Tag Archives: HP

HP kills all WebOS hardware, software’s future is undetermined

August 18, 2011 – 8:44 pm

In addition, HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.

via hp.com

The worst part of this news is that some will read it as proof that trying to compete with Apple with an integrated hardware/software solution is the wrong approach.

It’s not the wrong approach. It’s just an approach that needs time and lots of losing quarters to work. The product needs to evolve, the platform needs to grow slowly over time. And a company like HP doesn’t have the patience for that.

I would feel bad about this, as I was a Palm customer for years, and I still feel some sort of strange kinship with the old company and with Jon Rubenstein, who I met once. I was rooting for WebOS, as a lot of other Apple fans were. But it wasn’t to be.

At the end of the day, I had never spent a dime of my own money on any WebOS product. So what right do I have to feel bad when the platform doesn’t survive?

And don’t think this is a failure of the integrated solution. The old Microsoft model of licensing doesn’t work, either. Android and Windows Phone are proving that. (Yes, Android is falling apart. Keep watching Google’s behavior over the next few months. They had one good year in 2010, and this year has all been downhill. And they know they need a change to salvage the thing.)

The bottom line is that no one has figured out how to beat Apple at this. And it doesn’t look like anyone will anytime soon.

You hear people say all the time that they want Apple to have strong competitors, because it’s good for Apple to have competitors to keep it on its toes. But that’s never really been true, has it? Apple generally just doesn’t pay attention to its competitors. Sure, they steal an idea or two from time to time, but does anyone think that notification center NEVER would have happened without Android?

And competition just for its own sake is useless. What Apple needs is WORTHY opponents, and it doesn’t have any.

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An Interesting take on the Nokia/Microsoft Deal

February 12, 2011 – 2:06 am

I have absolutely no qualms about calling this new regime at Nokia a puppet government. This is far and away the most brilliant move of Ballmer’s tenure. Whether it pays off is another question entirely.

[UPDATE: Former Microsoft exec Chris Weber has just been named President of Nokia Inc. (US). This is a coup, folks.]

via appleoutsider.com

No doubt this new deal between Microsoft and Nokia is a lot more about saving sinking ships than taking over the world. And it was certainly the cheapest way for Microsoft to get back into the game. So agreed, it was a great move by Ballmer.

I don’t think long term that the fate of either Microsoft or Nokia will change much as a result of this, but it will get interesting for a while.

My thinking is that this deal will do a lot more to stall Android than it will Apple.

Android:phase one was all about killing off Windows Mobile in order to keep Bing Search from doing well. Phase two of Android seems to be about taking on Apple, though with recent events including this one, I’d say Android still has a lot of others to contend with before it can dream of taking iOS down even a notch.

HP made some interesting announcements this week that lead me to think they have as good a chance as anyone of seriously contending for the few people who want a tablet but not an iPad. Microsoft was getting nowhere, predictably, with WIndows Phone 7, but this Nokia deal will change that, particularly in Europe. With the iPhone on Verizon in the US, and Nokia peddling Windows Phone in Europe, and HP taking whatever is left of the tablet market after the iPad, I’d say Android’s “world domination” scenario is looking more and more like a pipe dream.

And RIM is definitely not coming back. I don’t see how.

There’s still a lot of market share to go around for everyone, but that’s my point. There’s plenty for everyone. We’re far from a two pony race here, folks. Google is fighting a war on several fronts, and at least so far in 2011, it’s losing a lot more battles than it’s winning.

This is the perfect scenario for Apple to thrive. In a world with many choices, Apple always does better than in a world with only two.

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RIM and the “app gap”

February 11, 2011 – 2:16 am

RIM plans to add support for running existing Android 2.x apps on its upcoming PlayBook tablet to narrow its “app gap,” but also fears retribution from Oracle were it to use Android’s Dalvik Virtual Machine to do so.

via appleinsider.com

Letting Android apps run on PlayBook won’t help RIM close the “app gap.” It will only give developers even LESS of a reason to write native RIM apps for it.

Almsot every day that goes by, RIM looks more and more like it’s going downhill right along with Microsoft. They’re basically pinning all their hopes on Apps somehow not being important in the near future. I think Google was planning on the same happening, but seems to have recently seen the light.

This is why I’m a bit more optimistic about HP’s chances, given how good the TouchPad looks. HP has an “app gap” too, but at least they’re trying their hardest to solidify their own platform by running WebOS on PCs, thereby increasing the installed base of users faster, rather than giving up on their own platform altogether like RIM seems to be.

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