HP TouchPad's History: Lessons Learned, Bidding Adieu

[hiryu]

[citation][nom]JMcEntegart[/nom]It was across the U.S., Canada, and a lot of Europe. Not sure about other countries, but it was definitely not just the U.S.[/citation]
The first fire sale also happened to other countries at least including NZ and "HK".
The quotation marks on "HK". All touchpad were sold at the time they started the firesale because they were all sold to their own staff or someone had some connection to staff in HP/dealer.
The second fire sale was only in NA

 

[cisco5]

Nice article but you don't seem to want to mention the furious outrage of the customers. The way HP put the touchpad to bed was one of bait and switch and pissing off potential buyers in this market is very bad business. Yet I see no stories about this betrayal! Even on their facebook page they deleted all the posts about this. What kind of message does that send to people who had been waiting for two months not to mention all the back orders that was left out to dry. This type of corporate behavior will alienate a buyer for life. Like me ;/

 

[eddieroolz]

Reading this article made HP look like it sacrificed itself to teach non-Apple tablet makers a lesson. I realize that's not what HP was out to do, but this whole fiasco simply backs up my prior statements; Android tablets are priced too high for too little appeal.

If I was to drop $500 on, say, a Xoom I'd rather just buy the iPad.

 

[ta152h]

[citation][nom]eddieroolz[/nom]Reading this article made HP look like it sacrificed itself to teach non-Apple tablet makers a lesson. I realize that's not what HP was out to do, but this whole fiasco simply backs up my prior statements; Android tablets are priced too high for too little appeal.If I was to drop $500 on, say, a Xoom I'd rather just buy the iPad.[/citation]

It also makes you wonder why a company like HP doesn't eat into some profits, and just low-ball everyone else to gain market share for WebOS. Losing $100 a tablet might seem like a lot, but sometimes gaining market share, particularly when your software is good, can be a long term market changer, and yield years of dividends.

After spending so much to get WebOS, why are they in such a rush to kill it? Eat a few hundred million dollars worth of losses to gain a market presence that will gain billions of dollars in the future. Once it gains acceptance and a large installed base, they can make money in software sales, licensing add-ons, or even licensing WebOS to other hardware makers. Short term thinking is a sin a lot of companies commit.

 

[alextheblue]

Hey you damn Touchpad box... you're blocking the view. I MEAN- Uh yeah, too bad I missed out on that firesale... I might have to wait and see what Amazon releases next.

 

[mayankleoboy1]

where is the +1 for the last pic?

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Don't you worry, I did read your post. If the term "complete package" makes you that upset, it makes me wonder what you think about any OS out there that doesn't have every bit of software available out of the box. It's simply not cost effective, so sorry if you haven't realized that yet. Hell, with the phone and tablet market, it comes with standard apps regardless, and a market where you can utilize your phone in a way that is efficient for your lifestyle, so that the hardware doesn't get cluttered with useless garbage that an average person might not need.

Also, have you tried other alternative "open source" photoshop software? To me, they aren't as great, which is why people pay the extra bucks to get a software out of box that makes sense to THEM. Maybe you, being a tech savvy person, don't mind going through hours of learning curves using different types of available software, but the average thinking world doesn't care to go about, download software from sites that are unfamiliar to them, then skimming through online forums and websites to learn how to use it. Most people are simply familiar with photoshop and quite honestly, it's a good quality product, and because it is, people are fine spending those extra bucks.

Also, since we are on the lines of talking about Apple computers, which I never cared to purchase one myself (just to let you know, once again, I hardly care for Apple), maybe you should look up some stats out there that show that Apple computers have good customer service and good hardware, which might explain why they are more expensive than your average computer? And of course the software, which I've explained. If Apple is such a terrible, money stealing company, then why do people seem to be happy with their products? Have you ever seen an unhappy Apple customer? I haven't. So obviously the company is doing something right, whether you disagree with their tactics or not. They are profitable company, sitting comfortably in the market. So..?

I love Android, but if you had a bit of sense about you, you would know that developers go to Apple and not Android, because they go for where the money. So again, quality comes into the picture. So, you have yet again, failed to establish a good point regarding your Apple hating posts.

Hell, I hate Apple, but even I can admit that they are doing many things right where many others are not.

Open source Photoshop alternative? You mean, GIMP? That thing sucks. USe Paint.NET. It's free and very, very similar to Photoshop. When I meant open source, I didn't mean crazy nonsense like GIMP... FF, Thunderbird or even closed source but free (like Skype) applications is more than enough to provide you with full functionality. It is NOT worth overpaying for a "package". You don't need any extra training to use FF, Thunderbird or LibreOffice, they're built to satisfy users who shifted from proprietary software right away.

Apple customers seem happy because they're mostly technically illiterate users who don't know what they're paying for and buy all the hype about design and "no viruses" and "good customer service". Good customer service? EVERYONE has good customer service nowadays if you aren't a retard. I go to Asus to exchange my board, they tell me it's beyond repair - do you want a new one of the same model, or pay a bit more and get a newer model, or a refund? And every company is like that nowadays.

And man... good hardware? You have to be kidding.

Surely devs go for Apple, I know that. Still, Android somehow has a few hundred thousand apps... :lol:

Hey you damn Touchpad box... you're blocking the view. I MEAN- Uh yeah, too bad I missed out on that firesale... I might have to wait and see what Amazon releases next.

lol

 

[razor512]

When I originally got the HP touchpad during the sale, I had plans to put android on it as soon as it was available but now no longer feel a need to rush into it.

In my opinion, the webos has the best UI when compared to android and iOS

If HP originally started the sales of the device with a lower price tag, and did a few performance optimizations, it would have been extremely popular

For most of the hardware they got most things right.

1GB ram
Dual core CPU runs great at 1.83GHz
16-32-64GB storage
Best tablet speakers on the market in terms of sound quality and frequency response (tablet speakers still suck though)

Areas where it lacks

Horrid camera, probably along the lines of the gameboy camera.

No powered USB host (can still act as a USB host for flash drives and keyboard and mice and game controllers, but you need to have a powered USB hub)

No SD card slow, instead it has a simcard slot (oversized) that is not connected to anything.

Bluetooth filters designed to prevent you from connecting to non HP branded devices (though with the 3.0.4 update, they removed one of the filters specifically for hands free calling but left all other filters in tact)

They filter all non HP branded printers, with all of their restrictions, it makes most of their selling points useless since they have such strict limitations that are artificially imposed that the features are useless. (though android will fix that)

PS most tablets still use 512MB ram including the ipad 2.

And from benchmarks, the CPU in the touchpad is faster than that of the the on the nvidia chips (the GPU is also faster), the CPU also beats the ones in the ipad 2, though the touchpad's GPU is slower (ipad 2 has the fastest mobile GPU on the market when it comes to arm tablets)



Overall, HP ruined what would have been a great product that would have competed well.

 

[Guest]

Just like VooDoo PC a few years back..so sad...

 

[furylicious]

[citation][nom]amk-aka-phantom[/nom]Open source Photoshop alternative? You mean, GIMP? That thing sucks. USe Paint.NET. It's free and very, very similar to Photoshop. When I meant open source, I didn't mean crazy nonsense like GIMP... FF, Thunderbird or even closed source but free (like Skype) applications is more than enough to provide you with full functionality. It is NOT worth overpaying for a "package". You don't need any extra training to use FF, Thunderbird or LibreOffice, they're built to satisfy users who shifted from proprietary software right away.Apple customers seem happy because they're mostly technically illiterate users who don't know what they're paying for and buy all the hype about design and "no viruses" and "good customer service". Good customer service? EVERYONE has good customer service nowadays if you aren't a retard. I go to Asus to exchange my board, they tell me it's beyond repair - do you want a new one of the same model, or pay a bit more and get a newer model, or a refund? And every company is like that nowadays.And man... good hardware? You have to be kidding.Surely devs go for Apple, I know that. Still, Android somehow has a few hundred thousand apps[/citation]

Everyone has good customer service? Says WHO? I've been working in repair for close to 5 years now and that is the furthest thing from the truth. You bring up Asus, which also has a VERY high customer service rating, so that isn't the best example. I've never had issues with Asus, but other companies like HP, Acer/Gateway/Emachines, and even Samsung has given us hell CONSISTENTLY. HP is probably the worst one that I've personally experienced, but not "EVERYONE" gives good customer service, sorry, but that is simply a lie.

And perhaps we look at things differently, but I don't completely disagree with your argument. Personally, using "open source" software to emulate similar software that is paid is something I'm always open to do. Sometimes a little bit of research goes a long way, but when it comes to business applications, the one thing you must understand is that many companies don't invest a lot of time into open source programs. There are two primary reasons for this:

a) Companies don't invest a lot of money into an IT department
b) Support

Now, for reason (a), this is out of sheer negligence and ignorance, which we can fault to the company, right? And you are right, people do not take the time to look deeply into IT - people capable enough to provide easy solution and alternatives to the company so that they don't invest a good portion of their money to software that is available and free.

Reason b), is the reason (or the excuse, if you wish) that companies cough up money to software companies. They expect that when they invest money into a company, that they get support from those manufacturers. Now as far as the quality in that service is debatable, but it makes it easier for the company to handle those applications because they don't just expect the product, but service. So, with these companies like Adobe, they invest into their customer service because of this reason. Because they KNOW that there are alternatives that are cheaper and even free.

So, it goes both ways. But when it comes to making business and making decisions, it isn't always so clear cut, even when it seems to be. People don't have a lot of free time to simply dig around for alternatives and their confidence in free software may not seem appealing and even reliable.

Just my two cents.