webOS post mortem
I came dangerously close yesterday in the T-Mobile store to walking out with a Nexus 4. Still waiting to see what Google announces in May or for the rumors to get stronger before I make a decision, but I'm ready to act.
My phone has started to reboot itself more than I would like. I do weird things to my computing devices, so I'm used to a certain amount of speedbumps. But my physical keyboard is doing the double letter thing. And yeah, I overclock, so sometimes my phone may reboot itself and that's not the end of the world, but when it's every couple of days and sometimes it's a full reboot and sometimes it's just a Luna reboot... it's getting frustrating.
Add to that I'm carrying around a Nexus 7 with me pretty much full time which I love (minus the fact that the OS is not as awesome as webOS, obviously) that I have to tether. And there's some bug in webOS 2.x that interacts with FreeTether so that if you close FreeTether, then you're stuck having to reboot the phone to make it work again. That's no fun, because reboots are a 2-3 minute affair, especially with the OS loaded up with patches like I have it. And well, the OS is not likely to get upgraded any time soon. webOS CE? It had some promise, but it has really stalled. webOS hardware from other manufacturers? Doesn't seem to be happening. So I'm stuck on that road.
What I'm saying is, in the next few months I am likely leaving webOS behind almost totally for Android. Most of the Palm people who mattered work at Google now, and I can certainly hope that Mattias has a heavy hand in fixing Android's multitasking for 5.0 Key Lime Pie.
I will be keeping the Pre 3 *and* the Touchpad as reference devices, to be sure. Because when I code apps, I want to make sure they'll work on almost anything (web first, then webOS/Android, then I'll consider other non-iOS platforms). But my Pre 3's time as a daily driver is running out.
It pains me to say it, but I've known it (and admitted as much) for at least about 6 months, probably more like 12... webOS lost. It was a superior product in many ways (still is in quite a few - inductive charging, true multitasking), but it was done in by inept management and to a lesser degree, marketing. Also, Sprint and fucking Verizon. Fuck the both of them, HARD.
My phone has started to reboot itself more than I would like. I do weird things to my computing devices, so I'm used to a certain amount of speedbumps. But my physical keyboard is doing the double letter thing. And yeah, I overclock, so sometimes my phone may reboot itself and that's not the end of the world, but when it's every couple of days and sometimes it's a full reboot and sometimes it's just a Luna reboot... it's getting frustrating.
Add to that I'm carrying around a Nexus 7 with me pretty much full time which I love (minus the fact that the OS is not as awesome as webOS, obviously) that I have to tether. And there's some bug in webOS 2.x that interacts with FreeTether so that if you close FreeTether, then you're stuck having to reboot the phone to make it work again. That's no fun, because reboots are a 2-3 minute affair, especially with the OS loaded up with patches like I have it. And well, the OS is not likely to get upgraded any time soon. webOS CE? It had some promise, but it has really stalled. webOS hardware from other manufacturers? Doesn't seem to be happening. So I'm stuck on that road.
What I'm saying is, in the next few months I am likely leaving webOS behind almost totally for Android. Most of the Palm people who mattered work at Google now, and I can certainly hope that Mattias has a heavy hand in fixing Android's multitasking for 5.0 Key Lime Pie.
I will be keeping the Pre 3 *and* the Touchpad as reference devices, to be sure. Because when I code apps, I want to make sure they'll work on almost anything (web first, then webOS/Android, then I'll consider other non-iOS platforms). But my Pre 3's time as a daily driver is running out.
It pains me to say it, but I've known it (and admitted as much) for at least about 6 months, probably more like 12... webOS lost. It was a superior product in many ways (still is in quite a few - inductive charging, true multitasking), but it was done in by inept management and to a lesser degree, marketing. Also, Sprint and fucking Verizon. Fuck the both of them, HARD.