Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

There was almost a tablet as well, I think it got pulled just before launch, and the inventory got sold off for next to nothing.


I'm pretty sure a tablet was released, then scrapped sometime in the first month or so after release - TouchPad, IIRC? It got no support from HP or Palm. I seem to remember a quote from some exec saying something like "the market demands a $499 tablet" or something like that, and TouchPads weren't selling. But when they were discounted to $99 - $149, they sold out instantly. They even did a second production run and sold more at $249.

This was a huge missed opportunity for Palm. WebOS was pretty good at that time. They needed more software for it - this is a perpetual problem for most platforms at launch. Seed the market with good hardware, invest in developers, and let it churn for more than 2 months before killing the whole thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_TouchPad


My memory was that it was released and then two weeks cancelled when HP decided to close down Palm and sell off WebOS. I worked for a short time (6 months) working on the tablet setup experience.

And yes, then they were being dumped at fire sell prices of $99/149$ depending up the configuration.


They absolutely were. It was the most hackable tablet for many years because of how cheaply HP dumped these devices on the market.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: