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Comment by brandonkm | Hacker News Reader

Is anyone else much less excited about the CrunchPad than they used to be? This bit of news is the first I heard about the CrunchPad in months, I used to think it was a great idea, now... not so much. A 12" tablet that boots into firefox? I'm perfectly happy with my android phone. Is this supposed to be a mobile device? I have hard time imagining how successful a single purpose tablet will be for people on the go. Devices now are about convergence. For $300-400 you could buy a netbook, iPhone, or Droid. The average consumer won't see any value in purchasing an overpriced internet tablet over alternative devices (that have more functionality and are smaller).

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I was never sold on the idea of a big tablet. It doesn't really matter who makes it or how good it is. The size is a major problem. My feeling is people mostly want devices that fit into their pockets.

If it'll only work when you're somewhere with wi-fi, that immediately cripples its usefulness. Amazon realised this with the Kindle - that's why they went to the considerable trouble of dealing with the telcos to include a SIM card and connection to a mobile network.

I agree - for the cost of this, you can pick up a high-spec notebook or smartphone that can access the web just about anywhere. Why would you want this highly limited device that'll be a shiny-looking paperweight in all but a few locations?

You'd want it if you were going to leave it in a location with WiFi. Like when I use this (or a Mac tablet, if it's out sooner) to replace the aging 12" Powerbook G4 that my wife and I use to surf the net while we watch TV. It sits on my coffee table, in my house, where I've always got WiFi. It's been in that same room for all but about 10 hours of the last ~500 hours of its life.

Size is not an advantage or disadvantage, just a choice.

If you want web in bed, 12' is about right. If you want web in pocket, it's too big.

If it's 12', it better come with a touch pole to operate...

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