Jon Rubinstein Compares Lukewarm TouchPad Reception to Original Mac OS X

[Winni]

This guy is delusional. Comparing this to OSX' original rollout? Please...talk about grasping...

"A leader is a dealer in hope." - Napoleon Bonaparte

I remember very well that nobody wanted to use the original Mac OS X "Cheetah", because it was sluggish and buggy and there was no software for it.

I also remember that it was the iPod, not the Mac, that saved Apple from bankruptcy.

And I also remember that Macs only become quite successful when they transitioned to Intel CPUs and Macs gained the ability to run also run Windows.

No, the guy is not delusional. He's been around for a while, has a lot of industry experience and knows what he is talking about.

 

[batchtaster]

Only problem is WebOS doesn't have 10 years. It probably doesn't even have 12 months. They don't have a Mac OS 9 to coast by on until it comes up to speed. They also don't have a fleet of existing devices already out there, working, but itching to be upgraded like Apple had. Apple had already sold the majority of the computers that would run Mac OS X 10.0 and 10.1. They need to try and convince people who don't own an HP or WebOS device to buy one, with an unfinished OS and little more than a promise. The comparison just doesn't hold.

 

[Winni]

It's 2011 now and sluggish software is not acceptable like it was when OSX came out

Then why are you still using Mac OS X and iOS? OS X is not known for its blazing performance - that crown goes to Linux, followed by Windows. And iOS... Please. Have you seen Android lately?

 

[NebulaClash]

I don't see anything derogatory above except perhaps "delusional."

There are certain things that get included automatically in many MacRumors threads nowadays, whether they fit or not:

"Man, what a bunch of Apple fan boy comments!"

"Apple is teh evil, and this is proof!"

"Android is light years ahead, Apple will never catch up."

etc.

It's white noise. Has little to do with reality. Designed to stir people up, nothing more.

 

[lunarworks]

It was a great OS, but never had the backing (HP and their resources) WebOS now has.

All that backing doesn't matter if there's no demand. Demand can be manufactured in some cases, but only if you have the right marketing. HP's going to have to do some very clever marketing.

 

[*LTD*]

Except HP is not Apple. And the Touchpad is not game-changing. At all. And to top it off, it's competing *against* Apple's game-changing device.

The TouchPad ship is sinking and good old Ruby's doing damage control. No doubt he remembers his short (and rather anticlimactic) time with Palm.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Only problem is WebOS doesn't have 10 years. It probably doesn't even have 12 months.

It didn't take Mac OS X 10 years to become a great alternative to Windows. Only 2 or 3, right?

 

[neko girl]

Except HP is not Apple.

Someone should tell HP that.

 

[Mjmar]

Then why are you still using Mac OS X and iOS? OS X is not known for its blazing performance - that crown goes to Linux, followed by Windows. And iOS... Please. Have you seen Android lately?

You're joking right? The reason why I switched to Mac was because of Vista's sluggish performance, and my 3 year old MacBook is snappier than ever with Snow Leopard. iOS is also blazing fast on the iPhone 4 and iPad 2, and the reason why Android has mixed performance is because of handset fragmentation... It runs great on the best hardware. HP is a very big company and churning out a sluggish tablet OS that only needs to run on one piece of hardware is just unacceptable by today's standards.

 

[tkermit]

No, the guy is not delusional. He's been around for a while, has a lot of industry experience and knows what he is talking about.

Steve Jobs once claimed he would trust Rubinstein with his life. Wonder if he still feels that way.

 

[inkswamp]

Rubenstein is right that OS X was pretty unimpressive in its debut, but the obvious difference here is that OS X, for all its shortcomings, had a built-in audience of millions of Mac users ready to go. TouchPad does not.

 

[MacAddict1978]

This guy is delusional. Comparing this to OSX' original rollout? Please...talk about grasping...

How is that grasping? OSX was seen as a disaster when it launched. People want to fan boy so much, but OSX showed potential... but stunk until 10.2.5 or something of the like. In all honesty, Web OS might have more going for it than OSX did at launch. Today, Apple would never have released OSX in it's first issue, but Apple was also teetering on Bankruptcy when OSX came out and was in a fight for our life state as a company. If there's anything off about the comparison, it would only be the situational difference between the two companies. HP isn't on the verge of extinction. Sadly.

 

[res1233]

He's not all that far off base. I remember being able to watch the menus redraw on screen the public beta and 10.0 were that slow. I remember being forced to reboot to OS9 to watch a DVD because there was no DVD playback in OSX.

That's true, however OS X wasn't the default OS for at least 10.0 and I think 10.1. Apple knew OS X wasn't usable as a default OS yet, and they included Classic so people could have the best of both worlds. Palm OS had its market segment, yet they abandoned the platform with no attempt at compatibility. Not only does that alienate current devs, but it doesn't exactly encourage new devs to come on board.

 

[citi]

Even if it were a good product (I don't know I have never used it), I can't see it being successful. If Microsoft does not have the guns to go up against the big two, Why would anyone think HP could.

Let me help you:

The BIG TWO did not start out as the big two. Why would anyone think HP couldn't?

 

[nefan65]

Then why are you still using Mac OS X and iOS? OS X is not known for its blazing performance - that crown goes to Linux, followed by Windows. And iOS... Please. Have you seen Android lately?

Wow, that last statement is comical. OSX has outperformed any Windows machine I've used, and with less memory and slower CPU. Yes, a bare bones Linux box will outperform both, but that's not Linux. A NetBSD Unix box, or FreeBSD Unix box will do the same. Linux ala UBUNTU on like hardware as OSX is the same. I've done the tests, and honestly there's little to no difference in the results. And I'm not talking about "eye tests", but actual tests.

As for Android? Again, wow. I've used a few Android devices, and none of them are as fluid, smooth, or responsive as my iPhone 4.

We could go back/forth all day on this. Based on your sig, I can see why you feel like you do about your Android statement; you own one, so you're justifying your purchase. We all do that...

 

[Popeye206]

Then why are you still using Mac OS X and iOS? OS X is not known for its blazing performance - that crown goes to Linux, followed by Windows. And iOS... Please. Have you seen Android lately?

Hummm.... why are you here would be a better question?

Linux is fast, but not for the masses. OSX more than does the job and I don't have to monkey with anything and Apple makes some of the best hardware on the market. That's why OSX is winning.

As for Android? You have to be kidding right? I've seen good performance and bad based on what handset? Besides... it's more than about specs and how techie you can get with something that matters to most. It's about how it works, how it's supported, how easy it is. Sorry... Android is great for those who want to tinker... but so is a jail broken iOS. For the masses... Android is a great alternative to what was there, but Apple is still winning in more area's than loosing.

I wish people would remember that the techie crowed makes up a very small percentage of customers. Most consumers want simple, easy and reliable.

 

[MacAddict1978]

Rubenstein is right that OS X was pretty unimpressive in its debut, but the obvious difference here is that OS X, for all its shortcomings, had a built-in audience of millions of Mac users ready to go. TouchPad does not.

I would argue that idea too. OSX was such a huge departure from everything before it. It scared a lot of Mac users. People were not actually lining up for OSX when it came out like they did years later ala "Night Of The Panter" where an OSX release was like a festival near your local Apple store. For all intent and purpose, OSX was more like a brand new OS than something that was a new version or upgrade.

HP has going for it too that they sell a ton of pc's every year, and are going to be pushing out Web OS on one they sell. So they kind of will have millions of built in users too.

 

[nefan65]

How is that grasping? OSX was seen as a disaster when it launched. People want to fan boy so much, but OSX showed potential... but stunk until 10.2.5 or something of the like. In all honesty, Web OS might have more going for it than OSX did at launch. Today, Apple would never have released OSX in it's first issue, but Apple was also teetering on Bankruptcy when OSX came out and was in a fight for our life state as a company. If there's anything off about the comparison, it would only be the situational difference between the two companies. HP isn't on the verge of extinction. Sadly.

He's making a comparison of something that isn't [excuse the PUN] Apples/Apples

He should have made the reference to Android, or iOS. Different circumstances, systems, etc...IMO.

 

[boodyup]

He sounds like a really cool executive. Rather than lying to everyone (including himself) about their awesome product, he's admitting that it's not as well received as some of the other products out there. At the same time, he is very positive and encouraging that they will continue to march forward and refine the product.I think that's a pretty cool thing.

I've seen a video or two of webOS and I think it has enormous potential. It really looks like it got a lot of things right with multi-tasking, notifications, etc. I wish that team the best of luck and to give Apple a run for its money.

 

[nefan65]

Hummm.... why are you here would be a better question?

Linux is fast, but not for the masses. OSX more than does the job and I don't have to monkey with anything and Apple makes some of the best hardware on the market. That's why OSX is winning.

As for Android? You have to be kidding right? I've seen good performance and bad based on what handset? Besides... it's more than about specs and how techie you can get with something that matters to most. It's about how it works, how it's supported, how easy it is. Sorry... Android is great for those who want to tinker... but so is a jail broken iOS. For the masses... Android is a great alternative to what was there, but Apple is still winning in more area's than loosing.

I wish people would remember that the techie crowed makes up a very small percentage of customers. Most consumers want simple, easy and reliable.

Your last comment hit the nail on the head; really. The ROOT/JB crowd is the minority, and a small one at that! Line up 100 people, and ask them if they've "ROOTED" or "JB" their phone, and 1 or 2 may respond. Others will look confused...

 

[inkswamp]

I would argue that idea too. OSX was such a huge departure from everything before it. It scared a lot of Mac users. People were not actually lining up for OSX when it came out like they did years later ala "Night Of The Panter" where an OSX release was like a festival near your local Apple store. For all intent and purpose, OSX was more like a brand new OS than something that was a new version or upgrade.

HP has going for it too that they sell a ton of pc's every year, and are going to be pushing out Web OS on one they sell. So they kind of will have millions of built in users too.

You're right about that. OS X did scare a lot of Mac users which is why Apple included the classic environment in early versions of OS X, to ease the existing user base into OS X.

I disagree with you, however, that HP has an equivalent user base for TouchPad. You're making the leap from HP products to TouchPad. Apple had a user base that very much wanted to avoid switching to Windows, so they went along with the OS X transition. That's a much different mindset than someone who owns an HP box. I don't think most of those users give a rip about how WebOS affects their future.

So, I think HP is starting from the ground floor. To compare that to OS X's launch (which, as someone already pointed out, wasn't even the default OS X on new Macs until 10.2) is disingenuous on Rubenstein's part. He's covering his ass for what appears to be a weak product launch.

 

[nagromme]

OS X was dual-boot, and not even the default at first!

That makes this a good analogy... as long as the TouchPad ships running iOS by default (or some other complete tablet OS with a full software selection—but there is none yet). Thus making the hardware functional and worth buying—and then you can boot into WebOS only by intentional choice, the way early adopters would do with OS X when it first came out. WebOS would only become the default (and then the only) OS for TouchPad once it’s really ready and has the app ecosystem in place. Meanwhile, of course, Universal Binaries would have to allow WebOS to run all those iOS applications. That was vital to smooth the Mac transition by allowing a large existing user base to keep doing what they want and need.

I wish WebOS well, but this analogy only goes so far

 

[Popeye206]

Good analogy, as long as the TouchPad ships running iOS (or some other complete tablet OS with a full software selection—but there is none yet) by default. Thus making the hardware functional and worth buying—and then you can boot into WebOS only by intentional choice, the way you would do with OS X when it first came out. WebOS would only become the default for TouchPad once it’s really ready. Meanwhile, of course, Universal Binaries would have to allow WebOS to run all those iOS applications to smooth the transition by allowing a large existing user base to keep doing what they want and need.

I wish WebOS well, but this analogy only goes so far

There is no market need for WebOS. iOS and Android have filled the void.

So to win, HP will have to do something like the iPod did for Apple and their not going to do it by making a "me too" tablet that has more disadvantages than advantages.

HP would be better off creating something no one else has. But as Apple has shown us again and again... it's not easy to be first.

 

[La Porta]

One thing is not very accurate here. "no quality apps" does not apply the same way. OS X had Classic to fall back on for all the legacy apps. What do these tablets have to fall back on? Nothing. There REALLY is a lack of apps for these tablets, no legacy library to fall back on.

 

[Sabenth]

welll i say fair play too the bloke he made the ipod come to life ok its moved on since then but heck we still have them around.