Published on Monday, Aug 22 2011
What is it about death that makes the once-living so much more appealing?
Take WebOS, the mobile operating system that Hewlett-Packard all-but-euthanized last Thursday. It was a decision born from the fact that HP generated nearly no business for the TouchPad, itsiPad-wannabe. And sales of smartphones running WebOS, such as the HP Veer, paled next to rival handsets running Google'sAndroid, as well as Apple'siPhone.
Put just after HP announced plans to put WebOS out of its misery, discontinuing operations for devices running on it, the operating system has shown a new luster. TouchPads are flying off the shelves at fire sale prices and WebOS application developers are the subjects of at least one company's hot pursuit. It almost seems as if HP, had it been able to price the TouchPad better and harness the enthusiasm of its developers, could have turned WebOS into a contender.