WebOS - the OS Everyone Loved But No One Used - We Hardly Knew Ye
It was disappointing to see WebOS go without a fight, but looking back I think it jumped the shark a long time ago.
HP offered a company I work for generous support for getting started with WebOS in the enterprise. Multiple business units participated in a walkthrough of the platform in late fall 2010. HP provided free devices, books, DVD references, and a willingness to come in and provide free WebOS training. No strings attached, just try the platform... see what you think...
Even with the offer of free phones, we could not get any interest from developers. The references and phones gathered dust on my shelf.
I think the watershed moment is when Palm lost its two lead developer relations guys:
http://www.precentral.net/ben-galbraith-and-dion-almaer-leave-palm
Its unfortunate, because it is a compelling OS. But I think it was going to be impossible to crack market share without devices and top-shelf dev relations.
Pivotal, who won Palm's 'hot app' contest with its WebOS Twitter client, called it quits - saying WebOS market share didn't justify the headache of keeping up with Twitter API changes:
http://www.webosroundup.com/2011/05/tweed-developer-throws-in-the-towel/
So they developed the best app for a key social media platform on the OS, and it's still not worth it? Ouch!
Even an innovative mobile OS needs developers, apps, and devices to succeed. Why are we surprised?
