Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 70 posts

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#61

Post by j_col »

lallysingh wrote: post #14
j_col wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

webOS out of the box will auto-update itself over the air to 3.0.2. It just wasn't available when the reviews were written. If I read a review now, it's based on outdated information.

They should've waited until 3.0.2 was available before sending the devices out to reviewers. Frankly, if you're gonna have error for reviewers, I'd put in as many cheap, unmaintainable perf hacks as I could.

Yes I totally agree, only one chance to make a first impression and all that.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#62

Post by starwed »

saturdaysaint wrote: post #33
canistr wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not really a 'problem' though if people understand what they want. What it really means is that HP needs to step up their game on all fronts to make a product and compel people to buy it. I mean, I tried the TouchPad. It's good in a lot of ways but mediocre in other ways. It's a lot like how the G1 launched. Die-hards bought it, the tech-savvy liked it but weren't 'flocking' to it, and the average consumer jus…

A pretty significant piece of Android/Droid's success that you don't mention is that the Droid launched on the biggest U.S. network essentially without a competitor. If you wanted a phone with a decent browser on Verizon (and Sprint/TMo) in 2009/2010, it was Android or nothing. That's a luxury none of Apple's competitors have now.

There are also people like me -- I switched to Verizon specifically to get the first Droid. (Granted I was on Virgin before...)

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#64

Post by jackson71 »

canistr wrote: post #21
recoiledsnake wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>HP needs something like a 'Droid' campaign to really spark interest in their products. I see a lot of Touchpad, Playbook and Xoom ads on TV. Atleast the Xoom ones seem to be on the level of the Droid ads(it's Motorola again, of course). The ads seem ok and cool but if the current sales figures are something to go by, don't seem to be very effective. As I said in another comment, it's easier to get people to buy a ph…

The way I see it is that Apple's commercials and most of the Droid commercials were compelling, head-turners. They were much more interesting. Whenever either of those commercials played, I wanted to watch them. I can't say the same thing of the TouchPad, Playbook, or Xoom ads. This quality of marketing were a part of what made the Droid and iProducts so successful.

- The Xoom and Droid commercials are nothing but derivative, dystopian futurist fluff, and the Verizon Android (read: non-Droid) commercials involving their retail outlets are seriously contrived crap speaking to easily-swayed lowest-common denominators in the crowd.

- The Touchpad's commercials are boring and tell me nothing about the device. Like others are saying, they tell me jack crap about the device, and the Russell Brand commercials that actually do? They might not be my tea, but at least they have some personality (comedic value debated). Haven't seen them on TV. Brilliant strategy there, HP!

- Apple's commercials are so well-received that rolling a commercial out based on a feature (see: Facetime) can generate sales because they know just who to market to and, by focusing on one device per form factor, have a history of trusted quality through said long-term focus on each of them. People actually know the models as opposed to the ton of "ManufacturerName Droidbot AspirationalPhraseHere" models being cranked out. They know the history. And, well, Apple's products "Just work" 99% of the time.

Disclosure: I own an Android tablet and an HP Touchpad. Fanboys amuse me.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#65

Post by mgkimsal »

neild wrote: post #59
mgkimsal wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazingly, webOS/palm got a do-over, in the form of HP buying them. "We're too small to compete" was the Palm motto towards the end, and HP buying them was seen by the faithful as a way of "getting it right" - more money and resources behind them, they'll be able to really get webOS out there. And they did the exact same stuff they'd done two years earlier. Announce and briefly demo a product at start of the year? Ch…

Amazingly infuriating to watch company after company claim to want to be a player in the mobile/tablet space, and fail continuously against Apple. It's far less that Apple's doing so much right, but everyone else keeps getting it so wrong, even with successful competitors to copy (this isn't revolutionary groundbreaking stuff any more, launching a tablet). It isn't easy to make a successful tablet. Apple made it look…

Probably sounded like I was trivializing it, and I 100% agree, the Apple ecosystem (stores, accessories, etc) all help support new products (ipad, etc).

That said, there's been some staggeringly dumb things the webOS team has done with respect to getting stuff out to developers (like, you know, functioning handsets, SDKs, updates, information). Apple can afford to be tightlipped about this sort of stuff, but others can't. Developers will be the earlyvangelists for new products if companies will let them be. That means supporting them, and Palm and then HP both dillydallyed around way too long in both cases. I say this as someone who'd signed up for the SDK for the original webOS launch, and waited, and waited, and waited, then was rather disappointed with what was eventually released.

Yes, Apple does have a lot of stuff in place, but what is stopping other companies from doing this? It won't be overnight, sure. It takes a long term vision, and perhaps Apple really is the only large company that can execute on this. I don't see HP, Dell, Lenovo or any other PC/electronics company having even a medium term vision, let alone a long term one, when it comes to consumer electronics and computing.

MAYBE Google could fill this? Maybe. But really only if they get in to the hardware and retail game. Apple controls the hardware and software and sales channel, and can create a strong, consistent and cohesive experience. No one else can do this - the hardware guys point the fingers at licensed software, retail chains push whatever they get a big check for, etc.

So, yes, Apple makes it look easy, and it's not, but it's certainly possible. Year after year we see lackluster 'me too' stuff from companies that are only addressing one portion of the end-user experience. Can MS ever get in to this game? Not without some serious long term vision from the top, a restructuring of their business, and a willingness to piss off some long-term partners. I don't see it happening...

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#66

Post by nitrogen »

Jabbles wrote: post #50
dmix wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people still don't care about or want tablet computers; they care about and want iPads I've seen this many times when I try to explain to normal people what I do for a living. When I explain we create tablet apps, I get blank stares. If I say we create iPad apps, they reply "oh I saw the commercial for those". iPads are mainstream. Tablets in general, not so much.

Couldn't that be a symptom of other tablets not being competitive, rather than the cause?

neuroelectronic 59 minutes ago | link [dead]

yes and no. Going back to the MP3 analogy, their were many MP3 players that were much better deals on paper; a fraction of the cost for more memory. But they didn't have a scroll wheel or iTunes, so consumers found them to be cheap knock-offs.

neuroelectronic: it looks like your posts are auto-dead. Posting as a sibling comment since there's no contact info in your profile.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#67

Post by mgkimsal »

tjakab wrote: post #56
bigwally wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even going to Best Buy to try a unit does next to nothing. Pretty much everything that they sell has a flat battery, is stuck on a screen or suffering some other issue. Except of course for the Apple display. All working. All looking good. All the time.

I'm going to guess that Apple's contract with Best Buy probably has specific requirements on how their products are displayed in every store.

Probably.

But if that's the case, why does no other company seem to use this approach?

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#68

Post by rsanchez1 »

neild wrote: post #59
mgkimsal wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazingly, webOS/palm got a do-over, in the form of HP buying them. "We're too small to compete" was the Palm motto towards the end, and HP buying them was seen by the faithful as a way of "getting it right" - more money and resources behind them, they'll be able to really get webOS out there. And they did the exact same stuff they'd done two years earlier. Announce and briefly demo a product at start of the year? Ch…

Amazingly infuriating to watch company after company claim to want to be a player in the mobile/tablet space, and fail continuously against Apple. It's far less that Apple's doing so much right, but everyone else keeps getting it so wrong, even with successful competitors to copy (this isn't revolutionary groundbreaking stuff any more, launching a tablet). It isn't easy to make a successful tablet. Apple made it look…

webOS is built on Linux, "a core OS that's had over 20 years of work put into it."

That touch UI still can't get notifications and multitasking right.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#69

Post by gamble »

mgkimsal wrote: post #12
canistr wrote: post #2

If the TouchPad, with all its geek cred, is only able to move 25,000 units, then it really makes me wonder how well the other tablets are doing. I went to Best Buy (note: this is Canada) the other day and they had a huge number of tablets in their tablet section. The TouchPad, Xoom, Acer's Iconia, the Galaxy Tab, and various Windows 7-based tablets. If the TouchPad has only been able to move that many units, then the…

I'd loved to have played with some of them at my local store, but as is the case with almost most consumer PC stuff, the units are not on. The Apple display section at our local Best Buys are always loaded with functioning units that are open for people to explore - not locked down with crappy "BUY GEEK SQUAD SERVICE!" screen savers. The table with all the tablets at multiple Best Buy stores I've been in to recently…

You gotta pay to play.

Retailers always demand a fee from the manufacturer before they provide special displays like the Apple section at BB. The contract likely specifies that BB employees will keep Apple's products charged up and functional at all times. This is only possible because Apple's products command high margins that can easily cover the marketing fees.

Apple's tablet competitors obviously don't have that level of relationship. I've yet to see so much as an end cap for an Android tablet.

Re: Report: Best Buy tells HP to take back its TouchPads

#70

Post by j_col »

yequalsx wrote: post #45

The TouchPad didn't pass my two usability tests for tablets. I opened a book and tried to lookup the definition of a word. I think it was the TouchPad that opened a browser window and sent me to a Google search for the word's definition. I also opened two tabs for the browser. I couldn't figure out how to close a tab. If it doesn't pass these two simple tests then it's not worth buying. The iPad is the only tablet th…

Hmmm, the Touchpad doesn’t have tabs in its browser, it opens up a new browser card which is an entirely different experience, so I’m not sure how you could have carried out this test?
Post reply on HN