest tendencies of a jock fraternity, add greed, avarice, hair-gel, flop-sweat and downright meanness.
Ever see the movie Glengarry Glen Ross? Think of the Alec Baldwin character. Now take away the charm and intelligence and give him the patina of higher education and the aroma of Axe body spray. That's the population of a business school.
I sometimes play in a floating poker game for academics. The only person we've ever had to physically put out was from the B-School. And get this: it was a asst prof from Romance Languages that executed the bum's rush. The ejectee went on to create a retail start-up that made some money, grew fast and went down hard. I've heard that some working stiffs got hurt in the deal, but the major players went on to give "make money at home" seminars and host an infomercial on local AM radio (the kind that try to sound like a real radio talk show). And this is a guy from one of the top-ten US biz schools.
By comparison, the folks over at the law school are sweethearts.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Arrington pulled a SourceForge.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/21/we-want-a-dead-simple-web-tablet-help-us-build-it/
He declared a project, didn't put much in beyond the idea for the project, and then expected people to flock to the project and build it for him. Very much the same way people declare projects on SourceForge, and then expect volunteer programmers to come out of the woodwork and build whatever their pet project happens to be.
The only difference here is that it involved both hardware and software, and not just software.
I went to the Internet WayBack Machine and read all of the blogs from Fusion Garage (the actual site is currently down, probably intentionally), and it looks like all of the software was done by them, including the OS, and it looks (from Arrington's blogs) like a lot of the hardware was done by Intel.
I don't mean to discount the value of vision or publicity, but really, he intended to Open Source everything about the tablet when he declared the project, and I don't really see a lot of value being taken from him in that case, since he wouldn't be building hardware anyway. The only money would be in margin on the hardware if the software was all out there. A lot of people have posted similar specifications for what they'd like to see in a tablet computer, and the only difference between them and Arrington is Arrington has a lot of self-publicity and got a startup to bite on the bait to actually build the thing.
Arrington might have some arguments with regard to industrial design, but the prototype hardware was not built by him, and the software that made that hardware live and breathe was definitely not his.
I've worked at combo hardware/software startups, and I've worked at software-only startups (including my own), and universally, the hardware in the hardware/software startups was all about minimal COGS and industrial design (being at Apple now, that's pretty much all there is). The value-add over commodity hardware is that it isn't "cheapest vendor of the part of the day" (so the hardware is reliable and not crap because of constantly retooled assembly lines), and it's the software. When Apple builds a laptop, it doesn't build hardware, and it doesn't build software, it builds systems. The people who don't get that and churn out 1.5%-4% margin crap do so at their peril.
My reading of things is that Arrington is no Jonathan Ive, and he's no Steve Jobs when it comes to design of hardware or software.
Fusion Garage may have taken his idea and run with it.. and they want to cut him in on profits from something, the intrinsic value of which he intended to give away for no profit, but they don't seem to be ripping him off to do it, although they do seem to be leveraging as much as they can to get him to accept a minority role with regard to what he brings to the table (which, per the above, by my reckoning, isn't much; sorry, Arrington).
As more than one V.C. has told me in the past, the point is not the idea; there are millions of good ideas that go unfunded all the time (I'll point at SourceForge again, where "funding" equates to "provision of manpower necessary to complete a project"); what a V.C. funds is the ability to execute on a vision, no matter whose vision it is, and the team behind that ability to execute on the vision and bring a product to market. 1 in 10 entrepreneurs get funded; 1 in 10 of those fail in the first year. That's only a 1 in 100 chance of being around after a year.
Arrington's failure is no less spectacular than anyone else's in that 99 out of 100 failures, he's just made it more public by ranting about it.
Ironically, the idea may still not be a failure, merely a failure on his part to control the thing which was built on his (and a lot of other peoples similar) idea, if Fusion Garage or someone else simply continues on and executes on it.
Good luck in your future endeavors, but don't think that by declaring an idea publically that you've built or created anything.
-- Terry
So what you're saying is that your wife is holding out for some nookie. Gotcha.
BTW, native PDF support was released for the Kindle on 11/24.
http://ireaderreview.com/2008/01/18/how-to-view-pdf-files-on-the-kindle/
I would encourage anyone who is upset by these actions to sign the petition "Without Arrington I Wont Buy A CrunchPad" at http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/CrunchPad/
Translation: I'd like to cash in on Arrington's hard work.
I have no reason to doubt that Arrington is being screwed here, and that he does in fact have intellectual property rights that are being trampled on, but how much hard work did he actually do on this thing? My understanding is that he mostly said, "I want this thing with these specs at this price, make it happen" and his manufacturing partner is the one that actually built it.
Arrington is providing (a) his services as a sort of ideal end-user (i.e. if this one tech-savvy guy really, really wants a thing that works exactly like this, there's probably a market for it) and (b) a ready-made market in the shape of his extensive and influential (in tech circles) audience. The latter indeed took hard work to amass, but he's not the one who actually built the CrunchPad.
Then.. Arrington = Manager ?
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
What I don't understand is why Fusion Garage owns any of the intellectual property whatsoever...
Probably because they worked with them to develop the final prototypes, although that's just speculation.
From the TFA it's not even clear that Arrington properly retained sole ownership of the "CrunchPad" trademark, it's all intermingled and joint.
Actually, I thought he made it pretty clear that TechCrunch retained sole ownership of the "CrunchPad" trademark when he said "we solely own the CrunchPad trademark."
You'd think the least he would have done is had non-compete language in the recision provisions of their joint venture
Except this isn't COMPETING. They're still trying to sell the product, just without TechCrunch's involvement.
Basically what Fusion Garage did is they hired Arrington as a consultant and marketer (as they say, an "evangelist") and now they're telling him to take a hike, and this ostensibly-smart "insider" finds himself without recourse.
Except they can't do that without his permission. They're at a stalemate where neither one of them can make the product.
What Fake Steve said
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
It looks like you missed the point.
Him: Actually, that's one of the advantages of the Nook in my opinion: It uses an open, standard format (EPUB) as it's normal book format.
You: The Kindle most certainly uses non-proprietary book formats.
Him: mobi is a proprietary format (it is owned by a company, and they control the format), and ... epub is a true open format: available to any without licensing fees and such.
You: First, the Kindle supports mobi. Regular, non-DRM mobi format. Your claim otherwise is factually, indisputably false.
Him: The only effective way you can make or read a .mobi is by licensing an app or library from the company that owns the format.
You: The point, if you missed it, is that very many books are available for the Kindle.
His point from the beginning was that the Nook uses an open format. You ignored (or missed) that point and argued something entirely different -- that the number of books available matters.
Had you not had your morning coffee yet?
Put identity in the browser.
*You* really *seem* as if *you* *know* what you'*re* talking *about*.
Many years ago ('95) when my then startup company was living hand to mouth we were approached by a rather slick character who had Big Plans - he was talking to lots of hardware and infrastructure providers about this huge project and he wanted us to to the software component - because we were Java specialists (not exactly very common back then). We had a lot of meetings - some with major 3-letter hardware vendors and we got rather excited about the whole thing. Turns out he was a dick collecting information for his MBA project - which of course he managed to forgot to mention to anyone. The hardware and telco guys were really quite upset and they were way more experienced than us (not to mention that they actually wore suits to the meetings). Subsequent experience with "really bright" people with MBAs from "top schools" has reinforced a view in me that is entirely consistent with your comment about them generally being a bunch of tools.
isn't that the guy with startup website that only posts about twitter.. and like 40 times a day.. boring.. move on
Intellectual Property? He has no patent, no contract, a trademark that apparently is not going to be used, and he says himself that everything is open sourced. What's preventing the manufacturer from continuing without him? Or him, proceeding without that particular manufacturer? In fact, what's preventing any manufacturer from taking the open source designs (after the first device is sold) and just running with it -- without either of them?
> Its as if a bunch of different people got together to make a pizza chain with one
> guy coming up with the name, logo, mascot, and business plan, and the other guys
> deciding to ace that first guy out yet retaining all of that first guy's input.
I don't think so. They're not using Arrington's name, logo, mascot, or business plan. They're using his idea, and you can't copyright or patent a basic idea (badly misapproved patents notwithstanding). Using your pizza chain analogy, it's like a guy got the idea to start a pizza chain, brought a bunch of other people together, and then those other people squeezed him out and started their own pizza chain without him.
At most, Arrington gave some general input on design--"no bigger than X, make the bezel flush, thinner; icons should be here, make one that does that" etc. The fact that he may have been the one who came up with the general idea should make no difference unless he had signed contracts, which he doesn't or else we would've heard about it. It's not even a new idea--it's just a slight but far more usable evolution of Microsoft's Smart Display, which itself is just a crippled version of the touchscreen tablet pc.
"It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word."--Andrew Jackson