I guess it just begs the question, which I am sure has already been asked- why? I mean you're free to develop it, and I'm sure people would really love it, but I'm curious as to how useful it would really be. Since it will still be *years*  until BTC is spendable at any place you normally visit in real life, I think it's a bit premature to be designing something that will be outdated by the time it's useful. Until then, why not just get a smart phone? (Or you already have one) and use that?

Smartphone you say? Grandmas can't use smartphones. Forcing a device into the public space before there is clear demand certainly is a high risk venture but a do-it-all bitcoin device could potentially (if done right), lower the barrier to entry massively. This would give the network effect something to expand into easily and quickly. But still with great risk, comes the possibility of great reward. When Apple first coined the the name for it's "revolutionary" device the "i"-Phone I chuckled at the silly sounding name. iPhones were nothing special back then, there were heaps of mobiles with cameras and such. The iPhone however made a very polished, easy to use device that delivered a simple, straightforward and enthralling experience no other phone out there could.

Maybe the Ellet could also deliver a simple and straightforward experience for Bitcoin finances (or maybe the Bitcoin card can). It's a tough ask but even if it just makes things a little bit easier it's worth doing.

Then again, the iPhone was easy/simple to use, but wasn't targeted towards grandmas.  Some grandmas use them anyway though.  :p

Some people just want a device that works.  I like to tinker with my computers, but my phone?  No, I don't want to deal with having to root it to get the features I want.  I want something that is basically perfect from the get go, so I bought an iPhone.  It does the job perfectly for me.  It's easy to use, it does what I want, and more importantly, it always works.  And I don't ever have to tinker with it.

So far, there are no Bitcoin wallets available from the app store (that don't eventually get removed by Apple), which means if you want to use Bitcoin, you have to jailbreak or use the buggy Android platform.  I see a standalone device being much more reliable than any application running on Android, and not many people want to jailbreak their iphones either.

I can see the merit of having a bitcoin wallet on a smartphone, but there's also many benefits to releasing a standalone device.  There's certainly a market for both.

ZINGER ALERT

Thank you for not making me jump through 37 reddit links to read this.

So most grandmas can't use cell phones now, but some can and that number is only growing. And lots of grandmas do use tablets. The number of nontechnical users is shrinking in every demographic, and targeting shrinking demographics seems like a strange idea to me.  While there are grandmas without phones and email addresses, I also don't see them ever using bitcoin.  Of course, the ellet isn't directed only at them, but I still agree that it seems like this is a device that will be outdated by the time it is useful.

Smart phones are going to be ubiquitous very soon.  At Google I/O 2011, they said they are expecting their current smart phones to be reselling for $20 or $30 in 2 years.  While a watch that serves as my wallet and only my wallet for security reasons is a cool idea, I still see a smartphone app as a much easier entrance to bitcoin for the vast majority of users.

And the iPhone was nothing special? Really? You immediately contradict yourself by calling it "a very polished, easy to use device that delivered a simple, straightforward and enthralling experience no other phone out there could."  How is that not special? I'm confused.

It's supposed to rhyme and be catchy

Does that $20-$30 include a contract?  Because if so, I know plenty of people who are unwilling to tag an extra $15-$30 on to their cell plan for data.

If Google is selling these for $20-$30 without a contract, then color me surprised!

That signature means: half serious, half joking