
HP Keeping Their PC Business 124
First time accepted submitter yourlord writes "Hewlett-Packard Co. has decided to keep its PC division. So says its newly appointed CEO Meg Whitman. Whitman, the former eBay chieftain, categorically rejected a plan offered up by her predecessor, former CEO Leo Apotheker, to either sell or spin-off this division. HP announced the decision after the close of financial markets today."
WebOS (Score:3)
Does this mean that they will be reviving the TouchPad?
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> Does this mean that they will be reviving the TouchPad?
And not licensing the WebOS to vacuum-cleaner manufactures?
I was hoping the same thing but... (Score:1)
Richard Kerris is leaving HP [webosroundup.com].
I am not sure if the head of developer relations would leave if there were a future for developers there. At the very least WebOS is on shaky ground, because of that but also because consumers now will be wary of HP products... but perhaps enough "average" consumers never even knew what happened and so would buy new WebOS gear anyway.
Re:WebOS (Score:5, Funny)
First they have to revive Meg Whitman.
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The Personal Systems Group includes multiple business units including Palm (Hardware), WebOS, Desktops, Notebooks, Monitors etc. HP will retain the Personal Systems Group (Leo wanted to spin it off as a separate business). But there is no plan to announce a revival of HP touchpad or the Palm hardware business unit.
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"Considering certain other OS vendors won't even let you touch a device running on ARM"
I give up, which OS venders don't let you touch a device running on ARM? MS? Windows 8 is reputed to be ARMed. Apple? Snapdragon base, ARM arch.
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Windows 8 is reputed to be ARMed.
The only public event featuring Windows 8 so far was the Build conference in September, and all demo ARM devices were kept under glass with a strict no touch policy. The fact is that no one who isn't bound under NDA has actually touched an ARM powered Windows 8 device.
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Proven iOS alternative = Consistently not getting consumer demand
WebOS seems to me to be the BeOS of the 21st century. Techs seem to really like it however never fails to reach critical mass.
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Apparently not (Re:WebOS) (Score:1)
Meg and Todd were very clear in the investor call that HP would be trying "another run at" the tablet business, but that they'd be using Windows 8, not webOS.
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I popped an Ubuntu CD in one and after about 20 minutes was rewarded with a fine running laptop loaded with goodness. Problems like that are so easily solved.
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Put that live cd on a USB key, it will boot faster.
*What* live CD? You honestly think it took *20 minutes* to boot from a live CD?
I'm pretty sure that amiga3d was talking about installing it to the HD.
BTW, I can confirm that the OS install that comes on a new Pavilion is indeed loaded with all manner of "monitoring"/"easy$verb" apps that are either simply useless or, worse yet, duplicate (and often interfere with) standard Windows components, and thus it's generally best suited for overwriting with $your_preferred_linux_distro as soon as you can get it home
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I've seen win7 in a virtual environment and indeed it's not really bad, looks kinda like a bugfix of Vista. The problem is I've used linux since '99 and I can't go back. I have a new Macbook, well a 2008 model actually but I just got it a couple weeks ago, and I like Snow Leopard fine but I like Ubuntu better.
Re:Who... cares? Is this a good thing? (Score:4, Insightful)
Who cares about such crap? I formatted my HP laptop without even booting the preinstalled copy of Vista.
In terms of what really matters - the hardware and price - it's a nice machine for what I paid.
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...but it's not worth celebrating.
Yes it is. Now I don't have to find out the name of the company that will take all of the assets and practices, change nothing, and keep doing the exact same crap because it's profitable as hell and the average end user is ignorant.
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It's not really all that profitable. On a $500 laptop they make like $25 in Operating Margin (after everything is paid). They just sell a whole lot of them.
So it's profitable.
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So it's profitable.
Well, yes. but not, perhaps, profitable "as hell".
To wit; the margins on Laptops are fairly thin, although not as razor thin as they are on commodity desktops.
The fat margins are in the mobile sphere. IE: smartphones and tablets. This is why Mark Hurd wanted Palm and WebOS in the first place. It was a smart move and would have paid off handsomely if HP's board wasn't a bunch of dickheads that decided they wanted to dump him over a fake scandal.
So instead the morons got Apotheker who proceed to immediat
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They make crap laden with bloatware and unnecessary background applications running incessantly, phoning home and creating all manner of 'functionality' that nobody can turn off,
I have a Probook 4530s that I am extremely satisfied with. As regards the crapware, I simply camped out in Programs and Features for about 1.5 hours as I read a book, and now have a clean setup. Some of those programs are actually pretty nice too, like the ability to see battery level at the EFI boot screen, and the baked in miniature Linux-based fast-boot OS (though I havent used it really at all).
And given how cheap it is for a really nice laptop (mine was under $500), it seems kind of odd to complain a
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> Are you willing to pay $50 more for a crapware-free pc (if so, please give me a call, I will happily clean your PC for you remotely for $50--it really doesnt take that much effort).
If that's what your time is worth, you really aren't qualified to be touching any machines we buy.
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$50/ hr (most of it spent reading) equals $2000/ week, $8000/month, $96000 a year.
You expect technicians fixing your computer to be paid more than $96k a year? Wow, your sense of proportion is all screwed up.
And for the record, liking computer work as much as I like reading, it really isnt that big a deal to do computer work remotely whilst I read and wait for the uninstall process to finish.
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It is splashtop linux, I havent been able to get a shell prompt on it yet (although I was able to view the filesystem through their customized mozilla browser; I did not have permissions for basically anything except "~", unfortunately).
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That can easily be avoided by not buying a Windows machine or not using a vendor-supplied system at all. I have an HP notebook whose SUSE Enterprise installation I replaced with Ubuntu (no bloatware, but I'm more comfortable with Ubuntu), and it's easily the best computer I've owned (even accounting for the evolution of technology).
They should spin off any quality they have left. (Score:2)
Of course that means they will be keeping their PC division.
They should sell their server division while it is still worth something.
HP as a brand is rapidly becoming radioactive.
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I don't know. HP has been self destructing but looking back over Meg Whitman's career she seems to have the golden touch. Everything she ever worked on thrived. I think if anyone can save HP from itself it might be her.
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That seems obviously false, unless you mean to imply that she didn't work on her own gubernatorial campaign.
Is a requisite to be Republican to head HP? (Score:2)
subject says it all.
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But how likely is that, really?
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Didn't she have Carly Fiorina stinking things up for her, and making the "issues" of the campaign about Meg Whitman's hairstyle? If I'm Meg Whitman, I have been gunning for this job just to show up Carly.
Mmmmm, they weren't running for the same office.
Unless Carly went waaay out of her way to mess things up for Meg. >_>
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Oh man. I was talking about work. I don't know what in hell that's got to do with politics. Maybe the lying, cheating and backstabbing are the same but work implies productivity. Politics implies parasite.
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More like she is the classic example of the Peter Principle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle [wikipedia.org]. Left in the world of B$=PR she thrives, left in charge things don't quite go so well. Like most current CEO's more time well be spent on inflating CEO compensation and enhancing the golden parachute than on achieving results. HP gave away it's business for free by outsourcing and contracting, there is now no way to stave off the ODM direct to public sales growth and quite of few of those ODM make every
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You obviously haven't looked at her actual accomplishments. It's pretty impressive. Unlike most CEO's she seems to have left every company she worked at in better shape than when she arrived. I understand this is Slashdot and they hate all republicans here but still, this is about work, not politics. For work it's nice to have someone with a successful track record. Which of the two political mafias they support is irrelevant.
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Personally I would suggest cleaning up the mess by Intel selling the Itanium division back to HP.
Of course they're keeping it ... (Score:5, Funny)
During the auction, no one met the reserve price.
what is a gilent? (Score:2)
Maybe HP could come out with a line of high quality function generators.
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They should start smaller. Perhaps a good quality bench DC power supply.
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I wish they'd go back to making high quality calculators!
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Explaining the joke. HP was founded on one product. A bench DC power supply. They (H and P) came up with a clever use of a light bulb in their regulator circuit. The details escape me.
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Explaining my reply to the joke:
HP started with test equipment, but at one time they made great calculators. So I'd be happy if they just went back to that point, I don't care about the test equipment.
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Do people use calculators anymore? Seems like most people have either a mobile handy or some flavor of computer. "Chemistry students taking tests" doesn't strike me as a very large market niche.
When I have a lot of numbers to crunch (not all test data comes from networked equipment), nothing beats a real live calculator for ease of use. I have an HP-48 emulator for my phone, but that's not the same. By far.
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Re:first HP product? (Score:2)
Explaining the joke. HP was founded on one product. A bench DC power supply. They (H and P) came up with a clever use of a light bulb in their regulator circuit. The details escape me.
No. The first HP product was an audio oscillator (the 200A). Used to make the movie Fantasia. The light bulb was used for negative feedback, its resistance changing as the current changed.
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H-P's power supplies historically are crap. They had to buy out another power supply vendor, Harrison Labs, before they had anything to offer in that line that I would want on the bench.
Too little, too late (Score:1)
Can't wait to see how Carly 2.0 is going to run the company in to the ground. If her behavior during the California elections is any indication.. ..Imagine a train wreck. On a bridge. A wreck that causes both train and bridge to come crashing in to the bay, on top of a world class luxury cruise liner on it's maiden voyage.
And sharks. The bay is full of sharks.
(Read the preceding in Christopher Walken's voice for full effect)
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Great decision (Score:3, Insightful)
As I said in an earlier post, HP needs their PC's to get leverage to sell their two strongest product lines, laser printers and inkjet cartridges. I have no use for inkjet cartridges, but every HP laser printer I've owned, from high end to low end, has been an absolutely solid piece of machinery.
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And let me guess, you don't own an HP PC, you just own an HP laser printer (thus proving the point that people and even businesses still buy HP laser printers just for their printers, and not as parts of larger HP PC bundles).
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I got a second hand Color LaserJet 4500 5 years ago, it was built Feb 1999 - it's fantastic, the image quality is incredible. It had been abused - I received the duplexer bent in half - but still works great. The downside is that it's similar size to a tank - I wasn't aware of this when I brought it. It does take ages to warm up too. I moved house recently and my friend convinced me to dump it and get a smaller Samsung colour laser printer as I rarely print anything these days, and the output from compu
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The reason the older Laserjets were so solid was that the print engine was actually by Canon. So it really isn't even HP's triumph. E
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Hopefully whoever buys Laserjet.... (Score:2)
Best tech news all year (Score:1)
Obvious, Captain (Score:2)
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The business plan that caused the previous CEO to be fired has been rejected by the incoming CEO. I'm shocked, SHOCKED I tell you.
I suspect they couldn't find a buyer.
Re:Obvious, Captain (Score:5, Funny)
You've heard the joke, right?
A new CEO meets with his outgoing predecessor on the last day before he takes over. The old CEO takes him aside and gives him three envelopes, labeled "1", "2", and "3." "These are only to be opened when you hit a crisis," the old CEO explains. "The first one is to be opened when you hit your first crisis, the second one on your second crisis, and the third one on your third. They contain hard-won wisdom that will help you weather each crisis."
The new CEO takes over and for a while things go great. Then, suddenly, the company lurches into crisis. The new CEO remembers his predecessor's words and opens the first envelope. Inside is a letter that starts "Blame everything on me. Fire a bunch of people that I hired. Announce you're heading in a radically different direction." The new CEO takes the advice and survives the crisis without breaking a sweat.
More months pass, and then the company hits another rough patch. The new CEO remembers how well the advice in the first envelope worked, and eagerly opens the second. Inside is a letter that starts "Blame market conditions. Reorganize the company." The new CEO takes the advice, and again makes it through the crisis. He begins to respect his departed predecessor's wisdom.
Several more months pass, and then another crisis hits, this one the worst so far. Out of ideas, the new CEO remembers his predecessor's third envelope, and rips it open.
Inside is a letter that starts "Prepare three envelopes."
Self-esteem issues (Score:3)
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HP certainly shot themselves in the foot with this. Who in their right mind would consider a HP computer if even they aren't confident about them?
My very large defense contractor employer had already arranged for acquiring machines from HP months before the news of HP abandoning the PC business broke. Two weeks ago I traded in a Dell D630 for an HP Elitebook 8440p. The Elitebook does not seem particularly elite compared to my 2006 vintage Macbook Pro, but it does look nicer and is thinner than the replaced Dell. I don't care for the 16:9 aspect ratio and the keyboard has very little resistive spring force, so I fat-finger far more often than on an
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Everyone thought I was insane when I said that the HP laptop keyboard was made by chinese torture masters.
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Hell, why is it Apple can offer trackpads on their laptops that are 3 times the surface area of most laptops?
Sure trackpads are iffy, but why do most PCs have itty-bitty ones that barely can scroll 1/3rd of the screen at full accelleration? Hell, most PCs don't have ones bigger than my netbook. Apple seems to be able to stuff a huge one in their smallest of laptops. Hell, the Apple ones have acreage compared to P
Shut Up Meg! (Score:2, Interesting)
I won't support any HP product as long as leading TeaBagger Meg Whitman is in the leadership of HP.
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I won't support any HP product as long as leading TeaBagger Meg Whitman is in the leadership of HP.
Why worry about it? Just wait nine to twelve months and HP will have a new CEO. Let's see, which current member or close friend of the board of directors will be chosen with the usual incestuous process (and disastrous results)?
Huge relief from inside, and bitter dissapointment (Score:1)
As an insider at HP, I'm personally relieved that this decision has been reach. I am bitterly disappointed that the BoD made their public announcement -- it has only hurt the company and deeply impacted customer confidence.
I'm also glad Apotheker's gone - a royal screw up and a waist of $25M+. He spent six weeks on a round-the-world "listening tour" and obviously decided it's better not to listen.
What really pissed me off was the BoD's explanation about why they made the spinning-off announcement: because t
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Just don't screw up Vertica. Leave them to do their thing.
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I am not sure why Apotheker was hired first place. He screwed up majorly at SAP and was universally hated there until the company founder gave him the boot after a short period of time.
Back when they were a "solid" brand (Score:2)
We rolled out HP machines in my department in the late 90s, and had a 25% failure out of the box. One in four, DOA or otherwise unusable.
Why anyone would spec an HP makes me ask "Who's getting the kickback?".
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Re:First Post from an HP (Score:4, Informative)
The AC would have said more in his post, but the PSU/AC Adapter in his hp went out...
again...
Are you sure it wasn't the defective nVidia chipset blowing out again after being sent in twice already for repair?
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Are you sure it wasn't the defective nVidia chipset blowing out again after being sent in twice already for repair?
Ugh. That happened to mine too.
The sad thing is it was a defect across entire models. It doesn't matter how many times you had it repaired, it'll blow out again, because it's impossible to fix the heat issues.
What sucks is that they offered refunds for one laptop model, but not for my model, despite a 92-page thread on their forums from owners of that model saying "yeah.. mine has this problem too. Video chip burned itself out."
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Or just get the commercial level Dell of both sides and sit happy with a well built machine.