My Netlet

The Joojoo

Before the iPad (about a week before) and before the courier and all the other tablet computers that are beginning to flood the shelves of electronics and computer stores, there came a simple little gadget call the Joojoo. This strangely named device began life as the brainchild of Michael Arrington, the editor and cofounder of popular technology blog Techcrunch. From there the story gets stranger and unfortunately somewhat sadder.

In 2008, Arrington began work on a project called the Crunchpad and enlisted the help of Singapore based Fusion Garage to help with the development. Keep in mind that this was before the world had ever even heard of the concept for the iPad and other similar devices we see today. Arrington’s vision was to create a simple, cheap device that users could use to surf the internet and nothing more. He wanted to keep the endeavor simple and keep the price under $200. As development proceeded, the estimated price began to rise.

By 2009, Arrington had a small company working on the project, based out of Singapore. Things seemed to be moving along fine when in November Fusion Garage suddenly informed him that they would have to pull out of the project. Shortly afterwards, Arrington announced that the Cruchpad project was dead and that he would be pursuing legal action to stop Fusion Garage from selling the design.

The lawsuit did not stop Fusion Garage and the device was reborn under the name Joojoo. Pre orders for the device went on sale in Dec. 2009 and the company was looking for an early February release date. Due to a manufacturing problem, the tablet did not actually ship until March 25, but still beat the iPad by a week.

Initial sales of the Joojoo were moderate, though the company actually claims that sales increased after the iPad was released. However, reviews of the device have not been favorable and many consumers are disappointed with its lack of features compared to other recently introduced tablet computers.

On the tech front, the Joojoo remained faithful to Arrington’s original vision. The Joojoo sports a 12” touch screen, which is the largest in its class and has no buttons other than the power button. It is powered by a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor with NVIDIA graphics support.

Connectivity is achieved with either Wi-Fi or 3G. Rumors are that Fusion Garage is in negotiations to secure a deal with at least one wireless phone carrier.

The Joojoo operates off of a specially designed Linux based “operating system,” which is actually just an enhanced web browser. Just as Arrington wanted, the Joojoo is simply a way to surf the internet and is not encumbered by additions programs.

One feature that did not hold true to Arrington’s vision is the price. When the Joojoo shipped in March 2010, it carried a price tag of $499, just 250% of Arrington’s original desire. This hefty price tag for a device that does nothing more than surf the web certainly leaves many consumers wondering why they should drop 5 bills on a device that does so much less than similarly priced tablets. Touted as an internet browsing tablet, the Joojoo doesn’t even support Adobe Flash. Apple’s iPad is popular and versatile enough to get away with this omission, but a tablet that stakes its existence on web browsing may not be so lucky.

Though there have been no complaints with the Joojoo’s performance, critics have been harsh due to the unit’s steep price and meager capabilities. It will likely be necessary for Fusion Garage to complete a serious overhaul of the next generation Joojoo if they hope to survive in this new, highly competitive tablet market.