7 ms·

HP’s Touchpad Makes the Ultimate Business Dashboard

52 points by dustyreagan 15y ago

dangrossman 15y ago
This was my first thought when they dropped to $99 last week. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2905724 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2905724 Unfortunately it's impossible to get a TouchPad at that price any more. If you're going to pay $200+ for a tablet, then you might as well get something that's not discontinued and will have an app/support ecosystem going forward. Right now I am using a Logitech Revue (Google TV) to display my GeckoBoard on a normal LCD display. The Logitech boxes are very low power, are only $99, and will be upgraded to Android 3.0 in late September. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6209/6080298965_6ede3e2cb0_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6209/6080298965_6ede3e2cb0_z....
joezydeco 15y ago
So is there a market for a super-dumb LCD that can have information pushed to it over WiFi? Forget the touchscreen, forget the storage. Why aren't we hacking photo frames to do this?
- dangrossman 15y ago
  A decent 10" digital photo frame can easily cost $100. For that price, you can buy a Logitech Revue -- Google TV running Android with Chrome and wifi. Hook it up with a HDMI->DVI adapter (<$1) and it'll drive a 1920x1080 display. Got a spare monitor?
  - joezydeco 15y ago
    Bzzzt. No discontinued hardware.
    - CrazedGeek 15y ago
      The Revue hasn't been discontinued.
      - joezydeco 15y ago
        http://thisismynext.com/2011/07/28/google-tv-update-logitech-revue-boxes-returned-sold-q1-price-dropping-99/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/07/28/google-tv-update-logitech... "very modest sales” of the Revue were exceeded by returns of the product, CEO Gerald P. Quindlen is leaving and the Revue itself is being slashed below cost to just $99 — a move that’s costing Logitech some $34m in one-time charges. " I'd wager that it's toast.
      - deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
- pkamb 15y ago
  http://www.chumby.com/ http://www.chumby.com/
  - joezydeco 15y ago
    Chumby would be my best bet too. I have one running next to me right now, it's very nice. The only downside is the app universe needs to be in Flash, but that's fixable.
    - unwiredben 15y ago
      Latest Chumby OS version that's in the Chumby 8 supports an embedded WebKit view that can be invoked from Flash. Too bad it seems like the Chumby app development world is dead right now.
      - joezydeco 15y ago
        I could see that. Small userbase and even smaller app world with no real revenue model. I know Qt is very easy to run on the Chumby hardware, so making a widget w/WebKit that just loads a web page over and over would be a snap.
- ddw 15y ago
  Some people are. Here's one of many hacks: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=504678 http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=504678 Conceivably with a USB remote you could even control the computer from the wall. I have three iBooks from my last job and a few old Windows laptops that I want to try out when I get a chance. Ideally I'd like to create a dashboard with a bunch of data points that I'd be interested in so that I can scan it all while I'm eating breakfast or something. At the very least it would make a nice digital wall clock.
- spinchange 15y ago
  No doubt - like the modern equivalent of a common LED matrix scrolling display, but for web data.
  - pkamb 15y ago
    I'd go full-on retro with a Solari Board: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solari_departure_board http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solari_departure_board
    - joezydeco 15y ago
      Wow! Another split-flap fan! Hermano! Seriously, other than the rare eBay auction, can you even buy these modules on the open market? Who salvages these things from old installations?
  - vanadium 15y ago
    I did something like that (on an LED sign) during a weekend a couple of years back: http://op9.com/latest/226/alphabrite-v1.0-released http://op9.com/latest/226/alphabrite-v1.0-released Here it is in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goQFce5cqLs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goQFce5cqLs Also hitches onto a website to allow for real-time messaging. The day it hit Reddit's front page in 2009, oh god.
- dustyreagan 15y ago
  I was actually looking for a digital picture frame that could display a webpage for this very purpose before the fire-sale. I couldn't find one that could do it out of the box.
dotBen 15y ago
For a while I toyed around with a startup idea that was essentially what geckoboard is doing. I decided the size of the addressable market is too small to be interesting but one of the revenue ideas I had was to essentially build out a big screen tv-based dashboard product customers could buy from me. The idea is to ship the customer something that could just be hung on the wall, plugged in, connected to wifi and immediately display the dashboard - just using an off-the-shelf TV and a cheap mini-ITX board or similar plugged in behind the TV.
- dustyreagan 15y ago
  If Geckoboard had a small pre-configured display for sale for say $250, I would have bought it.
unwiredben 15y ago
Love this! Just passed the link around the webOS Dev Relations team.
Tichy 15y ago
So unfair. Some people would make better use of a TOuchPad, if they had managed to get one. No offense, but I think there are better (dumber) devices for dashboards that don't have unnecessary features like a TouchPad.
- sliverstorm 15y ago
  Are they cheaper? 'Cause I think that would be the 3rd metric of importance, right behind "Has a screen" and "Has WiFi". Anyway, he says it just does that while it's charging. So, he could well use it for other things too. Don't let yourself drown in bitterness over "I'd use it better!". I used to do that when I was a teenage car enthusiast, lamenting morons crashing their Ferrari's. But really, the world's not fair, and in the end the TouchPad doesn't give a damn how it's used.
  - Tichy 15y ago
    Not really serious, I am just disappointed that I didn't get one.

52 points by dustyreagan 15y ago

This was my first thought when they dropped to $99 last week. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2905724 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2905724 Unfortunately it's impossible to get a TouchPad at that price any more. If you're going to pay $200+ for a tablet, then you might as well get something that's not discontinued and will have an app/support ecosystem going forward. Right now I am using a Logitech Revue (Google TV) to display my GeckoBoard on a normal LCD display. The Logitech boxes are very low power, are only $99, and will be upgraded to Android 3.0 in late September. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6209/6080298965_6ede3e2cb0_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6209/6080298965_6ede3e2cb0_z....

joezydeco 15y ago

So is there a market for a super-dumb LCD that can have information pushed to it over WiFi? Forget the touchscreen, forget the storage. Why aren't we hacking photo frames to do this?

dangrossman 15y ago
A decent 10" digital photo frame can easily cost $100. For that price, you can buy a Logitech Revue -- Google TV running Android with Chrome and wifi. Hook it up with a HDMI->DVI adapter (<$1) and it'll drive a 1920x1080 display. Got a spare monitor?
- joezydeco 15y ago
  Bzzzt. No discontinued hardware.
  - CrazedGeek 15y ago
    The Revue hasn't been discontinued.
    - joezydeco 15y ago
      http://thisismynext.com/2011/07/28/google-tv-update-logitech-revue-boxes-returned-sold-q1-price-dropping-99/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/07/28/google-tv-update-logitech... "very modest sales” of the Revue were exceeded by returns of the product, CEO Gerald P. Quindlen is leaving and the Revue itself is being slashed below cost to just $99 — a move that’s costing Logitech some $34m in one-time charges. " I'd wager that it's toast.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
pkamb 15y ago
http://www.chumby.com/ http://www.chumby.com/
- joezydeco 15y ago
  Chumby would be my best bet too. I have one running next to me right now, it's very nice. The only downside is the app universe needs to be in Flash, but that's fixable.
  - unwiredben 15y ago
    Latest Chumby OS version that's in the Chumby 8 supports an embedded WebKit view that can be invoked from Flash. Too bad it seems like the Chumby app development world is dead right now.
    - joezydeco 15y ago
      I could see that. Small userbase and even smaller app world with no real revenue model. I know Qt is very easy to run on the Chumby hardware, so making a widget w/WebKit that just loads a web page over and over would be a snap.
ddw 15y ago
Some people are. Here's one of many hacks: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=504678 http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=504678 Conceivably with a USB remote you could even control the computer from the wall. I have three iBooks from my last job and a few old Windows laptops that I want to try out when I get a chance. Ideally I'd like to create a dashboard with a bunch of data points that I'd be interested in so that I can scan it all while I'm eating breakfast or something. At the very least it would make a nice digital wall clock.
spinchange 15y ago
No doubt - like the modern equivalent of a common LED matrix scrolling display, but for web data.
- pkamb 15y ago
  I'd go full-on retro with a Solari Board: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solari_departure_board http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solari_departure_board
  - joezydeco 15y ago
    Wow! Another split-flap fan! Hermano! Seriously, other than the rare eBay auction, can you even buy these modules on the open market? Who salvages these things from old installations?
- vanadium 15y ago
  I did something like that (on an LED sign) during a weekend a couple of years back: http://op9.com/latest/226/alphabrite-v1.0-released http://op9.com/latest/226/alphabrite-v1.0-released Here it is in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goQFce5cqLs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goQFce5cqLs Also hitches onto a website to allow for real-time messaging. The day it hit Reddit's front page in 2009, oh god.
dustyreagan 15y ago
I was actually looking for a digital picture frame that could display a webpage for this very purpose before the fire-sale. I couldn't find one that could do it out of the box.

dotBen 15y ago

For a while I toyed around with a startup idea that was essentially what geckoboard is doing. I decided the size of the addressable market is too small to be interesting but one of the revenue ideas I had was to essentially build out a big screen tv-based dashboard product customers could buy from me. The idea is to ship the customer something that could just be hung on the wall, plugged in, connected to wifi and immediately display the dashboard - just using an off-the-shelf TV and a cheap mini-ITX board or similar plugged in behind the TV.

dustyreagan 15y ago
If Geckoboard had a small pre-configured display for sale for say $250, I would have bought it.

unwiredben 15y ago

Love this! Just passed the link around the webOS Dev Relations team.

Tichy 15y ago

So unfair. Some people would make better use of a TOuchPad, if they had managed to get one. No offense, but I think there are better (dumber) devices for dashboards that don't have unnecessary features like a TouchPad.

sliverstorm 15y ago
Are they cheaper? 'Cause I think that would be the 3rd metric of importance, right behind "Has a screen" and "Has WiFi". Anyway, he says it just does that while it's charging. So, he could well use it for other things too. Don't let yourself drown in bitterness over "I'd use it better!". I used to do that when I was a teenage car enthusiast, lamenting morons crashing their Ferrari's. But really, the world's not fair, and in the end the TouchPad doesn't give a damn how it's used.
- Tichy 15y ago
  Not really serious, I am just disappointed that I didn't get one.