HP execs on the future of webOS | Hacker News Reader

HP execs on the future of webOS

thisismynext.com

14 pointsbergie10 comments

Off to buy a Touchpad today. As a long-term webOS user (2 years on a Pre), I love the platform and I am always supprised that more of my technically-minded friends choose Android over webOS, given that webOS has such a better multi-tasking experience and they are both based on Linux. Did I mention that the hacker community on webOS is thriving, via excellent projects like Preware (http://preware.org/)?

I'm waiting for the Pre 3 to come out then evaluating- I have a Nexus One right now and I'm getting a little tired of Android's glitchiness. I'm seriously considering WebOS or Windows Phone next, for something a little "different" (more chance I could make an app that doesn't already exist, too)

...that said, I'm still concerned about WebOS's long term development. I just don't trust that HP can continue to innovate.

My TouchPad should be arriving later this month. I'm especially interested in the fact that it ships with Node.js

Don't be. Trust me, they have crippled node on the device. You cannot run any compiled binaries and there is no native SSL support. I have the same handle here as I do in their support forums you can see some of my discussions. Also, just getting started on how to write a "JavaScript service", which is what they call using node, is a exercise in guess work; there is no documentation.

SSL or binaries is not necessary for my use case. I just want to get https://github.com/bergie/noflo to run.

A half complete SDK with minimal docs? So it's just like before HP bought Palm then.

I think I spent half the year I had a pre1 waiting for an decent SDK, and the other half putting it back together and getting replacements. Then I gave up and got an android phone.

This interview makes HP look depressingly uninspiring. Hundreds of words just talking about how Palm/webOS GBU (Global Business Unit?) fits into HP and who's got the most synergy mojo.

Who wants to hear this much about internal hand-wringing?

324,600 HP employees, and developers investing in webOS

The whole argument about how HP has scale and all doesn't seem to matter when I see lag on my Touchpad, and even less so when I'm trying to show people how elegant multitasking is. Adding to that, if 'scale' means pushing webOS through every possible distribution channel within your reach, regardless of how laggy or 'not quite there yet' it is, it's still going to result in a cruddy user experience and thus more webOS haters.

HP employees, sure, but how does this give webOS developers any idea or confidence about the platform's future? It's all sterile, non-committal corporate speak. Yes, they are going to keep building it, but I'll be damned if I can figure out in what direction.

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