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James Kendrick
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HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul

By | July 9, 2011, 7:13am PDT

Summary: Since picking up the HP TouchPad on launch day I have been swamped with one question: am I going to keep it or return it during the grace period?

Since picking up the HP TouchPad on launch day I have been swamped with one question: am I going to keep it or return it during the grace period? It’s a legitimate question as many folks buy a new gadget with the view that if it doesn’t blow them away out of the box they will just return it. There’s nothing wrong with that, money is tight and gadgets are expensive. My reason for buying the TouchPad was to see not only how good it was out of the box, but to see how HP develops the platform going forward. I planned to keep the TouchPad when I bought it, and it is definitely staying with me.

I believe there is great potential in the webOS platform, depending on how well HP handles things. They have a huge investment ($1.2 billion) in it, and I think they will make a serious go with webOS. That will include keeping webOS evolving rapidly, and stimulating the developer community to write good apps for it. How well will HP handle this? It is too early to tell, but I am in it for the long haul. Will I ultimately regret that decision? Absolutely not, as the ride is as fun as reaching the journey’s destination where gadgets are concerned.

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Topics

Hewlett-Packard Co., HP TouchPad, James Kendrick

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long.

Disclosure

James Kendrick

James Kendrick has no affiliations or relationships that need to be disclosed.

Biography

James Kendrick

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long. Prior to joining ZDNet, James was the Founding Editor of jkOnTheRun, a CNET Top 100 Tech Blog that was acquired by GigaOM in 2008 and is now part of that prestigious tech network. James' writing has appeared in many print publications: Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine, Information Week and Laptop Magazine to name a few. James' coverage of the mobile technology sector has regularly appeared in the New York Times, Salon.com and CNN/ Fortune online. Not just a writer, James has filmed numerous video reviews and how-tos that have garnered well over a million viewers. He has appeared on local news segments and been interviewed by the Associated Press on mobile technology topics. Additionally, James has been podcasting about mobile technology for years.

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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
danyowell 13th Jul
@Economister Wow. I came to this article,enjoyed it, and wanted to see if any other readers had contributions to make. In stead I find your assinine pining for proper grammar. Thanks for devaluing what could have been an informative conversation.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
rwalrond Updated - 9th Jul
Good luck man. 1.2 billion must pale in comparison to what they spend to maintain their Windows business. What will HP do when Windows 8 arrives on tablets next year? Will they push web/os over Windows 8? Will be very interesting to see how they handle this.

(corrected after being pulled over by the grammer police, aka @Economister)
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Message has been deleted.
Economister Updated - 10th Jul
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
rwalrond Updated - 9th Jul
@Economister
Thanks, I will correct it. I'm not sure who elected you the internet grammar police but I guess we all have to find our calling. Now if you actually have some value to add to the conversation I would love to heare it.

(Grammar police caught up with me again... 2 strikes.. I'm going to try and be more careful.)
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grammar
Economister 9th Jul
@rwalrond

The way/what you write says a lot about you. If you do not take any pride in what you produce and you are fine with looking ignorant/uneducated, be my guest.

I often wonder what students learn in high school, because apparently they do not learn much spelling and grammar, nor math, science, languages, history or geography. Not much left, is there. It is not a mystery why a lot of jobs end up overseas.
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Grammar
rwalrond 9th Jul
@Economister
Wow, it was just a simple typing error. I appreciated you pointing out the error in my ways. But if you really want to make a difference, perhaps you should take up teaching. I can't imagine surfing around the internet correcting spelling and grammar mistakes in blog replies is all that fun.

Now if you don't have any comments about the actual blog post, I will respectfully bow out of this grammar thread.
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Grammar
dazzlingd Updated - 9th Jul
@Economister
In both of your comments I see grammatical errors or poor English.

In your first post, the period in your second sentence should be before the trailing quotation mark in "their" and not after.

In your second post, the title "grammar" should have the G capitalized.

Replacing the word "or" with a slash is lazy English. The comma after the word "uneducated" should be replaced by the word "then."

You do not require a comma before the word "because." Better still replace "because" with a period and start a new sentence with "Apparently" because there you are starting a new statement and the existing sentence is too long.

Your rhetorical question "Not much left, is there" should end with a question mark and not a period.

To paraphrase The Blue Brothers, "Grammar Nazis. I hate Grammar Nazis."
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
steveholt68 9th Jul
@Economister "Not much left, is there." Shouldn't that have a ? at the end of it?

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. happy This is fun.

And James, I will be interested to see how this tablet works for you so post more updates as you go along. I wonder if you'll gravitate back to the Galaxy Tab though.
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Apart from ..
Economister 9th Jul
@dazzlingd

most of your comments/corrections (here I go again, being lazy) being flat out wrong (but nice try), you are missing the point entirely. But given your post, that is not surprising at all. You and all your grammar "Nazi" hating buddies are entitled to be left behind by those who try to learn and take pride in what they do. Apparently you don't. I hear there are a LOT of them in Asia. How is that going? (Notice the question mark?)

And no, it was not a question requiring a question mark. It was a statement, phrased like a question. If I had intended to ask a question, I would have, you guessed it, put in a question mark.

The "title" grammar, was in fact NOT a title. It was just a spelling correction to his post that I placed in the subject box because it was convenient (and frankly a bit amusing to me).

Finally, English is not my native tongue. It is my second language. What is your excuse?
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
Playdrv4me Updated - 9th Jul
@Economister

I'll gladly trade a few spelling errors for the idiotic practice of starting a sentence which should be in the BODY of their post, within the subject line. I have no idea what the fascination is with this.
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"The way/what you write says a lot about you.
sportmac 9th Jul
@Economister
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uh... what?
sportmac 9th Jul
@Economister
"The way/what you write says a lot about you. If you do not take any pride in what you produce and you are fine with looking ignorant/uneducated, be my guest."

seriously? you think the way something is written is revealing? you think that it can make someone look ignorant/uneducated because of the way it's written?

by the way, you wouldn't have any statistics on that whole lack of learning thing would you? anything at all? because, you know, you "apparently" believing it to be true simply will not do.
i'm sure you're feeling all that and more having typed it out all grammatically correct and what not, but please tell me you have something more to justify that jobs and overseas statement. which you stated as fact. you care to provide some? a few statistics maybe?

unless of course you didn't mean to say it that way in which case the what and the way you wrote it would kinda make you... well, no need to go there.
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No fascination
Economister 9th Jul
@Playdrv4me

It is just a simpler way to communicate or get the point across. Often a thread is like a conversation. You do not have a subject "line" in a conversation. Also, subject lines are important if you need them. They should succinctly encapsulate the topic. Skipping it if not needed saves time. Repeating the same subject oven and over (e.g. "Grammar") serves no useful purpose whatsoever.

I am all for anything that makes a conversation easier to participate in, but the level of English competence in web posts is at times frightening. An important reason for being tolerant however is that many posters are not native English speakers and it is important to have their participation. When someone is fairly clearly a native English speaker and their spelling and grammar suck, I just shake my head in disgust at times. It is usually a reflection of the educational system and/or a person who takes little pride in self improvement. Using the term "grammar Nazi" says a lot more about the source than the target.

Finally, what sets humans apart from other animals is our ability to communicate, and by implication, learn from each other. We become more knowledgeable over time as a species. An important function of a forum like this is to learn from each other so we can all become better informed. It puzzles me why basic English usage should somehow be excluded. If the correction is done politely (and I am not commenting on my original post here) there is no reason why the correction should not be welcomed. Insisting on staying ignorant is not a desirable human trait.

To those occasional participants who have writing/spelling disabilities I apologize.
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This is getting tiresome, but
Economister 9th Jul
@sportmac

take look at the US balance of payments and national debt, national trends in the manufacturing sector, camparative high school scores and levels in advanced nations etc. Also take a look at the nationalities of a very large percentage of students as well as faculty at the top US universities.

I think that should answer most of your questions - if you can make any sense of it all.
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well, no
sportmac Updated - 9th Jul
@Economister
i'll not take a look at them. you stated that "apparently" kids aren't learning all these subjects in school. you then state as fact, based on your "apparent" belief, that this is why jobs end up overseas.

i'll not be doing your homework for you. you made the statement, you back it up.

"if you can make any sense of it all."

tsk tsk. must be that second language thing.

i do agree with you though. quite tiresome indeed.
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If I .....
Economister 9th Jul
@sportmac

stated that a (heavier than air) ball dropped from a certain height above the earth will start accelerating towards the earth and then hit it, due to gravity, would you require links/proof to support that as well?

Only fools ask for evidence for well established and known/understood facts.
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Too bad.
rwalrond 9th Jul
It's sad that this is what my comment has turned into. I get the whole grammar (thanks for the spelling correction) and spelling thing. I have 3 children, it is important to help them keep the skills that technology is slowly taking away. So @Economister, thanks for calling me out. I wish you folks would just get back on topic now. After all this is just a tech blog and not an English test.
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fools eh
sportmac Updated - 9th Jul
@Economister
well now, there's a splendid response. really. well done laddy. instead of rising to the occasion and giving us statistics to bolster your statements you prefer that old standby, that lowest of all forms of debate: name calling.

now as "frightening" as bad grammar is, the old name calling is simply terrifying. but i'm sure it has something to do with the educational system the poster was subjected to. wouldn't you agree? or it could say a lot more about the source than the target.

but of course, we're all here to learn from each other. i have no wish to stay ignorant ya know. so i'll just ignore that name calling bit and wait for you to more fully explain your position.

for instance, no where in your thesis is corporate profits considered. according to you it's education that results in loss of jobs. so i'm most curious about these well understood and known "facts" of which you speak.
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Don't feel bad
Economister 9th Jul
@rwalrond

Sometimes you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet. I do not mind people getting upset with me and my posts from time to time. I like at least to try to make a positive contribution, even if it is at times objectionable to some individuals here. Other peoples inability to deal with reality is not really my problem.

As for your children, you have the right mindset. Give them the best education you possibly can AND give them good people skills. If you can manage those two, they will do just fine. Computer techies as a group are not known for their people skills.

Take care.
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oh dear oh dear
sportmac Updated - 9th Jul
@Economister
my dear fellow. are you not going to address my questions? you're simply going to hide behind "Other peoples inability to deal with reality is not really my problem."?

i really don't see why you so object to defending your position with some facts. it can't be that hard since they are, apparently, as solid as gravity. come dear boy, make a positive contribution by enlightening me. you have an opportunity here to help educate someone yet you choose to dismiss the entire affair with some vague notion of "reality".

surely you can put aside these personal attacks long enough to engage in spirited debate with some facts. no?
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
Rama.NET 9th Jul
@sportmac
Economister hates Americans and he showed it so many times on this. Whenever we ask for some valid reason, he opts for name calling and if senses that he is losing he will either try to hide or says something like "not worth to argue with walls." grin
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
root12 9th Jul
@Economister
Add something of value please next time. You knew exactly what his comment meant. Don't comment anymore.
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"The way/what you write says a lot about you."
sportmac 10th Jul
@Economister
or in your case the way/what you don't write. your silence speaks volumes.

i guess all those dotted i's and crossed t's don't really help when it comes to critical reasoning of which you have an alarmingly short supply.

i think it's fantastic that you weren't drilled in good grammar. now perhaps you should head on over to the local college and take a course in logic. after all, i'm quite certain you don't want to be left behind "by those who try to learn and take pride in what they do."

these suggestions come with the utmost respect so i'm sure you will welcome them. after all, "Insisting on staying ignorant is not a desirable human trait".
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
danyowell 13th Jul
@Economister Wow. I came to this article,enjoyed it, and wanted to see if any other readers had contributions to make. In stead I find your assinine pining for proper grammar. Thanks for devaluing what could have been an informative conversation.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
tonymcs@... 10th Jul
@rwalrond

Essentially just hold on to the HP until you can install a real OS - Windows 8. Same for all the tablets and convertibles.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
plwweasel 9th Jul
good to hear and I will enjoy following along
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
Peter Perry 9th Jul
I was playing with the Touchpad last night at best buy... The OS was okay but nothing better than what is already out there. The Hardware was cheap at best and couldn't touch the build quality of my XOOM.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
LemonyB 9th Jul
I got mine on the first day, also. Returned it on day 8. After checking with places like Netflix (Me: Will Netflix have an app for the HP TouchPad? / Netflix Customer Service: Let's see. Yes, we will have an app for the HTC phone within a few months. / Me: No, the HP TouchPad. / NCS: Oh. Um, I don't see anything here about a touch pad.) and Hulu (about the same response), I don't think this is for me. But you may be correct when you say this might be a good business tablet.
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I was thinking about returning my Xoom
Michael Alan Goff 9th Jul
And getting one of these.

Would that be a horrible idea? Do you think WebOS will, once more ironed out, be better than Android Honeycomb? I am asking you for your opinion. Despite the fact I don't always agree with you, you know more about the TouchPad than I do.

Or should I wait for TouchPad v2.0?
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
Rama.NET Updated - 9th Jul
@goff256
I am not sure about you, but I returned my Touchpad and yes, I am not buying Honeycomb tablet either, I was tempted to get a Transformer last night at staples, because it is a good deal with $500, you could make your tablet as a netbook, but that doesn't serve much for me. I think I will stick with my iPad 2 and Sprint Galaxy Tab that got updated to Gingerbread today morning. Gingerbread made that Tablet less prone to crashes, thats waht I noticed in these six hours of operation. I will get the Touchpad again once HP reduces the price for my development activity. If you have ASUS Transformer, stick with it. If you have Xoom, and you are not like Peter Perry or Droid 101, then trade it for either Transformer or Touchpad.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
Michael Alan Goff 10th Jul
I think you misunderstand me.

I like my Xoom. I like Android. I like the entire experience. There was a moment there, when I almost got an iPad 2, but I go to some sites with Adobe Flash.

If I'm going to stick with Honeycomb, though, I'm sticking with the full Google Experience. Motorola gives me that, blemishes and all.

But the question is really about the experience. I have never had a WebOS device, but I have always thought they looked nice. I liked the use of cards for multi-tasking, and I heard the browser is normally good.

That's the only thing I don't really like about Honeycomb. The stock browser is worse than everything else I can get.
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So you are keeping it because you want to see how it gets fixed?
wackoae 9th Jul
Instead of keeping it because you like the product, what you are saying is you are keeping it to see if HP actually manages to turn a crappy product into something that may be useful.

That is not a positive reason ... just a tabloid type of reasoning.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
Rama.NET 9th Jul
@wackoae
Well, HP Touchpad is not like the army of Android Tablets. The device is really good. All it is missing is good touch response like iOS or WP7. I think HP can fix it. Rest of the stuff like applications and updates can have smooth growing as the ecosystem matures.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
edwin_Crescini@... 9th Jul
@Rama.NET I agree. More apps and a good touch response as IOS. Also improvements on the browser is also needed.
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If You Actually Paid $500 for a POS...
orandy 9th Jul
Then of course you should return it. There is no guarantee that HP, Motorola, Asus, Acer or any of the myriad other manufacturers putting crappy Honeycomb/WebOS on tablets is ever going to support them going forward (especially when they are gathering dust in warehouses and being used as book-ends and door-stoppers).
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
Rama.NET Updated - 9th Jul
@orandy
I don't know about Android Tablets, because all these WiFi based Android tablets from big houses like Samsung, Motorola, ASUS, Acer, Toshiba, HTC are new and how they are going to update it whenever there is a change in the kernel of Android and core of Android, but on the other hand, I think HP is for long term with WebOS, but having said that, I have suspicions about HP given their past, they adopt and leave things in a hurry. I wish they stick to WebOS for a long term.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
edwin_Crescini@... 9th Jul
I am glad to hear that. After using the device for a couple of days, it seems that I 'm having a hard time going back to the ipad v1. Multi-tasking is very nice and very natural. If HP fixes these performance issues and improves the browser and able to rally the developers to produce apps for it, the touchpad is a serious contender to Android and Blackberry. I don't see it overtaking the Ipad yet but maybe in a couple of years.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
omahapianist 9th Jul
OK, grammar aside, I think the touchpad with WebOS is a great device and once I purchase one, I will be in it for the long haul as well. Thanks for the encouraging thought.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
omahapianist 9th Jul
OK, grammar aside, I think the Touchpad with WebOS is a fantastic product with a great future. Once I purchase one, I will be in it for the long haul as well. Thanks for the insight, James.
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TO HP TOCUHPAD Owners
edwin_Crescini@... 10th Jul
Have you tried installing the latest patch from PREWARE? Name of the patch is "Increase Touch Sensitivity". I installed and my TOUCHPAD is like in STEROIDS when swiping. I am happy happy
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Back on topic ...
Rabid Howler Monkey 10th Jul
Hopefully, HP will apply some lessons learned from the reviews of their 10" tablet to their 7" tablet to be released this coming Fall. As well as lessons learned from the RIM Playbook, a competing 7" tablet.

If HP prices the 7" tablet below $400, they could turn some heads.

A question for the author: Does WebOS on the 10" tablet support multiple users? Think of a tablet shared amongst family members where everyone has their own login and profile.

P.S. I've heard that the RIM PlayBook with QNX was to support multiple users, but no review I have seen has touched on this supposed feature.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
alamfour 10th Jul
@Rabid Howler Monkey mobile OSes don't support that feature. If you want that feature try a windows 7 tablet like asus eee slate EP121.
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Well, I would have flagged Economister, but
davebarnes 10th Jul
you cannot flag someone as being spot on.
Long live Grammar Nazis.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
lgpOnTheMove 10th Jul
Not surprised James has decided to keep the TouchPad - the fact that a tech reviewer can dish out $500 to pass on real-world experience and follow a new product mature is a very good thing.

That said, I think it would be false to mistake James' decision as a product recommendation per se. There are better tools out there for the price, nor is the TouchPad what I consider a must-have item. There is also the likely chance the device will become obsolete in a short 18 months.

To be honest, I would be more interested in a smaller 7" WebOS slate right now, but a Windows 8 slate next year could end up being the killer.
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Thats actually an uninteresting question. What I want to hear you answer
Johnny Vegas 10th Jul
on your blog one year from today is how many minutes a day have you averaged using it over the last 2 weeks. I suspect the answer will be "actually I was going to write about this but I've forgotten where I put it"...
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
Rama.NET 10th Jul
@Johnny Vegas
grin
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Check out my new blog on tablets
alamfour 11th Jul
Hi All,
Just thought to let you know about my new blog at http://tabletslatepad.squarespace.com
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
gururaj_rao 11th Jul
The economister has taken the discussion to a different subject treating communication between humans, with a narrow outlook. Language and grammar evolve over time periods (just imagine using Shakespearean language today !) Words are just one way of communication and are used in conjunction with visuals, gestures, intonations etc. Hence, let us encourage ways of sharing and discussing, instead of simply nitpicking.
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RE: HP TouchPad is staying, I am in it for the long haul
RaulYbarra 11th Jul
For a very long time I've been noting a key indicator for WebOS long term success would be whether or not HP was able to get DataViz back onboard with Docs2Go.

Well, at a local shop, I noticed the Docs2Go logo on one of the advertising placards for the TouchPad. This intrigued the sales rep who promptly sent a text to the HP rep trying to get an answer.

The reply was that a) he cannot answer that question, and b) that customers can be assured that additional office applications are on their way.

If that obvious math is correct, then I for one am very encouraged.

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