HP TouchPad not selling well

Larry Dignan reports for ZDNet that HP's TouchPad sales are underwhelming and ponders who's to blame, HP or Best Buy? While he concludes both, I lay it squarely on HP.

Last I checked, the product has never been called the "Best Buy TouchPad." It's HP's baby, and it was up to them to do a proper launch and give the TouchPad a fighting chance.

Jason Perlow's account of his buying experience reveals the sad state of affairs with the HP listless effort and their dysfunctional Best Buy relationship, and demonstrates the strength of the Apple ecosystem - owning the Apple stores gives Apple control of the environment and the experience, ensuring a closer connection between the products and the company.

One would assume that HP has not only the money but also had the opportunity to develop a better experience for its customers through Best Buy. If not, they perhaps should have considered a better plan for how they'd come to market and meet their customers.

Perhaps it's a chance for me to snag one on the cheap, which is great. But, if it's going to die an ignominious death anyway, it might be better to simply give in and go the iPad (which my Mac shop boss considers a no-brainer in the first place).

I'd previously written It's not over - HP buys Palm, expressing my hope for the survival of the Palm OS. At this point, it's starting to sink in that it was indeed over, I just hadn't come to terms with it. This latest fiasco (and yes, I consider it a fiasco - HP needed to hit a home run, not hope for a walk or base-on-balls) is absolutely beneath the corporation that we thought HP - shame on them for thinking they can just "show up" and compete in a marketplace that is proving unequivocally that such could never be the case

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