Most thought provoking HP firesale article yet

I really want a tablet.....or maybe I should say another tablet.  A year or two ago my wife bought me an old Fujistu Tablet.  It isn't a bad computer.  I found it a bit slow and having to use a stylus is a bit of a paid, but in the right circumstances I loved the thing.  It ran Windows XP as was awesome for taking notes in class.  There is some great, free software out there.  I'm not getting rid of it, but will plan on re-purposing it.  I have a couple of ideas, but this post isn't about the Fujistu.

The tablet I really want is the Toshiba Thrive.  I've seen it in the store and I'm drawn to the ports (full sized USB and SD card reader......does yours have that?) and the user replaceable battery is a bonus.  I take my laptop with me on trips, along with my iphone and an ipod.  In many ways it would be yet another "must-have" gadget, but if I could leave my laptop at home (probably never going to happen) or better yet, just consolidate some devices I'd be happy.

One thing I've noticed my wife doing lately is not using her laptop in front of the TV like I do.  When she wants to work on something she does it in her office.  A good portion of my laptop use is puttering around, which would easily be done on a tablet.  The laptop could sit on my desk and actually be used a bit more productively....or maybe not.

Even though I didn't want one initially, when the HP Touchpad went on a firesale for $99, I changed my mind.  Do I really need another computer?  No.  But if I had a Touchpad I'd probably put off buying the Toshiba Thrive for a while.  Heck, the first thing I would probably do is get rid of my Nook.  I've taken to using it a bit more often as of late, but I'm not a "read for hours" type person anymore.  I want to be able to turn the device on quickly, read a chapter, and then turn it off.  The Nook takes a long time to start up from an off position.  I use Calibre to manage the Nook, but I cannot view the many game books and reference materials I have in PDF form.

That would be the single biggest reason I want a Touchpad.....to view PDFs.  If I could use it to play a little music or as an alarm clock that would be great too.

Of course it is damned near impossible to get a Touchpad right now.  I don't have the funds for it, but my wife does since she was saving up to get me a Toshiba Thrive for my 40th Birthday.  Even if the funds were sitting in my hands, there aren't any in stock.  Too many people have swooped in.  Most have bought a couple and a few unscrupulous people have bought as many as they can get their hands on in an effort to flip them.  I hope those marvels of the modern age get burned.  I really hate it when people try to get a large financial advantage for doing next to nothing.  That's what got this whole housing financial crises rolling.

In reading up on HP's actions in deciding to cut their own throats in the marketplace, I came across this article. Awesome sauce.  In a nutshell, HP wants to get out of the PC business and sell their software and servers.  They claim to have an adaptive infrastructure available to small businesses.  If that was true, why could they have used their resources to prevent their own websites form melting down during the deluge of customers seeking a cheap Touchpad?

Here's my favorite quote from the article: "The reality: If I’m an SMB, say one of those self-serve yogurt joints popping up all around my house, I’m a bit skeptical about HP in the future. If I couldn’t complete a TouchPad sale on HP.com how will the company run my infrastructure?"

Ouch!

Way to announce your intention to kill off a profitable portion of your business, but prove the portion you wish to retain isn't even worth being used to save your own webstore.

Updated More Epic Fail: Apparently HP has decided to give away a free 6-pack of apps, but they have run out of download codes.  Really, HP.....you ran out of virtual coupons?


From Gizmodo (same link as above):
Apparently HP has run out of "inventory" on its promo codes for apps. We're not entirely sure how you run out of a completely digital and conjured-up resource, but if anyone can manage it, we're sure it's HP. Maybe their printer is just acting up? [HP via Technologizer]