Whitman Talks About Future WebOS Plans in CRN Interview
CRN has posted excerpts of a new interview with HP CEO Meg Whitman in which she reveals some insight regarding her stance on the future of WebOS.
On slide # 10 of the multi-page spread, Whitman firmly states that HP "(has) to have a tablet offering. We will be back in that business. We're coming back into the market with a Windows 8 tablet, first on an x86 chip and then maybe on an ARM chip. We'll see."
Slide #13 and #14 discuss HP's message to the remaining people on the WebOS team and the rest of high-profile departures, some of which we have recently covered. Whitman says that "This has been a very rocky period for the former Palm team/WebOS team that we built. And this was not a happy set of occurrences over the last six to eight months. So we have lost some people." She surprisingly even states that "Between August and November, there was no plan."
On slide #14, Whitman brazenly states that WebOS has "huge advantages" over iOS and Android, citing the closed nature of the former and the fragmented nature of the latter. Whitman goes on to say that the Google's pending acquisition of Motorola Mobility's handset division may ultimately make Android more of a closed system, something that is rather hard to imagine with Android hardware partners such as Samsung registering banner years for Android-powered devices.
Some additional insights to take away from the piece include the humanization of HP under Whitman, such as the elimination of the executive parking areas and the executive office suite and the company's assimilation of Autonomy in the aftermath of that huge acquisition.
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RE: Hope it still goes on
Pat Horne
I'm the last rat jumping off!
Good bye Palm/Elevation Partners/WebOS/HP/Plam,
The last Palm loyalist.
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
I took mine to the local computer recycling center. Kept my PilotPro for sentimental reasons, and the fact that it runs off AAA batteries, so no fears about batteries dying.
Plus, I've got the upgrade board, so my PilotPro is running PalmOS4.
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
EverNote is another very typical option, with lots of extras (not only text but even image files than can be OCR'd and searched). But annoyingly uncomfortable to use, and won't work offline - in free mode at least.
Don't bother with SpringPad. Sync problems, awful/non-existant import/export.
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
Also, suppose that instead of having "RAM backups," you simply had a miniSD card that contained your PalmOS apps. If so, could you still fulfill what you said about using a PalmOS device in the year 2035? Or, instead, do you happen to actually *need* a "RAM backup"?
Thank you very much.
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
Battery life was measured in minutes before they shut down. The Vx and the m515 were the only ones that'd boot up after sitting in the chargers. To be usable, I'd have to replace the batteries.
Nostalgia is the only reason to keep them. They won't be functional. And, it'll probably be hard to find replacement batteries in 20 years.
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
It was very cool when you considered the only other option was restoring it from the ground-up. Now, as I said, the only reason would be to show the grandkids what we used at the turn of the century.
iPhone has been around long enough the the software catalog is huge enough so that every hard-to-find program I depended on is fairly well replaced by an equivalent app which does much more. I can't get cracked versions of SkyScape apps and I've whittled down the number I use, but the department pays for them now anyway.
Last month I had a pager/TX/Evo to drag around and today I just have the iPhone. So thankful for it. This "convergence" is what Mike Cane used to rant about around 2005, if I remember correctly.
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
Have a nice day!
HP 41CX->HP 75C->Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->Pilot Pro->IIIe->IIIc->M500->M505->M515->TC->T3->T5->Treo 650P->Treo 700P->Droid>Pre Plus>Droid>iPhone4S
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
I purchased and played with a touch pad on the weekend they dropped to $300, I then decided to take it back, then the following weekend it dropped that crazy $99 but of course I couldn't find any available. I liked the touchpad but I sure am glad I went with an Ipad instead.
Actually though I thought the Touch Pad did several things better then my Ipad 1. The multi-tasking, the adobe flash, the facebook app, and the front facing camera, and notifications.
Of course 4 of those issues have been pretty well solved since that time. The adobe flash Issue I just solved this week, using Iswifter.
Anyways those are my thoughts for the day,
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
I don't know if I could go back to keeping my schedule on 1 single device, I like the security of know that if I plug something into my calendar that even if all my devices get lost, stolen, broke, that I will still get that reminder.
I guess with Palm you can do the Hot Sync but I don't know something about the cloud makes me feel secure. ....of course that means google can read it too :-(
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
Thanks for thinking of me re: your Treo! I fully understand. I really do believe that we should all keep at least one or two PalmOS devices around for nostalgia. It is part of our digital heritage, and therefore a part of *us.*
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
HyperScheduler wrote:
I really do believe that we should all keep at least one or two PalmOS devices around for nostalgia. It is part of our digital heritage, and therefore a part of *us.*
I don't know, there is a fine line between nostalgia and being a pack rat. I still have every PalmOS device that I've ever owned and a couple of phones that were donated to my collection.
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
An analysis of the life and death of the company with the brightest future that was driven into the dirt by fools will be a wonderful case-study in any MBA program.
I did notice HP advertising their new Folio, and perked my ears to hear if there was a "2" after the name.
Even after death PalmOS will not lie still !
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
There is talk that the Treonauts forum will close soon. . . Been a while since PIC had a new article. . . . .
Where do we get our PalmOS on?
Are there any other sites where PalmOS users gather?
Are there any other PalmOS users in the first place?
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
Random Thoughts
1. I actually enjoy PIC right now....Just a few people talking back and forth...almost facebook or twitter like in some respects but on a micro scale.
2. A while back Ryan mentioned that he had made an IPAD app #machash...I immediately downloaded it and I do enjoy using it.
3. I wonder when/if developer's will allow their Palm apps be available for free.
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
Whenever a new cell-phone device comes to the market, don't people need to wait a year until they buy it because they are on a current 2-year contract? If so, shouldn't the company that makes the device wait a year or so before determining whether their device is popular?
It seems to me that, before we can assess the success of the new Lumia 900 Microsoft/Nokia phone, we need to wait a while until those who are under a 2-year contract can choose to buy that phone.
The reason that I raise this issue is because it seems to me that HP failed to give people enough time to escape their own 2-year cell-phone contract so that the people could *then* choose to switch over to the Palm Pre.
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
I was REALLY in high hopes that Apple would have come in 2007 and used the game-changing iPhone to break the back of the carriers operating as purveyors of locked, restricted, subsidized handsets that they trickle out onto the market as they see fit. But of course that didn't happen and all Apple managed to do was keep carrier bloatware off of their devices.
When Google announced the Nexus initiative back in early 2010, I was hoping that would get partners like Moto & HTC to flood the market with unbranded, unlocked handsets sold at competitive full retail prices. Once again, this never happened. Now that American consumers have been "spoiled" by $199 smartphones (or worse, "free" phones), I see the situation unlikely to ever change, especially in these cash-strapped times.
After the T-Mobile/AT&T merger was shot down, I held out a sliver of hope that that T-Mob would be flush with cash from AT&T and try to introduce a radically new method of selling phones and banish all contracts. This too has not happened. The wireless carriers need to operate ONLY as "wireless pipes", not as device training centers, hardware retailers, content providers etc etc.
As this week's grim VZW news shows, the carriers are now looking to nickel & dime their users more and more (tiered data caps, $30+ "upgrade" fees, the elimination of 1yr contracts, new ever two/annual/early upgrade promos etc). Apple burns every carrier that signs on with them. I wish now that VZW and Sprint had kept on as a MS/RIM/Google outfit. T-Mobile may soon be glad that they had not entered into a Faustian bargain with Apple! I actually wish Apple would use some of that massive pile of cash to buy Sprint or T-Mob and rebrand them as Apple Wireless so to take the iOS devices completely out of the picture on other carriers.
Google's inability to reduce Android fragmentation or put their foot down hard on these lousy support and upgrade policies of their licensees makes it an even more dismal situation. RIM is heading to oblivion and I honestly wonder if BBX devices will even see the light of day this year (if ever). Microsoft still does not "get it". In fact, Win 8 is going to be another Vista because they have tried too hard to dumb it down with the Metro UI and shove a mobile interface down desktop users' throats. And we all know how HP's WebOs situation turned out.
The sad fact is that there is no compelling mobile platform on the market right now and I don't see any sign of this changing any time soon. I suppose I can hold out hope that by the time of Jellybean (or later) Android may be massaged into decent shape. But right now, I am seeing a huge dearth of interesting formfactors mated to worthwhile OSes---where is a Galaxy Note-sized device from someone other than Samsung? Where are the portrait slider devices? The Pre 3 wasn't a half-bad attempt, nor was the BB Torch. The latest crop of Android devices are becoming frighteningly similar to iOS devices with larger screens--fixed storage, fixed batteries and nigh-identical formfactors.
For example, I REALLY wanted a Galaxy Nexus for its large 720p AMOLED screen and Android 4.0 ICS back in December. But I was not eligible for an upgrade. Now I am and have been sitting here patiently since December and Verizon has *NOTHING* in the way of new phones. If I buy a G-Nex now, I will certainly regret it as it's already been on the market for quite some time and I am not 100% convinced that its formfactor or spec sheet would make me happy for the next 20+ months. So I sit and wait and wait and wait. I cannot switch carriers due to VZW's superior coverage and my grandfathered unlimited plan, which is absolutely priceless in the LTE era. I would take the plunge if I could get a Galaxy Note on Verizon but that remains an unlocked or AT&T only proposition for the time being.
I'd like to see some sort of "premium" offering by the carriers where for, say, $120/month or so, you would get unlimited everything (no throttling, no strings attached) and the ability to swap out your handset for a nominal fee once per year. Or, the higher your monthly rate or the longer you have been a customer, the greater your early upgrade discount. There's simply no way anyone can justify dropping $650-$700 every 6 months on a handset that SHOULD only cost half of that if it was a non-carrier controlled, non-subsidized market. I can buy a phenomenal 32Gb Android tablet with the latest & greatest specs or an 16Gb iPad 2 for $400....yet that same amount of money only gets me a near 3-year old 8Gb iPhone 3GS at full retail price. Something ain't right with the economies of scale here. It SHOULDN'T be this way!
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro-> Verizon Moto Droid X2 + Palm TX
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
I too have a shoebox with nearly everything since my first Palm; V, m5**, T*, Treo 650, Centros. So many cables and adaptors.
Oh well, good while it lasted.
PS - I'm glad we don't have quite the same manipulation of the market by the mobile operators as you guys seem to have over there.
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
They say it takes 38 muscles to frown and only 4 to smile. Nevertheless, it doesn't take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.
The vaaaast majority of American consumers are clueless and uninterested in the carriers "2 yr contract" charade. They just sit there with a dumb look thinking their new iPhone costs $199.
Pat Horne
RE: I'm the last rat jumping off!
Re: last one out please turn out the lights...
RE: Re: last one out please turn out the lights...
RE: Re: last one out please turn out the lights...
RE: Re: last one out please turn out the lights...
RE: Re: last one out please turn out the lights...
This has been my experience, too. I was informed that the WiFi of my Palm TX would enable me to download apps directly from PalmInfoCenter.com, but it does not work. WHY????
Also, does anybody know the answer to the following question:
Back in the glory days of Palm OS, why didn't Palm do a better (any?) job of informing users about the *existence* of Palm OS apps? Sure, those of us reading this knew about Palm OS apps, but I also knew a lot of folks in the mid-to-late 2000's that bought Treo 700p's and yet did not even know about Palm OS apps.
RE: Re: last one out please turn out the lights...
Anyone else remembers Jobs saying in the 90's that we had entered a Dark Age (because Microsoft had won and because its effects on the industry) and that we would be stalled there for at least a decade?
RE: Re: last one out please turn out the lights...
Back in the glory days of Palm OS, why didn't Palm do a better (any?) job of informing users about the *existence* of Palm OS apps? Sure, those of us reading this knew about Palm OS apps, but I also knew a lot of folks in the mid-to-late 2000's that bought Treo 700p's and yet did not even know about Palm OS apps.
The answer is because Palm was run by idiots. Several of us who either worked at Palm or had close connections to the company tried to get the senior managers to set up a proper app store over a DECADE ago. The fools refused and insisted on letting the incompetent PalmGear remain in control of the app experience on PalmOS. Later, the half assed user-written app category guides were published on the cheap. At one point the main guy at Palm who was advocating setting up a coherent app platform was actually fired if you can believe it.
FJH
(Still using the brilliant unlocked Centro as a travel phone)
RE: Re: last one out please turn out the lights...
Oh the lament of what could have been.
RE: Re: last one out please turn out the lights...
This is the way the PalmOS world ends...
Not with a bang but a whimper.
Pilot 1000
Palm Vx
TRGpro
CLIÉ UX50
CLIÉ TH55
CLIÉ VZ90
Handspring Treo 600
Samsung i500
Centro/Centro 2
So much potential, killed by so many incompetent, arrogant managers at Palm.
I still use my i500 as my main phone, my perfectly sized Centros as backup and travel phones, my CLIÉs for some specialized apps and my TRGpro as a scientific calculator. While I now rely on a jailbroken iPhone 4 for its vast array of truly impressive apps, PalmOS remains the fastest, most intuitive OS that I've ever used. If you have any old PalmOS devices in a drawer take them out (or buy a bunch dirt cheap on eBay) and start using them as calculators or MP3 players. Retro tech rules!
FJH
RE: This is the way the PalmOS world ends...
I'll pass.
RE: This is the way the PalmOS world ends...
Personally, I am in the midst of trying to download and install the 64-bit drivers for my Windows 7 laptop so that I can resume HotSyncing with a Treo. . . Hopefully, I can get it to work. . .
RE: This is the way the PalmOS world ends...
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Hope it still goes on