RIP Palm/WebOS

[Brian_Houghton]

I may pick up one next time I'm around a Best Buy, but unfortunately that won't be for a couple of weeks (small town life...)

[curtterp]

WebOS - Right now I give it a 50% chance to survive. It might be awesome as an OS, but there are other factors that will kill it off.

The competitors:
iOS - They still have cult like following, for something that is only 1 product each ring (Tablet and Phone). The fact that Apple controls both the hardware and software gives it a unique experience of the least amount of crashes, but there is no push for advancement in the software if there were no competitors. Right now, they do have advancements, but it seems like Apple is more concerned with litigation than ground breaking advancements in user experience. The iCloud is something that the jury is still out on, so wait and see. Built from the ground up.

Android - Becoming a heavy player in portable computing. No cost to the manufacturer (So they state) and each manufacturer is allowed to enhance the user experience by including their own software or 'skin' Android. They have a very wide market, lots of manufacturers, unfortunately that also leads to problems with the user experience with crashes, freezes and other notable issues. If those manufacturers would allow people to not use/uninstall their 'enhancements', I think that Android would be a better platform for users. Built from the ground up.

Windows Mobile 7 - Very small player in mobile computing. They rebuilt their mobile OS after watching Palm do it, but like Palm, they broke away from their legacy applications with no support which also removes a large base of applications. Again a huge risk, but Microsoft was big enough to take that risk, where Palm was not so big. Its hard to get software companies to embrace the new technology if they are getting software sold on other platforms. Its a large cash drain for companies to learn new technologies, and then rework their software from the ground up to work with the new OS. If there isn't a large adoption rate, then all that rework and new knowledge spending might not pay off.

Symbian - nah nah nah na, nah nah nah na, hey hey hey, goodbye. Nokia has agreements with Microsoft for their phones. Guess the costs for trying to keep their software relevant is higher than outsourcing the OS.

The competition is fierce in the mobile computing OS world. For HP to spend all that money for the Touchpad, then abandon it this quickly was a surprise. I personally never tried out a WebOS device because there was not one on Verizon, and I will not go to Sprint. They killed Nextel with the merger while I was still with Nextel, and the customer service was horrendous. For someone to try to purchase WebOS from HP, depending on the price, will be looking for a return on their investment. iOS and Android dominate the market right now, so the likelihood of putting a big enough dent into that dominance is small.

With all that said, I am wondering about Samsung right now. I see reports that after Google purchased Motorola, that they might not continue with Android, but go it alone with their own OS. Now that HP has decided to quit the mobile market, will Samsung look at WebOS as a possible replacement for Android? That depends on how far they are in their own OS development. If they are close to putting the polish on it, then WebOS is not that attractive to them. But if they are still in the rough development state, maybe they will take a look? I think that if WebOS will survive, Samsung will be only one that will save it.

Again, just because WebOS is awesome, doesn't mean that it will survive..... Anyone remember the Apple Newton? That was technology well before its time. People were not really ready for portable computing. Yes, the handwriting recognition sucked, but graffiti was born for the Newton. That gave way for the Palm Pilot to be born, and that is when portable computing took off.

And that is where HanDBase came to reality

[curtterp]

I may pick up one next time I'm around a Best Buy, but unfortunately that won't be for a couple of weeks (small town life...)

If you wait a couple of weeks, you might not get that chance. I have 10 Best Buys within 1 hour of where I live, and only 2 have very limited stock. I also checked HP store, and they claim to be out of stock.

Just a thought

[BruceArnold]

David, I think you are right about the patent issue. I never really thought that HP was all that interested in the Pre, although I had hopes when they first bought Palm. I figured they wanted it more for the touchpad, and still do, but I think they knew from the first that the underlying technology was the real prize. What they will do with it, I don't know. But in some way, WebOS will play a part in HP's future.

I feel some of the same nostalgia. I've been with Palm since the Professional came out -- and HanDBase as well. I still use it on a daily basis, on a Palm Tungsten E. (I bought a spare one, and some batteries, on Ebay so I could keep it going as long as need be. The Classic thing never really worked for me.)

I made a decision earlier this summer that the next time I upgraded phones, I would go with an Android. Partly because I felt that the Pre was just not going to make it -- a little prophetic, that was -- and also because HanDBase is available on the Android platform. Haven't decicded which one I want yet -- so many to choose from. Well, by the time I make a purchase (early 2012 I think) there will be even newer models to look at, so I'm not thinking about it much now.

While as I say I do feel some of the nostalgia about Palm coming to an end, I am glad that HanDBase continues -- it is the must-have app above all others for me. I would keep those Tungsten E's going as long as I had to, if there were no other options. Those of us who have depended on it have a lot to thank you for, David, and your team. I am looking forward to what the future brings. It seems you have landed on your feet and while there may never be anything like the heady days of Palm Pilot supremacy, app developers who have made the switch to the new platforms seem to be doing alright.