Who’s on Crack in Tech: Good Friday edition

Welcome to the Good Friday edition, or the “no one else is working, so why should I?” edition, as I like to call it. This week blends freak-deaky gadgets that will only add to my neurosis and potential set us all back some major ching. The normal weirdness is here thanks to MS and Amazon and who knows what the heck Archos is thinking. Here is my list:

• $99 Netbooks with a catch
• Microsoft has a confidence problem
• Archos goes PMP with one feature: low price
• Screens will never be rolled; we need to get over that
• Kindle 2 lacks a value prop to get Sue to upgrade

Hidden catch with strings attached

Feel like you are getting the shaft? That’s the feeling I get as I consider getting a netbook on the cheap from AT&T along with their service. You get the $99 netbook plus a two-year agreement that runs $60 or $40 per month depending on your habit. Sounds OK, right?

Here is what bugs me: I’d sit there staring at my iPhone and staring at my netbook. I am pretty sure the money-sucking sound would be audible as both burn through paid data plans that I pay. That sound would keep me up at night.

Why do we have to pay for umpteen data connections? How about a bundle plan? Give me a deal for broadband at home, a netbook/laptop, and phone. Or, allow me to share like I can with a Windows Mobile or other tethering plan. I’d really like to pay to get the pipe to follow me; and that’s it. All 3 seem like highway robbery to me. To our Robert Nelson, he just doesn’t want to give money to the man,

“I would think it would be much smarter, and more convenient to have a netbook, mini-notebook or even a full-size notebook and have a separate USB dongle that I can use with any computer.”

MS indirectly says Windows 7 is *meh*

Announcing users can download to the unloved Vista or all the way down to XP, Microsoft seems to suggest it doesn’t have much faith in Windows 7. Where is the “this is the best we’ve ever done” or the “you’ll be saying Mac-who in 6 months” or roll out Robert Scoble and have him say, “it was sooo good, I cried.” (love ya Scoble).

With this announcement, the response I get is just a keep your heads down, nothing to see here. Not confidence-inspiring at all boys. Gadgetell’s Heather Wood brings us the deets:

Microsoft has confirmed that users of the new Windows 7 will be able to downgrade to either Vista or XP. Downgrade rights will be open through the company’s PC partners, including HP.

Archos MP3 player puts price first

Competing on price these days seems to be a losing proposition to me. Someone somewhere (probably China) will find a way to make it cheaper and then you are left with nada. Archos has done just that with their silent launch of their new PMPs.

Our usually uber-positive Natesh Sood says:

“Unfortunately, Archos didn’t add any super amazing features to either of these models, but the price is what may get you to purchase one of these.”

Archos seems like a company that has great ideas but just misses in execution. From Archos TV to their chunky iPod touch-like devices, they are good but not great. I keep hoping one day, they’ll knock it out of the park. Today is not that day.

Roll up screens??? What, did you find a projector screen in my parents’ basement, Iyaz?

Iyaz wrote a thought-provoking piece on flexible OLEDs that I need to talk about here. Sitting next to Iyaz when Sony showed their gizmo had two different responses: to Iyaz it was “What can’t that be on?” To me it was “What is going to use that?”

I still feel that way. No way is every device going to have some kind of shade that you unroll to view. Anyone who’s fought with window shades that pull down, then zip back up, scaring the bejesus out of you and perhaps making you pee yourself knows what I am talking about. Laptops with a flexible screen just don’t make sense, you’ve already got the form factor tied up in the keyboard. Don’t even talk to me about roll up keyboards mated with rolled up screens. Holograms will be here well before Iyaz gets his thoughts realized.

Speaking of the roll up keyboard, the flexible screen is very similar. Sounds like an awesome idea until you get it in your hands and ask, “OK, WTF now?” They all hang out in the clearance bin at Staples.

And on a watch??? Don’t even get me started. Didn’t I make fun of the 80′s snap bracelets last week?

Kindle 2 has no sizzle.

Our Sue Walsh loves her Kindle. As Gadgetell’s go-to ebook’er, Sue wrote an interesting piece on why she is not upgrading and honestly, I am blown away. Knowing how much she enjoys the simple pleasure of ebooks and tech, you’d figure she’d jump on the train to Kindle2ville faster than anyone. (interesting fact: Kindle2ville does not come up as misspelled in Firefox’s spell checker deal)

So whats so wrong with the Kindle 2? Wouldn’t Amazon want to provide a compelling upgrade path for Kindle (1) users to move to? After all, how many iPhone 3G customers were iPhone first gen owners? It is the upgrade path that feeds so many of today’s tech companies. So what did Amazon do wrong?

Sue says it is price, battery issues and flakey first units.

“stick to your original Kindle if you own one or pick up one for around $200 on Ebay and Amazon’s Marketplace. You won’t be missing anything. “

How fast will Amazon move to a touchscreen Kindle 3 to cover up this blunder?

See something I missed this week that outraged you? Let us know in the comments.