Was he? I arrived at HP shortly before he left, via an acquisition. I suppose he okayed the purchase, which suggests some amount of forward-looking thought, but I also heard that he had defunded HP Labs to some extent, and that he was more into cost control than investing in new technology.
That's what I heard. I interned there shortly after he'd left for oracle.
He wasn't well liked in my department (Superdome!). IT and Ops had been completely outsourced which wasn't particularly appreciated.