My TouchPad Today: OTA Update and Other Thoughts

No posting yesterday... busy, plus the OTA update was released fairly late in the day.

A few thoughts about the OTA here shortly, but a few other small things first...


E-mail to Leo Apotheker

Over the weekend, I sent an e-mail message to Mr. Apotheker containing a copy of my Saturday blog post concerning the OTA update delay and the lack of communication and accountability that HP execs displayed to TouchPad customers during July.

Yesterday afternoon I received a phone message from the unlucky fella who was designated to respond to my e-mail. Obviously, he acknowledged receipt of the e-mail, but did not respond to the meat of the posting, which was about the HP communication and accountability problems. He focused on the info that the OTA update was "in the pipeline"... something reported about 5 hours earlier on PreCentral.net.

On a positive note, he did thank me for being a HP customer.


TouchPad Leather Case from Amazon

I'm now using a CE Compass leather TP case ($10.99 + shipping) delivered over the weekend by Amazon.

First impression... Adequate. This case quite economically does the basic job of protecting your TP from the bumps, bruises and backside fingerprints of daily life, but leaves something to be desired in other regards, mainly "fit". The TP sloshes around a bit more in it than I like, losing alignment with the cutouts for the on/off button, the home button, the volume control and the video camera. (I wonder if this case is really generic, not TP-specific?)

All in all, considering the modest price, a good purchase to give your TP some basic protection.


OTA Update

In my part of the world, the update became available somewhere shortly after 5:00 PM.

First impressions...

A good start toward getting the TP where it should have been on July 1, but still "miles to go".

Autotext fixes, clock and calculator -- Why did HP have trouble with making you appear on July 1? You're basic to this type of device and it befuddles me as to how and why you could have been omitted.

Smoother scrolling and (as I hear it) Overclocking -- Once again, why did HP have trouble with you? You're not half as tough as HP thinks you are.

Keyboard Access for Mojo Apps -- I know why you weren't here for July 1... you overslept, yeah, that's the ticket!



Now let's get the updates for...



Hey, HP, keep the updates coming. Get the TP back to where it should have been on July 1... and, by the way, there's really no need to keep fibbing to your customers and then hiding for weeks at a time. You're better than that... Or at least you used to be.

My HP TouchPad Received an Update Today!...

My HP TouchPad received an update today...

... Did it without any help from Ruby, DeWitt and Bradley!

TouchPad: What to Do About HP?

Now that the clock has just about run out for HP to release an OTA update for the TouchPad this month, we all know that life goes on, but what do we early TouchPad users do wiith an "unfinished" device?... and what do we do about HP?

Us and the unfinished device?

Since, at its core, the TouchPad is a good device, we are over HP's barrel and have little choice but to hang in there as they string us along. Updates will come -- sloooowly -- and the TP will probably never meet the original HP promises and our expectations. (The ghost of Ruby and the reviewer's wails of "potential" will haunt our dreams.)

What do we do about HP?

This is a real tough one for me. When I was a kid, my Dad worked for HP and I've personally benefited -- via stock -- from good management of the company until somewhere in the late 1990's.

I've personally purchased HP products -- printers -- on several occasions and had good experiences. I've had similar good experiences with HP devices in the workplace. They've built up a lot of goodwill with me over the years.

So, what's next now that I've laid down some good bucks for the TP, have an incomplete/unfinished device to which they won't "man up" and promptly cure the deficiencies?

The goodwill isn't entirely gone, but Messrs. Ruby, DeWitt and Bradley are well-deserving of a public shaming. Maybe we should revive the dunk tank and the stocks in the town square.

Some might exclude Ruby because he has already been kicked to the side of the road and will be out the door shortly. I disagree and contend that he should be at the front of the line because he's a serial offender in matters of this type.

DeWitt and Bradley earned their eligibilty with this month's nonsense about soft launch/hard launch and shortly after/by the end of the month.

This is all a bit of fun to talk about putting people in the stocks and dunking them in the town square, but what's the real-life and professional, effective way to make Ruby, DeWitt and Bradley accountable for their TouchPad shenanigans?

I'll try to get back to you on this in a few days. Since my TouchPad isn't ready yet to fully support my activities/work, I have some down time to ponder their shaming.

TouchPad OTA Update: Why I see it as MIA for July 31

For starters, I really do want to see HP release a SIGNIFICANT OTA Update on or before July 31. Its just that, for my money, the signs point toward something later, perhaps something on the order of... "by the start of calendar year Q4, so that we can do it right for our customers".

Language

Phrases like "Shortly after... " and "... by the end of the month" are not new from the Palm gang, but HP is now getting in on that act. That's disturbing and unsettling, indicating that the HP suits don't have enough confidence in what's happening on the OTA update front to truly put a stake in the sand. I think they've left themselves some wiggle room to tap dance again when July 31 comes and goes.

Quantity & Quality

I have no doubt that they've been working on updates for months, but methinks -- going back to the language they're using -- HP knows that they don't have the quantity and quality of updates coming to offset what their customers (rightfully) perceive as the necessary updates for the TouchPad. They're in a bind and not in the mood to admit it.

Commitment

I saw some blog/forum posts yesterday that put forward the idea -- and I agree -- that maybe HP lacks real commitment to the TouchPad, the Pre/Veer smartphones and webOS. They (HP) are huge and the Palm acquisition was something relatively small for them. Maybe success or failure with webOS isn't a big deal for them... small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.

Let's watch the calendar and see what happens.

TouchPad OTA Update: MIA or Just SOL?

Now that we're at July 24, deep into the "shortly after" of the HP TouchPad's July 17 official launch and approaching the "by the end of the month" promise from HP, who wants take some action on the proposition that the OTA update will be MIA and we'll be SOL again?

I hate to be cynical and negative-sounding, but after a few decades in the business world, one develops a nose for the "horse hockey" -- borrowing a phrase from Col. Potter of M*A*S*H -- you hear from the Ruby-esque corporate types.

HP's soft launch/hard launch and shortly after/by the end of the month tapdances are the corporate equivalents of "the dog ate my homework". They're not ready. They don't know when they'll be ready... and are just trying to buy themselves some time to cook up the next tapdance.


So, what does this mean to those of us bought the TouchPad for what turned out to be the "on double-secret probation" July 1 soft launch and the "this time its for real, trust us" July 17 hard launch?...

I can faintly hear the Jackie Gleason/Ralph Kramden "Hummada hummada hummada" now from the direction of Palo Alto.

... Or is it, "August 15... Yeah... That's the ticket!" from Jon Lovtiz's liar character?

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Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth. -- Lillian Hellman

Bad taste is simply saying the truth before it should be said. -- Mel Brooks