The Pepper Pad has drawn a big thumbs-down from Alex, a TeleBlog reader identifying himself as owner of a new unit.
I have it now…So, what can I say?
This pad is for home use, I have same size 8.9 inches subnotebook, but switched to Pepper right away for browsing internet.
Only one think makes me sad:
This is not a computer, this is bad designed media device…
Be aware, no way to change size of characters in a browser, no way even use it as a book reader!!!
No way to download any files except mp3 or video and didn’t see any way to upload to SD card.
I think, this is a big mistake: not to have something like “Explorer”.
So is the above information accurate–especially the description of the Pepper’s capabilities or lack thereof? I’m going to email Pepper and see if I can’t get an eval unit and judge for myself. From afar, the Pepper in the past has looked great. Now, having encountered wildly conflicting opinions, I really need to see the machine in action. Meanwhile I’ll reserve judgment. I find it hard to believe that the Pepper can download only multimedia.
Like Roger Sperberg, meanwhile, I’ll be most interested in the company’s plans for e-book software. When will we see it?
The difficulty Pepper, or anybody entering this space, will face is expectations management. If people start to think about this as a “computer,” rather than a toaster, then the jig is up. Sure, there are some experienced users who will use the Pepper Pad for all its linux goodness, but most users don’t complain about getting root on their TV remotes or microwaves.
Actually, Casey, if you’re right about the fonts, it wouldn’t take that much to turn the Pepper Pad into a decent e-book machine. We’re just talking about the right app software. Can’t wait for that to happen. Hoping for the best! I want Pepper to succeed along with the rest of the industry, although I’ll continue to raise the obvious questions. I’d like like to see less “expectations management” and more improvements such as a porting over of Mobipocket or whatever. Ideally Mobipocket’s subpixel font-rendering technology will work with a bunch of sizes. Hey, Pepper, I’m rooting for you.
Nah, I don’t want Pepper to succeed. I want the decks cleared for the 770. Only Nokia can give MS true competition in this area. All other entrants are just distracting noise.
I don’t like those closed formats. They should have opened it up to developers.
This type of device I would have to try it before I like or dislike it.
We are very pleased to get feedback from our customers, and we would like to encourage Alex and other Pepper Pad customers to send us feedback via the built-in support form on the Pepper Pad or via our Support form located at http://store.pepper.com/support/contact.html.
We are continually working on making the web browsing experience on the Pepper Pad as rich and “high-fidelity” as possible. Additionally we are in the process of implementing some of the features and functions Alex states, but unfortunately I am not at liberty to state when they will be available for legal reasons.
I would encourage Alex and all Pepper Pad users to register their Pepper Pad at http://store.pepper.com/support/register.html so they can stay in touch and get the latest information from Pepper. Additionally, all users should periodically press the ‘Get Updates’ button on the main Pepper Keeper page to download software updates.
Jon Melamut
VP, Sales & Business Development
Pepper Computer, Inc.
While I have no formal announcements to make here, I can say that all the features Alex asks about our on the ‘list’ of features and enhancements we are working on for future software releases for the Pepper Pad, except a ‘generic Explorer’ applications.
We have specifically tried to come up with a better experience than a traditional ‘Finder/Explorer’ application. Our approach is to have libraries for each content type: Photos, Music and Video. When digital content is added to the Pepper Pad via an Internet download, USB drive or an SD card the Pepper software determines in which library to store the content. Pepper libraries are self-organizing based on the meta contained in the digital content. For certain libraries, users can also add to and edit the meta data of their digital content. As a result, we think the digital libraries are providing a better more intuitive means to present digital content as opposed to a generic ‘finder/explorer’ application. Feel free to send us feedback via our website at http://www.pepper.com/company/contact.html.
For Alex’s earlier comments, click here. Meanwhile I hope that e-books or at least text in general will be among the “content types.” – David
Well, it’s me again.
Jon wrote:
For certain libraries, users can also add to and edit the meta data of their digital content. As a result, we think the digital libraries are providing a better more intuitive means to present digital content as opposed to a generic ‘finder/explorer’ application.
Good, but what if You want upload just single file from Pepper Pad back to SD card or USB drive?
Even if You want to sync with Pepper Desktop You have to wait till all contents will send to Desktop and (I don’t understand it) come back to Pepper Pad again. At list my Pepper pad does it…