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0 pointsugh14y ago0 comments

I have real trouble understanding that. I don’t know how tablets are presented in the US but in my local German electronics retailer they are all right next to each other. The TouchPad even had more promotional material around it, it should have sticked out. (Ignoring the iPad which is right next to the other tablets but on an extra table with all the other Apple stuff.)

Ignoring the iPad, I don’t understand how the TouchPad could be less successful than all the other tablets. Android can’t be the reason, that’s not how the tablets are presented. They are the Samsung tablet, the Motorola tablet, the Asus tablet, the HP tablet. It’s not even obvious that the Motorola and the Samsung tablet run the same OS, at least if you are a casual shopper, trying out tablets. To me, Android and webOS didn’t feel different enough to make one the clear winner, at least if you have limited time and are just playing around with it. The price certainly can’t be the reason, they all cost about the same.

Android tablets seem to at least be a little successful, why is the TouchPad not at all successful?

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5 comments · 1 top-level

lukifer14y ago· 4 in thread

What killed the TouchPad more than anything was lack of differentiation. If they had been $400 from the start, they could have been "the iPad, but cheaper". They could have started with a 7-8" model. They could have targeted specific niche markets or verticals en masse, preloading them with use-case specific apps and selling thousands of units at a time to big orgs.

As it is, the webOS is a brilliant OS which HP completely squandered. I hope it somehow lives on via skunkworks or homebrew; I plan on keeping my $99 unit, as the browser and e-book functions will keep it useful for years to come.

(Side note: it's also occurred to me that webOS is perfect for large-scale touch computing, of the "big-screen drafting table" variety. Why they haven't pursued this instead of touchable iMac knockoffs is beyond me.)

teyc14y ago

Actually, there are better places than trying to differentiate on price.

Printing with the iPad is a prickly issue today. If HP were to even launch one printer that worked with the TouchPad, it would have been an opening salvo that Apple will have to scramble to catch up.

Secondly, cameras represent the last bastion of consumer goods that hasn't been computerized the way a music player has been computerized. HP could have licensed WebOS to camera manufacturers and build up a defense against further penetration from Apple. Nikon, Canon etc should be concerned that they have nothing if Apple decided to eat their lunch.

ughOP14y ago

Huh? HP launched more than two dozen printers (or updated them) that work with the iPad. HP is, in fact, the only brand that has printers which work with the iPad. The TouchPad works more or less with the same printers, it doesn’t do any better than the iPad in that respect.

It doesn’t seem like the availability of printers makes a huge difference.

lukifer14y ago

The camera idea is interesting. They also failed to attempt an iPod Touch competitor (though component prices could make that a non-starter). And there are at least two other arenas that remain insufficiently computerized: the living room, and the kitchen.

Put simply, HP had a tremendous opportunity, and they squandered it through lack of vision.

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nutjob12314y ago

its my understanding that the touchpad could actually print documents to a lot of HP printers

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5 comments · 1 top-level

lukifer14y ago· 4 in thread

teyc14y ago

Actually, there are better places than trying to differentiate on price.

Printing with the iPad is a prickly issue today. If HP were to even launch one printer that worked with the TouchPad, it would have been an opening salvo that Apple will have to scramble to catch up.

ughOP14y ago

It doesn’t seem like the availability of printers makes a huge difference.

lukifer14y ago

Put simply, HP had a tremendous opportunity, and they squandered it through lack of vision.

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nutjob12314y ago

its my understanding that the touchpad could actually print documents to a lot of HP printers

1 more reply

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