I don’t hide the fact that I LOVE WebOS. I really, REALLY do, and I’m not alone. Others have lauded its’ merits. Unfortunately, just the fact that it is a great OS won’t save it in the current marketplace. I’ve recently switched to Android due to the proliferation of apps for the platform, and the huge selection of phones, but I still long for my Pixi. Why?  I loved the fixed keyboard. It was also easy, it was intuitive, it synced with all of my applications with little setup, and the default settings made sense to how people use their phones. I simply adored the cards where I was able to quickly and easily kill or switch to applications on the fly. My Android phone is constantly charging due to applications that don’t terminate properly, or I have to painstakingly dig through settings to reduce their drain on the battery. It annoys me that I have to go to the task manager to see what’s running or open. I also get frustrated that I have to jump to a home menu and relaunch an app to “switch” to it. Seriously, if you haven’t tried out WebOS, go to an AT&T store, pick up the HP Veer on display and play with it a little.

It is a fantastic OS, but obviously it suffered greatly from poor marketing and shortsightedness. How can a company that developed such a great product have failed so miserably at getting people to actually use it? Honestly, if you aren’t developing sexy tech that appeals to the masses, like Apple, then you should be licensing the software to other manufacturers who can do that for you. Know your strengths. Google definitely took advantage of that, and look where they are in the race. I’m sure that there is much more to this equation, like poor release timing, and sparse app development, but I’m not a marketing expert.

So, is it really over? HP, say it isn’t so…other than absorbing Palm and adding tablets, what have you done to get WebOS out there, attracting developers and users alike? You have the resources to see this through. I hope you do.

WebOS, How do I love thee?…