As much as I think hp's ROI in this case is suspect, it could've done worse than acquiring a reasonably quality bit of kit from Palm. What they really need (indeed the industry) is another hard taskmaster with a vision, business acumen and an environment that cultivates great ideas.
I've always had a soft spot for Palm. Must be getting old...
HP understood that to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack, they need a combination of hardware + software very much like Apple, Rim, Samsung, etc...
Unlike the PC market where they bundle Windows, HP wants to retain control of the OS in their mobile phones, tablets or any other web connected device. The PC war was won by MSFT but this emerging market is still very much up for grabs.
It will be interesting to follow now that a big player like HP is in the game.
R.I.P. Palm. From the Pilot to the early Treo's (emphasis on early), you made some awesome products! It's sad to see HP tearing apart another company with some great technologies! Another tragedy of HP's exploit of a company's purchase for short term gains.
they went into this much trouble acquiring palm just to rip off apple? ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss
You mean compete with Apple? The big news here is that HP is trying to put some daylight between themselves and Microsoft, and they aren't running to embrace Google to do it.
Both of you are correct..
Palm was, and still is, trying to rip off Apple on its iPhone multi-touch patent. Remember the fight between Palm and Apple when the Pre is about to be launched? If you don't, you can refresh your memory here. In order to compete with Apple in the multi-touch (aka. touchscreen) devices market, any tech companies out there including Palm have to challenge the multi-touch patent that Apple own, and the best way to do it is to 'rip it off' from Apple's iron grip.
Why would he announce this even as the cell carriers are still trying to peddle Palm smart phones? Would you buy a Palm now, knowing that it's a dead end product? Then again, it already was a dead end product even before this announcement.
Why would he announce this even as the cell carriers are still trying to peddle Palm smart phones? Would you buy a Palm now, knowing that it's a dead end product? Then again, it already was a dead end product even before this announcement.
He didn't say they were abandoning the cell phone market... Just that they (HP) didn't buy Palm to get into the cell phone market... Like that;s not the compelling reason.
I suspect that HP will issue a clarification, one way or the other,
HP better work on the quality of their products first. With a 3 year failure rate of over 27% for their laptops, I can only imagine that hardware will be the biggest disappointment regardless of what OS they go with. Give up HP and continue to supply Walmart with the $399 wonder boxes that I get to replace with real hardware within 15 months of purchase.
Some years ago—about the time HP laptops became attractive (visually)—HP announced to their shareholders that they were moving some focus from quality to aesthetics and appeal. I was a computer technician at the time and through years to come the quality of their products began to decrease considerably, but they sure looked much better, and they definitely sold much better. HP, along with most competitors in the PC market, is not building most of their computers to last. They are building them to sell in bulk at extremely competitive rates. If someone wants quality, they're going to have to pay a lot more. Lenovo and Sony seem to be the only mainstream providers left in the PC market who care to compete in this way. (I do acknowledge Dell's XPS/AlienWare lines, though I wouldn't care to suggest either to anybody with better alternatives.)
3 years is a pretty standard (if not, sadly, good) lifespan for a bargain-basement PC.
Palm was, and still is, trying to rip off Apple on its iPhone multi-touch patent. Remember the fight between Palm and Apple when the Pre is about to be launched? If you don't, you can refresh your memory here. In order to compete with Apple in the multi-touch (aka. touchscreen) devices market, any tech companies out there including Palm have to challenge the multi-touch patent that Apple own, and the best way to do it is to 'rip it off' from Apple's iron grip.
Litigation on these patents was inevitable, and is likely to be ongoing for years, with the outcomes far from certain. At this point it's pointless to argue about who ripped off who.
Overall, I see this development as a good thing for Apple. HP could build Chrome or Windows tablets, but instead they are opting to go their own way, which it seems to me is a blow to Microsoft's hopes to establish their position in this new market. Apple will do better in a fragmented market, which now seems it will have four distinct players. Perhaps we'll get to see a rerun of the development of the PC market without anyone coming into the game with a big automatic advantage. Of the four, Apple clearly (IMO) has the most experience and smarts. I like their chances.
Apple clearly has the upper hand in this new emerging market, OSX is a huge part of its success, and iPhone OS will just cement as the standard for all else to imitate. I definitely think Microsoft is going to lose in this bracket, I mean, no one wants to use windows on their future tablets.
Palm was, and still is, trying to rip off Apple on its iPhone multi-touch patent. Remember the fight between Palm and Apple when the Pre is about to be launched? If you don't, you can refresh your memory here. In order to compete with Apple in the multi-touch (aka. touchscreen) devices market, any tech companies out there including Palm have to challenge the multi-touch patent that Apple own, and the best way to do it is to 'rip it off' from Apple's iron grip.
But Apple didn't invent multitouch. They just implemented it on a consumer device first. It was developed by researchers that are not Apple. If Apple patents it, and another party can prove that it was not Apple's invention, the patent is invalid.
Oh I completely agree. I am just saying that you can't claim that anyone ripped off Apple when Apple cot the idea from someone else. It would be like saying that Apple ripped off Xerox with the Lisa/Macintosh or Apple ripped off Palm with the Newton.
Oh I completely agree. I am just saying that you can't claim that anyone ripped off Apple when Apple cot the idea from someone else. It would be like saying that Apple ripped off Xerox with the Lisa/Macintosh or Apple ripped off Palm with the Newton.
You seem to forget that palm was a newton developer long before they got into the hardware business. I always suspected that the pending newton spin-off got steved in the last minute, because apple was holding on to the IP as an insurance policy.
Envy is nice but it's too stupidly priced for average users to consider... They might as well buy a Mac with those Envy prices! WTF
I know..
It still amazes me though on how and what the hell HP is thinking on how they try to sell their Envy laptops, it definitely copied MacBook simplicity design, HP should have called it "Jealousy" instead..
That's why I think it would be pretty hilarious when HP is going to do the same thing if the company finally launch webOS tablets / smartphones, the design team desperately need a slap on their heads, or maybe this decision is in the CEO's hand? Then the CEO is the one who need to be slapped.. \
Comments
Not just printers.
Home servers
Digital photo frames
PDAs
Tablets
For a second there I thought you were attempting a haiku
I've always had a soft spot for Palm. Must be getting old...
HP understood that to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack, they need a combination of hardware + software very much like Apple, Rim, Samsung, etc...
Unlike the PC market where they bundle Windows, HP wants to retain control of the OS in their mobile phones, tablets or any other web connected device. The PC war was won by MSFT but this emerging market is still very much up for grabs.
It will be interesting to follow now that a big player like HP is in the game.
they went into this much trouble acquiring palm just to rip off apple? ...
You mean compete with Apple? The big news here is that HP is trying to put some daylight between themselves and Microsoft, and they aren't running to embrace Google to do it.
Both of you are correct..
Palm was, and still is, trying to rip off Apple on its iPhone multi-touch patent. Remember the fight between Palm and Apple when the Pre is about to be launched? If you don't, you can refresh your memory here. In order to compete with Apple in the multi-touch (aka. touchscreen) devices market, any tech companies out there including Palm have to challenge the multi-touch patent that Apple own, and the best way to do it is to 'rip it off' from Apple's iron grip.
"small form factor web-connected devices."
what is a smartphone?
Why would he announce this even as the cell carriers are still trying to peddle Palm smart phones? Would you buy a Palm now, knowing that it's a dead end product? Then again, it already was a dead end product even before this announcement.
He didn't say they were abandoning the cell phone market... Just that they (HP) didn't buy Palm to get into the cell phone market... Like that;s not the compelling reason.
I suspect that HP will issue a clarification, one way or the other,
.
HP better work on the quality of their products first. With a 3 year failure rate of over 27% for their laptops, I can only imagine that hardware will be the biggest disappointment regardless of what OS they go with. Give up HP and continue to supply Walmart with the $399 wonder boxes that I get to replace with real hardware within 15 months of purchase.
Some years ago—about the time HP laptops became attractive (visually)—HP announced to their shareholders that they were moving some focus from quality to aesthetics and appeal. I was a computer technician at the time and through years to come the quality of their products began to decrease considerably, but they sure looked much better, and they definitely sold much better. HP, along with most competitors in the PC market, is not building most of their computers to last. They are building them to sell in bulk at extremely competitive rates. If someone wants quality, they're going to have to pay a lot more. Lenovo and Sony seem to be the only mainstream providers left in the PC market who care to compete in this way. (I do acknowledge Dell's XPS/AlienWare lines, though I wouldn't care to suggest either to anybody with better alternatives.)
3 years is a pretty standard (if not, sadly, good) lifespan for a bargain-basement PC.
Mark Hurd attempts to clarify his previous remark (and obfuscates it in corporate-speak).
So it appears that HP will continue to pursue smartphones, although not with the singular focus that Palm itself would have brought to the task.
Both of you are correct..
Palm was, and still is, trying to rip off Apple on its iPhone multi-touch patent. Remember the fight between Palm and Apple when the Pre is about to be launched? If you don't, you can refresh your memory here. In order to compete with Apple in the multi-touch (aka. touchscreen) devices market, any tech companies out there including Palm have to challenge the multi-touch patent that Apple own, and the best way to do it is to 'rip it off' from Apple's iron grip.
Litigation on these patents was inevitable, and is likely to be ongoing for years, with the outcomes far from certain. At this point it's pointless to argue about who ripped off who.
Overall, I see this development as a good thing for Apple. HP could build Chrome or Windows tablets, but instead they are opting to go their own way, which it seems to me is a blow to Microsoft's hopes to establish their position in this new market. Apple will do better in a fragmented market, which now seems it will have four distinct players. Perhaps we'll get to see a rerun of the development of the PC market without anyone coming into the game with a big automatic advantage. Of the four, Apple clearly (IMO) has the most experience and smarts. I like their chances.
Both of you are correct..
Palm was, and still is, trying to rip off Apple on its iPhone multi-touch patent. Remember the fight between Palm and Apple when the Pre is about to be launched? If you don't, you can refresh your memory here. In order to compete with Apple in the multi-touch (aka. touchscreen) devices market, any tech companies out there including Palm have to challenge the multi-touch patent that Apple own, and the best way to do it is to 'rip it off' from Apple's iron grip.
But Apple didn't invent multitouch. They just implemented it on a consumer device first. It was developed by researchers that are not Apple. If Apple patents it, and another party can prove that it was not Apple's invention, the patent is invalid.
Who owns what in multitouch is going to be resolved (or not) by many competing lawsuits over a long period of time.
(FWIW, the Newton came before the Palm Pilot.)
Oh I completely agree. I am just saying that you can't claim that anyone ripped off Apple when Apple cot the idea from someone else. It would be like saying that Apple ripped off Xerox with the Lisa/Macintosh or Apple ripped off Palm with the Newton.
You seem to forget that palm was a newton developer long before they got into the hardware business. I always suspected that the pending newton spin-off got steved in the last minute, because apple was holding on to the IP as an insurance policy.
Envy is nice but it's too stupidly priced for average users to consider... They might as well buy a Mac with those Envy prices! WTF
I know..
It still amazes me though on how and what the hell HP is thinking on how they try to sell their Envy laptops, it definitely copied MacBook simplicity design, HP should have called it "Jealousy" instead..
That's why I think it would be pretty hilarious when HP is going to do the same thing if the company finally launch webOS tablets / smartphones, the design team desperately need a slap on their heads, or maybe this decision is in the CEO's hand? Then the CEO is the one who need to be slapped..