I wonder what it’s like to work on the webOS team? Or, I should say, the team that used to develop webOS, and is now probably huddled around a bottle of gin, weeping. Why? Read this.
TechCrunch has the following memo, straight outta the quiet halls of HP corporate doldrum town. Here’s the fate of the webOS squad:
Two weeks ago we announced the transformation of HP for the future. As part of that change we made a very tough decision to exit the webOS hardware device business. At the same time we recognised the value inherent in the webOS software platform. Not only because of its elegant, intuitive interface, but because of our strategic focus on cloud, connectivity, services and software, and printing.
I’m pleased that the executive team has decided that the webOS software teams will be best served joining the Office of Strategy and Technology while we investigate how to leverage the webOS platform and its ecosystem. This move also supports the teams’ continued efforts with over-the-air updates and the application catalogue.
Emphasis mine. Emphasis sad as shit. Office of Strategy and Technology. Leverage. Printing. Printing. Does it get more bleak? Imagine working on one of the most interesting, promising mobile operating systems, and then being thrown down into the flaming lake of printing. Keep your heads up, guys. We want great things from your talented brains — and you deserve better than cloud strategy office printers. [TechCrunch]