Mobile Think Tank - Curriculum Development Workshop

Sebastian Sibler
Disclosure: I am one of the three people behind the SCANDY project.

One of the reasons I always loved reading TC is that brutal honesty and freedom of speech of the bloggers there. That obviously just hit us and our project badly.

SCANDY does have its legit use cases. I started to use my phone to scan documents because there was no powerful network scanner in the office. Using the flatbed scanner meant to walk over to another PC, do the scans there and email them back to my computer. Using the phone was just much quicker. I was using an HTC Desire and to do readable scan of a paper with small font size you need to have a very very still hand.
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Reply · 8 · · August 25 at 12:49pm

Adoxus Suxoda · Hacettepe Üniversitesi
Agreed.
+
Objectivity includes positivity and negativity both. If there is any negative comment on it, there must be a positive side that was not mentioned by the writer.

This "post" is all negative. It started as an article which seems balanced and objective but the writer, in this case Chris Velazco, did a psychology thing that mixing up the readers' minds with mixed messages than throwing out his personal truth, which is all negative. No sign of objectivity.
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Reply · 1 · · August 29 at 3:06am

Jeremy Rudolph · Redwood City, California
A little disappointing that a tech writer would choose to write an article about their negative opinion towards an entrepreneur before the market has a chance to decide. We should be encouraging entrepreneurs to come out with new products in this horrible economy. Techcrunch, Please don't ruin the spirit of an entrepreneurial product before it has had a chance to test the market for a bit...I mean, it's only been up for 3 days!
Reply · 3 · · August 25 at 7:36am

Dave Schultze · Art Center College of Design
Should the opinion writer keep his opinions to himself? That would result in some very short articles.
Reply · · August 25 at 12:42pm

Jeremy Rudolph · Redwood City, California
Thats not the point. Save the opinion for later until the product has had a chance to test the market. This article drives down the consumer demand for the product as tech crunch is a well respected tech blog and people trust it. The writer hasn't given the product a chance with the market (3 days) and it is disappointing to see that.
Reply · 2 · · August 26 at 11:34pm

Alex Satrapa
Dave Schultze - the writer should only express an opinion on a product if the writer works in the space the product serves, and ideally has used the product. Otherwise the writer is just doing a CmdrTaco: “No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.” That was in reference to the iPod. Where's the Nomad today?

The Scandy looks pretty handy for folks who don't want to spruik for a flatbed scanner. My scanning needs are covered by my Fujitsu ScanSnap 1500M. What if you don't want to (or simply can't) afford a $700 scanner for occasional document scanning? What if you can't lug your scanner and computer to where you want to scan stuff?

Even with a few minutes of consideration, I can see that there is a market for a scanning jig that will help you scan documents reliably and repeatably with your cameraphone (or compact camera, the...See More
Reply · · September 27 at 2:45pm
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Lasse Clausen
I think most of us agree that there really is a market for this, I would absolutely use it. $40 is not cheap but once in full production it should get to $20 retail price, which is a great price for the value delivered. Some weeks ago in Manhattan I paid $9 to scan 3 pages...
Reply · 1 · · August 26 at 5:20am

Nathan J. Brauer · Top Commenter · Lincoln, California
I'd use it if I had it. I wouldn't spend $40 on it though. Maybe $20.
Reply · 1 · · August 25 at 1:25pm

Nathan J. Brauer · Top Commenter · Lincoln, California
You have to actually watch the video. It's actually not as clunky as this article makes it out to be.
Reply · 1 · · August 25 at 1:26pm

Sebastian Sibler
Hey Nathan - we listened to you and some others who were adressing the same issue and introduced a new 20 USD price tag. That will now give you a SCANDY with anodized finish and a capacitive stylus as add-on. I hope thats adjusted now. Also thanks for checking out our project.
Reply · 1 · · August 25 at 5:03pm

Nathan J. Brauer · Top Commenter · Lincoln, California
Awesome. I'm now officially a supporter! :)
Reply · 1 · · August 25 at 9:20pm
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Ted Bear
Since mobile phones came with more than 2 Megapixel cameras I have been searching for a stand, tripod, whatever..., to use the mobile phone as a scanner. The Scandy seems to be the first really usable one, so I even pledged 20$ to receive my own ASAP. IMHO a great idea!
Reply · · September 7 at 2:50am

Bavid Dirney
"This, in short, is completely ridiculous. The time necessary to whip out a Scandy, bolt it onto a desk and adjust the height would completely eclipse the time it would take to snap a few pictures and pick out the best one".

your the one being ridiculous.... nobody said you have to put it away each time? you set it up and leave it there! and why the hell would you lug it around with you?
Reply · · August 26 at 8:18am

Jason Keirstead · Fredericton, New Brunswick
This would be good for a totally different market than researches - business travellers. Why? Most expense systems now allow you to submit your receipts with your smartphone - but taking photos of a weeks worth of expenses is a giant pain, due to having to snap lots of pictures and choose ones with proper focus.

If you had this device, you could set it up right, then take all your receipt images very rapidly and easily. Would be well worth $20 to save the frustration. $40 seems steep though for what this is.
Reply · · August 25 at 7:15am

Nathan J. Brauer · Top Commenter · Lincoln, California
Hey Jason -- they added a $20 level just for us :)
Reply · · August 25 at 9:22pm

Tundey Akinsanya · Top Commenter · George Mason
I just read the page and it's not only ridiculous, I think it almost rises to the level of being a scam. "The Future of the Modern Office". Even their answers to the FAQ read like scam.
Reply · · August 25 at 7:41am

Tundey Akinsanya · Top Commenter · George Mason
Who is "Tumdey Akimsamya"?
Reply · · August 26 at 4:41am

Tundey Akinsanya · Top Commenter · George Mason
If it's ridiculous, why cover it?
Reply · · August 25 at 7:37am

Matt Burns · Top Commenter · Writer at TechCrunch
Because it's ridiculous.
Reply · · August 25 at 7:59am

Tundey Akinsanya · Top Commenter · George Mason
Oops! Didn't know TC now covers the ridiculous.
Reply · · August 26 at 4:39am

Henning Brune · Top Commenter · Works at Universität Bielefeld
But think about the modern, smartphone equipped whistleblower that has to copy tons of secret papers in the night;)
Reply · 2 · · August 25 at 7:24am

Alionestop Maexy
Superb website..

[...]always a big fan Certainly nice website, thank you so much for writing the blogposts[...]…...
Reply · · August 26 at 2:31am

ShenTop China · Works at Shentop Information Technology Co., Ltd.
the phone is cute and fashion , so lovely things.use to google shentop.net , may be good feel.
Reply · · September 27 at 2:35am

ShenTop China · Works at Shentop Information Technology Co., Ltd.
the phone is cute and fashion , so lovely things.use to google shen.net , may be good feel.
Reply · · September 27 at 2:35am