R.I.P Crunchpad?

Credit: TechCrunch

There are so many companies working on their own e-book readers / tablets that people come to assume that launching a new portable device is not that hard. Crunchpad was one of those tablets that was expected to take the market by storm and give us all yet another option in this soon to be crowded market. Unfortunately, we didn’t even get to see the device as it has apparently died. Michael Arrington announced on Monday that the Crunchpad project is not going anywhere. It may not be completely dead, but you can forget about getting your hands on one anytime soon:

We jointly own the CrunchPad product intellectual property, and we solely own the CrunchPad trademark. So it’s legally impossible for them to simply build and sell the device without our agreement. Ultimately there are two sides to every story, and they’ll certainly have their side. We will almost certainly be filing multiple lawsuits against Fusion Garage, and possibly Chandra and his shareholders as individuals, shortly. The legal system will work it all out over time.

As those of us who have dealt with the justice system know, there is always an opportunity for both sides to get together and get the project going again. Will it happen? It’s not easy to say. Only Michael knows the extent of damage to the relationship between the both parties. But Crunchpad seems to be dead at this point, considering that this legal struggle could take a while to resolve itself.

Crunchpad was intriguing for its simple concept and price. But it was never going to be your dedicated e-book reader. And it’s hard to know how the device would have worked out, considering that there are companies out there that are working on better, more capable devices. There is no reason Amazon Kindle 3 can’t be everything Crunchpad intended to be and more. Amazon Kindle is already capable of connection to the Internet, and it does come with its own browser. But the underlying software needs a bit of work. At the same time, there are plenty of options available on the market, so Crunchpad won’t be missed.

Your take: is Crunchpad dead? Would you pay for such a device?