Mr. Apotheker, please don’t be offended, this is merely my opinion.  Seriously, how could you take the 2nd best mobile OS [this is true and just for you Ryan] and put it on ice after weakly pitching it?  How could you?  do you not understand what is happening in the world with mobile computing?

I loved my Palm IIIc and m515.  They were great devices … they had problems, but they were the only real handheld for years!  They are still being used by some people because they work well and had a simple and easy to use interface.  They did lack a decent ecosystem and that was changed with webOS.  Palm made beautiful changes to the operating system and several of my friends got Pre’s and Pixi’s.  I was waiting on my contract to end so that I could move to an iPhone, by this point in time we had moved to Mac’s.  Yet, I was interested, and I grabbed my father-in-laws or friends phone when I had the chance to site down and play with it [that means I was interested in learning about the device because of the OS].  I was not impressed with the hardware.  I to be honest still am not.  The innovation of the pages concept and then the rumored and proven abilities of “tap to transfer”!  Wow!  I thought, how awesome that would be if it could be worked across different systems and then HP bought them and then they finished what Palm had started.

But they only finished what was started.

At this point I need to change directions.  What I was expecting when HP bought Palm was a rebirth of computing at HP and a move to actually compete with Apple.  I saw a future with webOS running on laptops and desktops and mobiles similar to the way OS X has moved into the mobile space [now let's not argue the semantics].  I envisioned HP being able to dual boot Windows and webOS; and I was not the only person envisioning that happening.  I believe, HP brought it up in the first place.  I was starting to see a lightweight fast operating system that would be faster than Windows and as secure as the rest of them.  I saw tablets, smartphones, touch handhelds [yes very similar to the iPod Touch]; and I saw an ecosystem being built or integrated, that would bring it to parity with Apple.  I mean, the computers looked good and were well made [from my personal experience with them].  HP could have spent more time on design even though this doesn’t seem to be a strong point.

Many people know and understand that Apple claims to be a hardware company and they maintain a 30% margin on their hardware and give away the OS [remember that this is a company statement made by Apple].  So, why couldn’t HP start to move in that direction … is it because Mr. Apotheker has no vision?  Yeah, and neither do those that work for him.   I am so disappointed because Android as much as it is touted an competition to iOS; many technologists that I follow and read feel the same way that I do.  Android was just a cheap, bad alternative.  webOS was the real threat to iOS.  It not only did things differently, but it also did them in a visually appealing way, similar to iOS.

So, my request, Mr. Apotheker, is to bring me on board and give me 3 years before you actually shutter this HALF A BILLION business.  Let me have a chance to bring back a group that is failing.  I know I have vision and I have a desire to see some really good competition.

iron wil

I love this device.  I really like the 802.11n and I really like the Price Point!  I can afford the 99$ and that makes this an easy buy.  Having access to NetFlix and my iTunes Library in the same place really makes me love this.  I see 3 things that will happen to the device over the next year or two:

1. The Orchard will hold and deliver personal content to any iPhone, iTouch, iPad, and Apple TV.
2. Apple will develop a home iTunes server that will allow for several accounts and multiple account access.  Think HP’s Windows Home Server with the iTunes plug-in.
3. Apple will allow for App development which will bring in more content and some games.  This may require a new Apple TV to handle multiple iPhones, iTouchs, and iPads … to act as game controllers.

Once, Apple puts these pieces into place, it defines the paradigm and concept of what that device in the living room is that handles TV Shows, Movies, Music, and Gaming!

I need to pre-order mine.

iron wil

P.S.

Others Thoughts

1. Wired’s Epicenter, How Apple Just Disrupted the Cable Guys.
2. Ars Technica, No longer a hobby? $99 Apple TV drops storage, integrates Netflix.
3. Fortune Tech, Apple TV swings hard but misses.

I  have to disagree with Fortune, I think that they are wanting a solution to a problem that everyone is searching for.  Wired & Ars, I think are on the same train of thought as I am and Apple.  It isn’t the answer yet … another step or iteration on the path to getting it right.  I look forward to seeing what comes next.  I hope they see and realize that this can’t be a stand alone box; it has to have a robust back-end of content.

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Baratunde Thurston, Heather Gold, and John C. Dvorak

Farmville is bigger than Twitter, behind the Crunchpad drama, and is a living room on wheels in your future?

Show Notes

MacBreak Weekly 170: The Bourne Return

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Scott Bourne, and Andy Ihnatko

Apple buys Lala, AT&T sucks, but there’s an app for that, and the new Mac Pros are here…

Show Notes

Security Now 226: Listener Feedback 81

Hosts: Steve Gibson with Leo Laporte

Digital voting goes open source, patch Tuesday news, and Steve answers your questions.

Show Notes

Windows Weekly 134: Prestige Mode

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Can you trust Internet Explorer, the best tech gifts of the year, and Paul Levels up.

Show Notes

TWiG #20: Google Goggles, cloud data portability, EtherPad, Google News, and more.

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani, Jeff Jarvis, and Brian Fitzpatrick

Google Goggles, cloud data portability, EtherPad, Google News, and more.

Show notes

iron wil

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jerry Pournelle, Dwight Silverman, and Paul Thurrott

The truth about Windows 7 market share, why B Dalton’s was good for literacy, and the fate of Ezekiel the Z80…

Show Notes

MacBreak Weekly 169: This Is What Happens Larry

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, and Andy Ihnatko

Psystar’s last gasp, crunchpad drama, and iTunes LP coming to iDVD and more.

Show Notes

Security Now 225: Same OriginTroubles

Hosts: Steve Gibson with Leo Laporte

Apple fixes security flaws, Ford SYNC SDK, black screen of death, same origin troubles, and more.

Show Notes

Windows Weekly 133: A Fish Called Windows Audio Only

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

The best way to answer the Call of Duty, the nicest Windows Mobile phone, and the screen’s not dead yet.

Show Notes

This Week In Google 19: I’m Feeling Lucky

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani, Jeff Jarvis, and Heather Gold

EtherPad acquisition, a Google dictionary, Chrome extensions, realtime finance news, and more.

Show Notes

iron wil

Yes, that is right.

She has been using it for the last several months.  She works part-time for a Hospice organization and is able to telecommute.  She is RDP-ing into a server and using that servers resources.  It makes great sense for her, except for the screen size; which is of course is to small for some of her work.  She has become quite comfortable with it for the purpose of work and using it on a daily basis for eMail and other work.

On the other hand, my 3 yr old  has let us know that it is to slow for online flash games and video.  Which is quite hilarious because he isn’t on our iMac that often or for that long.  He has however, formed an opinion and doesn’t like to use the HP Mimi 10.

I have to admit that I like the small form factor for the most part.  I don’t like the touch pad because it is to small and awkward.  An Apple touch pad would be much more functional and probably more useful because of it’s functionality.  One of my favorite features is the SD Card slot which seats the card firmly into the case and easy to eject when necessary.  My second favorite feature is the use of design and a Transcend JetFlash T3 drive that hides in the side of the computer totally flush with the body of the Netbook.  The only indicator is the USB Symbol and the notch to extract the drive.

I just wonder when I will get to use it so that I can actually write a review for it.

iron wil

Hosts: Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Patrick Beja, John Graham-Cumming, and David Pogue

Turing apology, Google books, Medicare Macs, WIPO, Twitter verification, editorial ethics, and more.

Show Notes

MacBreak Weekly 159: House Party

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, and Andy Ihnatko

Ads in apps, Windows 7 house party, OSX file functionality, iPhone battery life issues, luggage, and more.

Show Notes

Security Now 215: Security Maxims

Hosts: Steve Gibson with Leo Laporte

Steve and Leo talk about various security maxims, what they mean, why you should follow them, and more.

Show Notes

Windows Weekly 124: Never Too Much Cilantro

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Windows 7 ready for enterprise, Office Web Apps, HP MediaSmart Servers, and more.

Show Notes

This Week In Google 9: Gina As In Subpoena

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Gina Trapani

Google Sidewiki, Chrome Frame, Google Wave, Gmail down again, Cyanogen C&D, and more.

Show Notes

iron wil

I am also curious to see how “addicted” I am to my MacBook and the OS X Platform.  I know that I could probably make a straight forward switch to Ubuntu or a similar Linux distro.  My major concern is functionality, will it work with my computer.  That is why I didn’t stay on Ubuntu 3 years ago when I ran it for 6 months.  Odd little things kept happening and so, I went back to Windows when both of my PC’s died in a week’s time.  No, I don’t think it was the OS.  I am sure that one overheated and the other got static shocked from the outside.  I am still puzzled by that, but I had to turn around and spend a bit of cash to rebuild one machine & by that point, I was beyond figuring out what happened.

I digress.

Windows 7 looks pretty nice and it works much more like Linux and OS X than ever before.  The UI is very clean and well designed.  I like the tile effect on the bottom for open windows and I like the loose sidebar tools, it is much better than having the Sidebar and having to work around it.  I really like having the widgets on the desktop where I can find them quickly.  Dashboard in OS X, is also nice, but sometimes it is frustrating because they seem to take their time loading unless I pop it open and then close it and come back to it later [with the F5 Key].  Sigh, nothing is perfect.

iron wil