No More TransNote
from the oh-well dept
A year ago we posted information about IBM’s new TransNote notebook computer. At the time I said I wasn’t sure how well it would be accepted – but that I thought it was cool that someone had finally tried to think about how people really use their laptops – and designed something better than just another laptop. Turns out I was about the only person impressed by the thing. The market was too small and IBM has stopped selling it. I think they did a pretty poor job of promoting it. Also, it was a bit pricey for what you got in terms of actual computing power. Even though I liked the design, I never would have bought one myself – since the things it was most useful for (taking notes that you want imported into your computer) isn’t something that would be worth the extra money for me.
Comments on “No More TransNote”
End of TransNote Production
As Mike said, the price was too high for what they were offering at the time. IBM’s original price was $2999 – $3199 for the system without external drives. I was surprised to get an e-mail from TigerDirect.com around Christmas offering the TransNote, along with an extra 64Meg of RAM and an external floppy, for $1000. Now we’re talking value. I bought one and really like it. It is often much quicker to flip it open and start taking written notes without turning on the computer. And, how many times have you needed to make a sketch and found that PCs are not nearly as good at this as just drawing it on paper? The ThinkScribe part of the TransNote is great for that.
Of course, the price had dropped because IBM was dumping their stock and getting out. I agree that IBM did not promote the TransNote. I don’t have time to read the computer magazines any more, so I didn’t see the TransNote until last November. By that time they had probably already made the decision to axe it.
This is a case of the IBM research department sliding one past marketing and getting into production, but the bean counters set the profit high enough to cover the bloated overhead. Instead of taking it off the market, they should sell the design and manufacturing to a small company that could sell it for much less and still make money.
Please visit the TransNote User Group at TransNote.com for more info living with this unique computer.