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Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?

By | May 19, 2010, 4:03am PDT

Summary: HP CEO Mark Hurd says Palm’s WebOS could be coming to a printer near you. Do you really want a printer with an operating system.

Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd wants to take Palm’s WebOS to a printer near you.

On HP’s second quarter earnings conference call, Hurd was asked about the rationale for the Palm acquisition. Hurd said:

I think in this case of Palm, and our planned acquisition of Palm, it really has more to do with the intellectual property and in the fact that when you look across the HP ecosystem of interconnected devices, it is a large family of devices.

When we think of printers, you’ve now got a whole series of web-connected printers that as they connect to the web, need an OS. We prefer to have that OS in our case to be our IP where we can control the customer experience as we always have in the printing business, and that’s a big deal to us.

Also: HP earnings: Solid quarter and better full-year outlook

Hurd also added that the WebOS will land in tablets and other “small form factors.” HP will also offer Microsoft’s operating systems too, but the Palm purchase gives the company intellectual property so it can create interconnected devices.

And now the big question: Do you really need an operating system in your printer? I’m already tired of printers that do too much. And HP’s software can drive you a bit nutty. My relationship with my HP printer is love-hate and it often annoys me (mostly when I can’t print in grayscale when the blue cartridge is out). Simply put, I want a dumb printer. The thing should just print. I don’t need apps on my printer and I sure don’t want another operating system on it. I just want a printer that prints. Go figure.

My advice to HP: Just because you have a nice mobile operating system doesn’t mean you have to crowbar it into places where it just doesn’t fit.

Related: What can you do with an HP webOS-powered printer?

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Topics

Hewlett-Packard Co., Operating System, Palm Inc., Mark Hurd, Printers, Hardware, Peripherals, Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

Disclosure

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn’t hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.

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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 11th Oct
Beneficial significant specifics, quite a bit of a number of many thanks when using the author. It is really puzzling to me now, but characteristically, the usefulness buy jerseys and importance is overpowering.
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A bit late asking that
Yagotta B. Kidding 19th May 2010
Do you really need an operating system in your printer?

Business printers from HP and everyone else have come loaded with Microsoft Windows for at least a decade. That's a major corporate security problem: large numbers of insecure, unsecured, and unmanageable computers inside the firewall. A fair number of compromises over the years have been traced to exactly that situation.

So this isn't a case of "does your printer need an operating system?" but of "Should your printer have a better operating system?" Always assuming, of course, that it's possible to have a better operating system than Microsoft Windows.
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Windows?
Richard Flude 19th May 2010
It surprises me that windows would have been used given the exotic processing architectures and small memory footprint. Are you sure?
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Are you sure?
Yagotta B. Kidding 19th May 2010
Yup. Partly because I was involved in designing some of the silicon in those boxes. Partly because I've watched them when they crash, and partly from talking to the service types.

Things may have changed recently; my direct experience is five years or so old. However, if it's no longer MS Windows you can be sure it's not for having ditched operating systems altogether.

I may not know for certain what today's OS market share in printers is, but I certainly wouldn't write MS out of a market that they used to own.
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<a href="http://www.tran33m.com/vb/f82.html">iphone</a>
frankts Updated - 15th Feb 2011
@Richard Flude People at these offices didn't even know that their HP device contained a disk, because there aren't any menu items for managing it. And now Mr Hurd wants to put a location-ware Mobile OS in charge of the thing?
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<a href="http://www.tran33m.com/vb/f81.html">blackberry</a>
frankts Updated - 15th Feb 2011
@Richard Flude Everyone's opinion so far as been from the perspective of a printer in your home. I'm thinking this is going to be used on a more enterprise level. printers at the post office, dmv, those kiosks that they use to print movie tickets. Pretty much any place where self service makes sense, this could work.
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Kyocera printers and MFPs are built on Linux
DeRSSS 19th May 2010
@Yagotta B. Kidding: so in some places things are better than others; Lexmark and others use unix-type OS, too.
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Never seen one with Windows
putt1ck 19th May 2010
But other than that YBK is making the key point - printers all have an OS, some of them more capable than others, and have done for decades - if the printer has a network port on it, I bet it has a web server with management capabilities. Using an OS like WebOS is actually a natural development, and would allow HP MFPs to be easily extended with extra free or paid for functionality, like scan to PDF, scan to/print from document management systems, local charging, pull printing, etc.; their current MFPs can be extended, but it is messy, complex and expensive - using WebOS would make it far easier.
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
d_sinner78 19th May 2010
Maybe not just yet. But, with HP investing in cloud, I'm thinking they are probably cooking up something in that direction.
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
still fiddlin 19th May 2010
If it means I don't actually have to install printer drivers on my computer, seems like a good idea to me. But, please, leave the crapware off, i.e., don't try to sell me Snapfish services. But, if I could find and print a map at the printer, vs. turning on the PC, why not?
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
christian.verstraete@... 19th May 2010
Today a printer needs a PC. Is that any easier, with all the connection and driver issue. What about a printer that, with a nice and simple user interface prints everything from the intranet and the internet. Give me one of those, and if WebOS runs on that device, great. Would solve many headaches. No drivers, no printers that are not recognized any more tec.
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HP printers need WebOS? Yes.
BillDem 19th May 2010
We're talking about using the OS, not all the apps. The WebOS would allow HTML5 to be used as the rendering engine for printed pages. This would standardize the data stream allowing all devices to send output to all printers. This is long overdue. Printer drivers need to become a footnote in history. HP in particular has always written extremely resource intensive drivers. Putting WebOS in the printer would allow simple HTML5 text to be sent to the printer and would eliminate the complex, poorly-written drivers HP is famous for creating.
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
catcreekjim 19th May 2010
@BillDem I like the way you are thinking. Allow a bit smarter embedded OS to interpret HTML5 and you can print from ANYTHING - including iPhones, iPads, etc. I would buy a printer that does that!
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why iEtc if all that you need is a printer?
incidental reader 19th May 2010
@catcreekjim
imagine you are bored. You grab your hpPad and jump out of the door. On the way to the local HP Store you are forced to get way to the idea visiting public restroom. While being there you use the time to download a silence room app. That allows your hpPad to print some baby-grade Softies for you. Relieved you approach the restroom's cashier, print a crispy bill. The guy teases you, that the recent hpPat model actually could put your face on it. You promise to stop by on the way back from HP store and print some cashier themed Softies. This ridiculous idea wakes you up and you realize that it is a paper less world.
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Swiss Army Printers
jscarey 19th May 2010
I like the idea of a dumb printer. I have an old 600c on my test bench that just keeps cranking away, evil third party ink carts and all.

My advice to clients is to not put much into a printer and expect a couple of years use at best since they are not feasible to repair and one component will wear out before the others.

In almost any device, the more things it does, the less well it does them. I have a scanner that works great (as long as I avoid the "updated" software), I have a card reader that works great (and it's portable), I have a printer that works great and does so even if every color is not full (another old printer), but when I have to deal with printer issues it is usually with some model trying to be the Swiss Army knife of printers and do all things for all people.

If they put the OS in the printer, is it going to have reasonably replaceable components, or will it be like the disposable printers on the market? The price even of the low-end color and monochrome laser printers is such that it is not worth the cost of my time to diagnose and/or take it to a repair site then re-install.
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What do I want my printer to do?
HugoM 19th May 2010
What would I like my printer to do better?
* Use the same display stream as everyone else (eg HTML)
* make sensible choices eg scale to fit the page instead of using PC resource to scale before it gets sent
* calibrate and cope with empty cartriges when I'm in a hurry
* talk to my PC so if it is out of memory, it goes back to the PC, renegotiates (eg asks for everything to be sent as a bitmap) and has another go
* Counts pages and tells me usage by user or PC, rather than relying on some complicated link up with print queues - in fact couldn't the printer manage its own print queues?
* stop when i tell it to stop, instead of saying "I'll just finish what I have in memory" when someone has sent a job to a printer with the wrong print driver and it is printing 12 characters per page for 999 pages
* negotiate with the next-door printer so big jobs get shared and empty ink / paper just diverts the job
* how about the ability to crawl over the paper, so an A5 (postcard sized for those outside UK) form factor printer can crawl around printing an A3 or A2 (4 * letter size) sheet. Am I going mad?

actually there's quite a few things it could do better with a better OS. But lets keep clear of apps to do strange and useless additional things. iPAQ with a print engine anyone?
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HP webOS Printers is the wave of the future!
zdnetviewer 19th May 2010
If you want dumb printers then you're just the same. A smarter printer that can be connected to the Internet will allow you to use your Palm Pre/Pixi smartphones or other mobile devices to interact directly with your "smart" HP webOS Printer. Why wait to get home and print things you need when you can remotely print documents directly from mobile devices so they'll all be ready when you get home or get into the office? There are a number of advantages of having a smart printer, and having one that you can make available to the world can be valuable to consumers especially for businesses. Smart devices ARE the future! HP will make it happen with webOS. If you can't keep up...you're free to fall behind along with all of the dumb terminals waiting to be recycled!
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
emiliosic 19th May 2010
I think it's a great idea; particularly for multifunction printers.
It would be great to be able to scan without obscure or complicated software, do email to fax (yes, fax) in a more simple way, and actually not only store drivers on the printer but keep them up to date.
My 3-year old Photosmart C6100 used to crash almost on a daily basis when I used certain UPnP software on my LAN; just because the printer would receive a broadcast via ethernet that didn't like. On top of it, it would waste tons of ink when rebooting. And its internet features never really worked as designed.
So I welcome having a better OS.
All modern printers have an OS. On most of them it's not good enough.
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printer OS upgrade? probably
erik.soderquist 19th May 2010
from a technical standpoint, the printer has had some form of OS ever since it could tell the computer "i'm full, slow down or pause" on a print job.

it was a very very simplistic OS, capable of monitoring a control button or two and its buffer capacity, and of piping the content of the buffer to a mechanical output.

now printer can do much more, particularly the multifunction ones that are also a scanner, fax machine, flash card reader, etc...

with this increased function also comes increased risk... so far i've not seen this, but it isn't infeasible for a printer with web based management to be the ultimate target of a botnet infection. imagine a piece of malware on a malicious page that specifically doesn't infect the computer long term, but rather scans the local network for a vulnerable printer, infects the printer, and then the infected printer gets command/control and updates from some blackhat's internet server...

how many people would even be able to check if their network aware printer had been compromised? how long lived would such a botnet be? most home users never set a password on their printer because it's behind the firewall and not being used to surf, and so is assumed to be safe...
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
Eddy-ICUR12 19th May 2010
HP's track record for adding "garbage/bloatware/unecessary applications" to a PC makes me very leary. I avoid any printer that requires more than a driver with basic settings.
Better yet I no longer buy HP printers!!
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
mschafer555 19th May 2010
The PC may disappear someday. Peripherals would need to stand alone. Better to be prepared for that shift and think about printing from your phone and/or tablet.
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Memory cards
kidtree 19th May 2010
Makes sense for those printers that accept a memory card from your camera and print photos without any computer involvement. Personally, I'd rather tweak all my photos on a computer before printing, but the market goes where the numbers are, and the unwashed masses just want their pictures right now.
Also, any printer with a graphic display that shows its supplies' status or other feedback is obviously using some kind of internal computer. Larger laser multifunction machines have a hard drive to store thousands of page images, plus the brains and connections to email scanned images directly from its own color touch screen. We're talking about capabilities and storage capacity far beyond the first PCs, so it follows that the printer needs something approaching a full OS.
(As an aside, think about that hard drive next time you surplus out a copier.)
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Of course it does
curtis@... 19th May 2010
Its already got something embedded there. I would imagine that WebOS gets the Slate or an iPad like device out the door much, much faster. With HP's money, Palm might even come up with a better larger Pre.
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HP printers already use Linux or Unix
tom@... 19th May 2010
Many HP laserjets operate on a subset of HP UX and many of he more recent photo printers and cad printers run on Linux. So HP now owns an os outright, makes sense to use it
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Not necessarily for personal printers
rengek 19th May 2010
Everyone's opinion so far as been from the perspective of a printer in your home. I'm thinking this is going to be used on a more enterprise level. printers at the post office, dmv, those kiosks that they use to print movie tickets. Pretty much any place where self service makes sense, this could work.
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Yes, it does...
Narg 19th May 2010
I'd love a printer with a responsive, easy to use touch screen interface.
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It wasn't long ago that . . .
twirth5 19th May 2010
most people couldn't comprehend the need for an OS on a digital camera, much less a printer.
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YIKES! and other talkbacks don't see the problem....
Rick S._z 19th May 2010
One of the national TV news networks recently had a story about recycled and off-lease HP printers coming back from Doctors Offices, Banks, and Police Departments....

With VAST numbers of images, containing extremely confidential information still present on the system disks. (Medical Records! Arrest Histories! Bank Accounts!)
People at these offices didn't even know that their HP device contained a disk, because there aren't any menu items for managing it. And now Mr Hurd wants to put a location-ware Mobile OS in charge of the thing?

Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
harveyalt@... 19th May 2010
What my HP printer needs is drivers that do nor disable other HP printers and scanners on my computer. What my HP P2015 printer needs is support from a company who ignores the pleas of the owners for a solution to a cycle of never ending formatter board failures. Check out their forum for this. The problem has been around since 2006, and there is no response from HP, other than to discontinue the printer and make the formatter board unavailable through their replacements parts center.
Ask me if I care about a web OS in my HP printer. There are no HP printers in my future.
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
Wibbler 20th May 2010
I think there's a kind of disconnect going on in this article and the discussion. There are all kinds of printers on the market. You might not want an OS on the small ink jet printer connected to your PC (although you might if you think about printing photos from your digital camera without turning on your PC), but you definitely do want one on the huge scanner / fax / laser printer sitting in the corner of a large office. In this context, WebOS makes a lot of sense.
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
yarinsiz Updated - 11th May 2011
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0 Votes
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good idea about printers
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RE: Does your HP printer really need Palm's WebOS?
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 11th Oct
Beneficial significant specifics, quite a bit of a number of many thanks when using the author. It is really puzzling to me now, but characteristically, the usefulness buy jerseys and importance is overpowering.

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