It seems like I’ve heard that title somewhere before. Oh yeah, almost exactly. So this time a guest at our party last week decided to corner Chandra Rathakrishnan, the CEO of our CrunchPad partner Fusion Garage, and talk him into doing this ridiculous “unboxing” of the CrunchPad. The video went up and the blogosphere went wild, just like last time.
The video has now been removed from YouTube.
This was not a sanctioned or official video, nor is it even very interesting. It’s just the last prototype being taken out of its box (which should be sort of obvious, pictures of the prototype in the video have been circulating since April). It’s certainly not the launch prototype, pictured here, which doesn’t actually exist yet.
The only official information on the CrunchPad at this point is in the blog post I wrote a couple of weeks ago, and you can send an email to crunchpad@techcrunch.com for various updates. We’re planning an event in July to give more information. Until then, I hope we’ve seen the last of these ridiculous fingerprint smudged “unboxing” videos.
And that guest who took the video without talking to me first won’t be back at any TechCrunch events anytime soon.
Is his body dumped in a lake somewhere?
Haha, must be. The video’s been taken down…bring it back? plz…?
Ohh Sad I missed the Video.
http://www.smartbloggerz.com
Congrats Michael on the CrunchPad! It looks great and I can’t wait for it to be released soon!
More Pics and VIdeo PLeeeassSSeeeE!!!
Mike, Before you go into the July ‘more info’ announcement, are there any details about the price and availability of the device (online, retail stores etc…) Are you guys planning to keep it to just the technorati elite or will be producing for the masses too? LOL Obviously I would love to get my hands on one of the CruchPads, and I am not in the technorati elite circles…
-Ravneet
Ravneet, just email crunchpad@techcrunch.com and you’ll always get the most up to date information. Nothing else to share right now, sorry.
U know when I first saw the Kindle and also heard of a Apple version. I thought to myself what is the use of a frigging oversize Laptop screen?
300,000 units sold in 3 months? maybe, but they will sell.
Hell hath no fury like a blogger scorned.
It was a pretty worthless video though, fingerprints (and Bing sticker) and all . . .
Haha! Alt title: Tech Godfather Warns Foolish Goon
Tech Godfather? really?
…And the CEO who just let him put his grubby paws all over?
Loic from Seesmic I’m sure. Sure sounded like him.
The concept image is so pretty. I hope it looks that good in production.
LOL…from the site that posts many fingerprint smudged iphone rumors and previews
sure. i am fully aware of the hypocrisy.
Hmm. Maybe the pulling of the video created more buzz than the video itself
It’s really fun to poke nose on Apple but when some one does the same to TechCrunch’s Crunchpad
Michel gets Angry
What goes around, comes around as they might have said….
how about some twitter news today?
Wasn’t Loic one who leaked the video?
Oh, I just thought it was some viral video for bing.
Hoping the next official video shows off a black unit!
Haha. that’s the same thought I had. I was like “wow, check out the HUGE BING sticker the CrunchPad is sporting”
And how is this different than the prototype video reviews that were shared before? I think it was Gizmodo, right? Which showed many of the features. Whereas this was only an “unboxing”.
And why publicly punish Loic? Shouldn’t you punish Chandra, who clearly knew he was video recording the unboxing and allowed this to happen?
Since you already showed off the prototype, this seems completely harmless – even without your permission.
the problem is Chandra let his guard down because it was Loic, assumed that since we’re friends he wouldn’t post anything without talking to me first. The first I even heard of this is when Zoli Erdos messaged me on skype to tell me about it, and it was everywhere by then. I think everyone involved learned a lesson about assumptions today.
Uh… why the **** was the box sitting out in the middle of a public party with 50 Flip cams and 70 iPhones with Qik installed roaming around?
Just sayin’
If I was a conspiracy theorist I’d be smelling something fishy…
I think the lesson is that when you make an assumption, you make an “ass” out of “u” and… um… “mption”.
No, that’s not right.
I actually tried to tell everyone it was the previous prototype, not the final version, but it was hopeless.
The first blog post got replicated quickly by the big gadget blogs, then Twitter went crazy with it – it all sounded like new discovery, when in fact it was re-hashing “old” info.
If the final prototype will be anywhere close to the sketches, it will be fantastic, far better than the one showed on this video, so making thousands of people believe this is the final version is not exactly the best marketing…
Isnt your own CEO more at fault for letting the blogger take the video first? Somehow you never mention that.
If we extrapolate it, in CIA leak case, the reporters who published are guilty not the officials who leaked the information.
Any comments?
If it ain’t Apple I ain’t buyin’ it.
You could buy 3 CrunchPads (est. $299 each) for the price of one Apple product…
But hey, if you want your stubbornness to empty your pockets, go for it.
$299 is the production cost so…
The Design is awesome! Will you ship to India? and at what price… This is exactly my wife needs as she is blocking my laptop with her search for home remedies and stuff like that…
Two questions:
In your retweet code, why don’t you use http://tcrn.ch/ instead of tinyurl?
Can you run a contest to create the best crunchpad video ad? Then we could submit our homebrew ads and you could stitch them together and maybe also give out a few crunchpads to the creators of the best video….
I’m curious as to why you went and had the video removed? If this was the AP or another company trying to suppress information that had leaked “unofficially,” I am certain you would be quite critical of them.
(Yes I know that the AP has done many other things to be worthy of criticism, I’m just trying to make a point.)
It was pink, much bulkier than the mockup in the article here suggests and Chandra used a lack of wifi connectivity as an excuse for not even turning it on.
My guess is that in its current form, it wasn’t going to impress normal consumers beyond the hardcore Techcrunch audience, so Mike decided to hold off any further pictures of it until it’s ripe for the general public to see.
This is cool
michael could i email a question or 2 about your development process? i have an idea for a device of my own and could use a point in the right direction. thanks.
Is it fun or just annoying to experience ‘pro-active’ journalism from the other side of the ‘pen’ ?
its lots of fun as long as i remain in control of the process. today that didn’t happen.
You have to admit if this was a TC reporter getting the scoop on the latest iPhone he or she would have been a hero at the TC office. Turnabout is fair play
sure. but Loic didn’t represent himself as a reporter, he represented himself as “mike’s friend” and Chandra trusted him for some ridiculous reason.
yeah, that’s not cool.
“And that guest who took the video without talking to me first won’t be back at any TechCrunch events anytime soon.”
Mike – Curious to know if you require guests to sign some sort of NDA before any TC event ?
no. just IQ tests.
LMAO!
… and to think, I was offering seed capital when the first blog post went up last year about it, and no one ever got i touch with me…. go figure.
So you are really going to do this? What type of time frame do you think it will have until anyone..er.. you will sell it to Canadians? Please.. it is just shipping and from what I understand there are no duties on computer products.. even if there is we will pay it. Half the problem with US companies is they don’t bother to see a global market..
Dude seriously? Loic is getting bitched at for this? This was the fist time I was impressed with Loic! For the first time he made sense! Gah. Up is down.
I’m keen to see the unboxing video, however, as Mike stated it’s not the newest prototype, I think you did the right thing by removing the video.
Michael –
How come you guys keep pimping out the Razor pink version to launch this thing? It that really the best foot forward?
I’m def not feeling the pink styles.
agree. i like the black one myself.
You should make it pocket sized as well. Oh wait…
“Everything is pocket sized if your ass is big enough”
-Mitch Hedberg
Everybody calm down, simply a solid promotion for the CrunchPad, well done Arrington!
Mike, its the second time you use Loic to make a scandal and get viral promotion. You are getting better i have to admit, almost genius but use someone else.
It would be great if I cant spot your next publicity stunt
About the CrunchPad the only problem is I really love the prototype unboxed, and i dont like the new one so much.
It does seem highly suspicious. Especially considering that usually when it is someone ELSE getting scooped, Mike Arrington is more than happy to run with the story, regardless of whether the information was obtained through proper “reporting.”
You are now a manufacturer of a product. There will be leaks, but it seems hypocritical to be outraged about these leaks when you encourage and solicit leaks from others (including competitors) in the race for a scoop.
It would be interesting to hear Loic’s story.
Haha.. Mike is pissed off by Loic again.
Well played, Mike. Almost as good as your fight with Loic after Le Web. Keep that buzz machine humming baby.
Form factor comes second on a device like this in my opinion, the winning factor will be the quality of touch recognition. This being what (for me) sets the iPhone apart from all the other touch devices.
Looks great Mike. Can’t wait to see the finished black version and seeing what it’s capable of.
btw: When they do come out, how will you feel when Phil Torrone and the rest of the hacking community starts to ‘play’ with it and get it to do unintended ‘homebrew’ things? – I think you’d be on to a winner, if you embrace all that.
Yeah, I was most surprised by the smudges on that older model in the video.
naughty video bloggers! ;p
Sad attempt to create hype+buzz for a product clearly no one wants.
Here’s a tip, add a keyboard, and a clamshell design, so the screen is held up. Call it a laptop!
Or, make it pocket sized, so you can actually carry it around.
Looks great .Michael.!! It’s a pity to see the video on Youtube .
I see little reason why the appearance of this vid on YT would be a problem.
Unless it’s the fact that it had a large BING sticker on the back, leading to some possible questions about who is really involved in this project and who is financing TC.
the blogosphere went wild? where? did i miss something?
this video got some 500 views and i wouldn’t call it successful at all.
Your reaction is pretty pathetic and i would recommend to calm down a little bit.
Never ever faced such a staged hype from someone who first wrote an unbelievable badly researched article about netbooks, full of errors and wrong technical informations and then promotes a tablet, trying to place it as a competitor. I mean a Tablet is a Tablet is a Tablet and these designs are on the market for more than half a decade.
Can’t tell this is impressing me but the hype and buzz you try to create around it, does impress me!
Oh and i love your little personal fights with Loic. Do you guys have a script for all this?
well im glad thats the one you won’t be launching – btw the unboxing looked so tacky, fingerprints and all.
Will it be simultaneously released everywhere like UK or do we have to wait few years?
I really want to buy this when it comes out in UK.
How old are we? I don’t care if this is staged drama or actual arrogance; it’s stupid. When you decide to slap-fight it out, please put that up on YouTube. THAT I’d watch.
In the mean time, can we get back to professional coverage of the industry? You know, the stuff that builds TC’s brand and reputation instead of the crap that builds temporary buzz and drama. Thanks.
This excitement has made me diddle myself to thoughts of the CrunchPad. CrunchPad, you are my new lover!
Mike – So Loic is now banned from TechCrunch events??
-Kyle
Nice play Mike.
I hope I can get one and for you I hope you beat Apple on the launch.
I must have one of these.
If you guys market this the right way… I dont see why wouldnt anyone wanna have one at home!
It is so convenient to be watching tv and pick it up just like you would get the remote to change the channel. Go online and check for something that came up.
With a laptop is not as easy, specially the weight and the booting time of laptops. That alone discourages me from getting up from the tv to check something online.
I think you take it too seriously. I’ve seen this video, it was clearly a joke, and while it brings almost no information (and certainly no new information) it shows how people can get excited about your product.
Maybe the video was ridiculous, so is your reaction.
Who said if was “official” information? People who want products with only official information already have Apple, they don’t need you
Please please PLEASEEEEEEEEEEE!
Please consider using PixelQ’s new 3-mode screen technology for your crunchpad prototype. Don’t just use some run of the mill LCD technology for the crunchpad. This product is too important. As well I hope its going to be a capacitive touchscreen using some form of multi-touch input technlogy that the user could tailor with software updates.
The only question that matters:
How much is it REALLY?
Ha Ha good scoop Loic
And Mike everyone is a reporter these days with a camera phone and a internet connection you of all people should understand citizen journalism and dont trust your friends and make sure they leave all mobile devices out of the room where you have a secret prototype .
I can Imagine Mike going to an Apple event and Woz showing him a iPhone/iTablet type device and Steve Jobs getting pissed about it
Think someone needs a lie down after all his rage!
Wow, Arrington, way to be a jerk. The guy did nothing wrong and your product is not THAT great to need to be so secretive. Lighten up.