How Android devices are keeping webOS alive | Hacker News Reader

How Android devices are keeping webOS alive

arstechnica.com

21 pointscoloneltcb9 comments

If you haven't already, go read TheVerge's excellent piece on WebOS. Lots of interesting details there. http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/5/3062611/palm-webos-hp-insid...

I second this. Good read. Another article that might be of interest is this NYT article that cites several former HP/Palm employees making the case that webOS was inherently flawed software.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/technology/hewlett-packard...

The primary issue with webOS, according to Paul Mercer, was that it "was ahead of its time in trying to build a phone software platform using Web technology, and we just weren’t able to execute such an ambitious and breakthrough design."

It's intriguing to note that tomorrow RIM will officially unveil BB10 and its first line of BB10 handsets — another phone software platform built using Web technology that is, in many respects, the heir of webOS.

The multibillion dollar question: has web technology finally reached the point that a phone platform built using it can be executed successfully head-to-head with iOS and Android?

I always thought that webOS was on par with iOS (iPhone OS at the time). Even on the crappy original Pre, the experience was smooth and fresh with new features. Development was choppy, but the community was thriving.

Mismanagement from Palm in terms of hardware really hindered the growth of the platform.

Agree wholeheartedly. webOS was solid software begging for hardware to match. It's a testament to how much webOS was loved that users would tolerate using the original Pre. I remember many swapping it out multiple times due to hardware defects. Still have my original one for nostalgia's sake. Cute little phone with an OS to die for.

For me its the opposite, the Android OS is keeping my webOS device alive. I bought a HP touchpad in the firesale and now run Android 4.0 on it (Cyanogenmod).

Same here, but I find webOS runs smoother and the battery lasts a lot longer. I would stay in webOS all the time if there were the right apps for it.

webOS was my first introduction to mobile computing so it'll always hold a special place in my heart.

Didn't some of the members of the webOS team join the Android team after HP shut down development? I could be wrong, but I remember something like that happening.

Same here. webOS was my first love in mobile computing. Although I've become a huge proponent of iOS, I still think webOS does some things better than any other mobile OS and I believe it had a profound impact on the nascent trajectories of both iOS and Android.

Most of the key webOS team members were actually picked up by Google when Palm was being acquired by HP, most notably UX design guru Matias Duarte. He is to mobile software what Jony Ive is to mobile hardware. He was responsible for Helio's OS, Danger, webOS, and Android Gingerbread and beyond. Plus, you gotta love a guy who's primary goal is "to make people smile."

http://www.linkedin.com/in/matiasduarte

In particular, Matias Duarte who was the lead designer for webOS joined as Android's lead designer.

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