WebOS TouchPad Was Always Doomed Because of Design Flaws

The TouchPad is supposed to be dead and buried, but even now people speak about it and its strange, controversial story.

This time, it was Paul Mercer, former senior director of software at Palm, who spoke a few words about the electronic device.

It turns out that the TouchPad had been doomed from the start.

Granted, the 'doom' of the TouchPad ended up causing a paradox where a failed item ended up leading the non-iPad tablet market, but that only happened because of the price dropping to under $100.

Not only was the aim of outmatching the iPad out of its reach, but the slate also had some design flaws that sealed its fate.

One big mistake was having webOS rely on WebKit, an open-source software engine which slowed down apps.

The other, more obvious and repeatedly mentioned drawback was HP's failure to enlist outside programmers for the development of apps.

It didn't help that HP rushed the operating system through development and took shortcuts in order to get the software ready for release in just nine months.

The large-scale project didn't even have all the staff members it would have needed to put on a good enough show.

HP did buy Palm, but many of the core team left soon after the transaction, leaving the corporation with a serious manpower shortage.

Not only that, but app development kits were left for the last minute and then got revised several times, forcing programmers to re-learn app-making on each occasion.

All things considered, it is more than understandable that HP's grand project went down in flames so quickly.

Recently, HP decided to make webOS fully open-source, but Paul Mercer believes that nothing will come of it if it continues to rely on WebKit.

One can only wonder if development can even go any forward now that another batch of engineers left.