The Death of an Operating System

I was surprised to hear today's news: HP is discontinuing the development of webOS devices. Back at CES 2009, I webOS smartphone market was a real opportunity to make a big splash. 

I was not alone. Palm's new operating system looked attractive and responsive.But the discussion was robust and it seemed as though Palm had a shot to compete against the iPhone and Android platforms. But Pam was not able to capitalize on the goodwill generated at CES. 

Palm prior to June 2009 was the first film. Until then, most public was the excitement surrounding the unveiling of the first six months of forgetting device. Palm previously failed to make a big impact. Palm's troubles did not end there. 

The company suffered a series of financial setbacks. Ultimately, HP stepped in and took over the Palm. It seemed like the HP's main interest in webOS operating system. Today, that interest seems to have disappeared. HP will support the webOS operations. 

The company said in a statement webOS look for different ways to optimize the software, though what that really means is beyond me. It seems tombstone on the grave of Palm, however. 

Chris and I and the history of Palm and its impact on the mobile device market was about one episode. It is difficult to stress how instrumental it was in Palm pre-smartphone era. 

While I do not own a webOS device, I see the way the operating system to go out hurts. More variety in the market is a good thing - that ultimately benefit consumers as we have companies in the innovation cycle. Could HP is following in the footsteps of IBM?