[imgreenlantern2]

Follow me for a minute.

CES 2009 was a great time for Palm fans. Not only was the Palm Pre the #1 gadget for the conference, but we saw the revolution of Palm. Instead of releasing the phone weeks after they waited six months. By that point the fizzle was gone and the Iphone 3GS was out. Many would say that alone killed the Palm Pre right out of the gate. I disagree.

What killed the Palm Pre was going with Sprint. A company that at the time was loosing half a million customers a month. Not only that but the marketing was horrific. You had Apple showing you how their device worked in their commercials, and you had Palm freaking out young children, and adults putting on sunglasses because of an albino chick telling you sweet things in a grassy field. Really?

All was not lost though. They still had the Verizon launch but they came too late on that as well. Android hadn't even taken a hold on the market yet, but a little phone called the Droid changed all that October 2009. Three months later Verizon finally released the Palm Pre Plus.

Again, all wasn't lost even at this point.

BUT of course the marketing genius' stepped up their stupidity with the Palm Pre Plus is for your MOMMY! Really?

All was still not lost for Web OS. It was all lost for Palm. Palm was dead pretty much after them <mod delete> away the Pre on poor marketing with the Pre Plus.

In steps HP which I thought for sure would do a great job with the marketing. Oh...my....God...they do the exact same things. They announce a products that isn't going to even be released for six months, and what has happened since then...the Ipad 2 comes out. Apple upstages them, but not only Apple, they let another company (Blackberry) copy their OS and beat them to the market with a tablet. REALLY? <mod delete> REALLY?

They release the HP Veer and hardly even advertise it. Actually, don't even advertise it practically.

You all know the rest of the story so I am not going to go into it.

Bottom line this is what I believe. I truly believe that as the next wave of marketing and business textbooks are written and printed, under the section of WHAT NOT to do with your company/product; will be a whole section dedicated to Palm and HP.

It is mind blowing that a product as amazing as Web OS could be treated so bad.

I am actually one of those Iphone 3GS customers that left for the Palm Pre Plus. I love webOS but I am not adopting the Pre 3.

I just can't go through the emotional rollercoster again with the product. Come 9/25/11 when my contract expires (renewing at the 4 month left window), I'm off to Android.

I'm sure many of you will say, "See ya then. Don't let the door hit you on the way out". My response is ok I won't.

[mech1164]

Can't say I blame you. Was down your road last year when at the 1 year mark my Pre was falling apart. Hpalm didn't have an answer (do they ever?). So I jumped to the Evo. Is it the greatest I've ever had. Ahh NO. What it does do is work and work well. The only thing that would make it great is to have a port of WebOS3.

It is sad to see Hpalm doing the same things that killed Palm in the first place. Ya think the would know the definition of insanity by now. I just hope that somehow they get it to work this time. And just for the record I did buy the Brooklyn Bridge Cheap.

[Grabber5.0]

Just to clarify one error: the creepy commercials were PALM's, not Sprint's! The Sprint ad's focused mainly on the network (they couldn't afford to do much more really), and really didn't promote the phone at all, but they had nothing to do with the awful, awful Palm ads.

[IcerC]

Hear hear! The veer ads are ok... when they come on.

[imgreenlantern2]

Yes I knew they were Palm's adds and not Sprints so I should have stated that. Either way it was the worst marketing ever in the history of anything.

[innocentbystander]

See ya then. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[VCI_Cell]

Nothing here that hasn't been said (more concisely) a million times before, and with a heaping helping of hyperbole, as well. You lost me when you said the Veer isn't being marketed at all. Bending the facts to fit your theme doesn't a good rant make.

So, see ya.

[LCGuy]

Now, wait a minute here.. the OP does provide a very important POV, and I think his (you are a man, right? if you arent, I apologize) post is quite valuable.

This post doesnt trash WebOS, and isn't insulting.. its an honest disclosure of one person's view of the past 2.5 years of WebOS, and, I dare say that much of this is shared by many others who may not frequent this forum or web site, and is actually part of what HP (and the Palm division inside of HP) needs to understand they are up against.

Now, Im not saying that all that the OP depicts are the actual issues, but, to the public, they likely appear to be, and, in this world, appearances are everything, sadly enough.

Just something to sit back and take in, and if you are really honest with yourself, have some empathy for the OP and others like him/her.

To the OP:

Everyone has a position in life where they view the world from, and I can see and respect yours. I don't agree with the overall pessimism you have, because, I see the HP transition as one of very complex transitions on many levels of the corporate world, and then having to result in a technically competent result... that, if done correctly, will take time, and will include unexpected events that may cause serious delays in the final results - from MY POV, that has been proven over and over again, and so I remain optimistic because, as I just stated, this is a time of change and we are close to the end of the tough part - that corporate transition that needs to produce results....

I wish you the best, if you do leave in September, but, if you really do feel WebOS is the mobile OS for you, perhaps things that will happen from now to then will change your mind, or, allow you to come back, if that's what you want.

In the end, your choices should always lead to more positive things for you in life... and there's nothing more to say after that!

[VCI_Cell]

The OP isn't without valuable points, but I don't understand the value of giving everyone a Palm history lesson peppered with exaggeration and capped off with "so I'm gone." Why should this rant be given any more attention than any others? It's not like the marketing discussion hasn't been had many times before around here.

[LCGuy]

The OP isn't without valuable points, but I don't understand the value of giving everyone a Palm history lesson peppered with exaggeration and capped off with "so I'm gone." Why should this rant be given any more attention than any others? It's not like the marketing discussion hasn't been had many times before around here.

VCI-

Because, as I read it (and maybe Im reading it wrong), it wasn't meant to trash or insult anyone or anything; it was, what I thought to be, an honest and raw account of a WebOS afficionado who has become so frustrated that he/she had enough and is willing to leave because of it.

Im not sure that the intent was to be a "this sucks, im leaving" post.. it was more of a POV, and his/her leaving was more incidental to the post.

It's not "special", just somethingdifferent to look at an appeciate for what it is, IMO.

[VCI_Cell]

Point taken. Well, if folks are interested in chiming in, I'll stop peeing in the OP's cereal.

[Weaser999]

Palm probably didn't have the operating capital to market webOS as much as they would have liked.

[Cantaffordit]

the OP proves two points:

1. Web OS wasn't marketed at all. But webOS was marketed poorly. So neither got much exposure.

2. There are still new ways to say goodbye in a new thread.

[threed61#WN]

If the Pre 3 (or other releases) are good products with the operating system you love, why leave? Why have an emotional rollercoaster ride over a cell phone? Its a cell phone dude! Find important things to make an emotional investment in. The marketing was lousy by the way.

[RBR927]

After reading this thread, I went back and watched the original Pre ads. I would ask "what were they thinking?" but obviously they weren't when they green-lighted those.

[etphoto]

The worst obviously would be some product that failed due to its marketing. Since WebOS isn't failing its clearly not the worst.

Obviously, the op knows nothing of the Cincinnati Bengals who clearly are the worst marketed.


ET

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums

[Superjudge]

I think OP meant New Coke.

[orizzle]

If you've heard about it then marketing done good

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums

[ImperialPenguin]

I see plenty of Veer advertisements. But all they seem to focus on is how small the phone is. I'm not sure that the average consumer realizes what a well polished OS that WebOS is, and pointing that out could help a lot. Android phones sell like hotcakes, but IMO it is very clunky compared to WebOS, which is a a pleasure to use.

HP should take a page from Apple's book and show more screens of the phone in action, and show off some of the key apps that are available for the platform.

WebOS would also benefit from being made available on a wider range of phones. I thought that HP was going to take steps in that direction, but I'm still waiting. The Veer to me is like a sliding Pixi. As much as I love WebOS, the keyboards on all of the available phones leave a lot to be desired for those of us without tiny hands. (and my hands aren't that big)

[Grabber5.0]

The webOS Toaster is.
It's this delightful thing, and yet, no one I know has one.

I love my webOS toaster.