ePub Books On webOS

Oh, this is totally off-topic. But my allegiance is not to Apple. It’s to writers (see this post).

Ibis Reader enables non-DRMed ePub eBooks to be read on any device that has a web browser.

After the break, see what it looks like running on my crap PC using a version of Firefox 2.x and then on webOS.

Will hp Now Delay The Slate?

Yes, I think so.

hp has to realize that Windows 7 isn’t going to provide them any lasting presence in the tablet market, so why continue that investment?

There’s been no official release date and the page for the Slate is still nothing but an email form.

There would be no shame in hp doing this. It set a precedent in changing things around when it dumped the underpowered VIA chip for the Atom in its netbooks.

I also have to think that webOS would allow hp to retool the design, getting rid of any hard drive and replacing it with flash storage, reducing its weight. They could probably retool it altogether and make it look less like an iPad.

What is going to be very interesting is that a webOS tablet could address the perceived shortcomings of the iPad. The big ones being the lack of an SD slot and a USB port to connect directly to devices such as cameras (still/video).

It’s my personal hope that hp will adhere to our freedom of expression — unlike Apple — when it comes to publications. They can do what Apple cannot do: permit purchasing and installation from outside the current Palm App Catalog. hp should stay out of policing content. This would provide an additional competitive edge against the iPad. That would please publishers and writers very, very much.

What Really Happened: Old Palm Bought New Palm!

In the excitement of getting my initial post up, I neglected one detail that stood out once I saw it.

HP to Acquire Palm for $1.2 Billion

Palm’s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP.

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

He used to lead Old Palm!

Palm Chooses Head of Hardware Development

Palm, Inc. has just named Todd Bradley as president of its Palm Solutions Group.

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

And:

Palm Inc Acquires Handspring

The merged company will be led by Bradley, who will continue as president and chief executive officer

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

So, isn’t that something?

It’s not exactly like Steve Jobs having Apple buy NeXT so he could turn around and get Apple back, but it does show just how small a world the field of tech is.

It also makes me wonder if Bradley has some unfulfilled dreams from his time at Palm. This will be very, very interesting!

Congratulations, Palm! Good Luck To HP!

Wow. I decided to play hooky from tech today — looking at some more bad comic books — and happened to peek into my Twitterstream to the astounding news of hp buying Palm.

This is a perfect match!

hp has a long history of being in the handheld and portable space, beginning from the time of calculators.

But what’s significant here is that hp created cult followings for its 95LX handheld computer, its OmniBook series, and purchased Compaq and inherited the iPaq cult. hp also created a cult following for its netbook entries, bringing something new to the segment that was pioneered by Asus.

So hp is no stranger to building products that create rabid and devoted fanbases. This is precisely what Palm needs — that know-how, that marketing, and, more than anything else, those engineering resources that rival Apple’s.

webOS now has a future — and it won’t be on cheap fall-apart devices. They’ll be swank and classy and, like hp’s netbooks, bring something new to the field.

And this has to say something about the viability of Android too. hp was planning at least one Android tablet. Attempting that must have taught them something. And that lesson caused them to acquire Palm.

Asus, you just lost big time! And Nokia, your death spiral is now unstoppable.

My only question is this: How soon can hp rip Windows 7 out of the Slate and replace it with webOS?

Previously here:

An iPad Competitor? Not In 2010!
When Will Lenovo And Asus Learn?

Apple Is Scaring Publishers And Writers

The contradictory — no, now it’s outright nonsensical — hand of Apple is at work, rejecting things again.

Creepy Steve Jobs May Not Want You to Read This (or Will Break Down Your Door)

Apple has rejected an app version of this column—which, on a relatively frequent basis goes out of its way to analyze the odd behavior of Steve Jobs.

[. . .]

The stated reason for the rejection of my free app is that Apple requires “sufficient amounts of content to appeal to a broad audience.” Putting aside the fact that this pretty much makes specialty content ineligible for iPhone or iPad apps, it’s also a pretty fudgy standard.

Indeed!

What if I wanted to publish an app that was a specialist’s tool? It could be anything. Some obscure aspect of metadata organization, or a compilation of medical research material, or even a collection of presentations about software theory, anything that would have a very limited yet actual audience. Is Apple going to deny me the chance to earn that money? Because, in Apple’s eyes, I’m not appealing to the great wad of people out there who own and buy its devices?