HP who?
Let's point out where HP failed and make it real simple. "Customer Care". Bought and HP printer and then upgraded Windows "Sorry, we won't release a Windows X driver for that printer". Bought a webOS tablet? "Sorry, we don't do those anymore". Bought HP network switches "Oh, we released a new model, we don't do the old one anymore". Bought an HP wx8400 Workstation "Oh sorry about the drivers, we don't support that model anymore". Bought an HP laptop? "What model did you say? Did we even make one of those? Are you sure it says HP on it? Oh you bought it from that store... yeh... we don't support that one".
Companies and individuals can't justify investments in equipment from vendors who have a terrible track record like this. Once HP was the king of printers. I have an HP LaserJet II+ in the closet I'm sure would work the second I plugged it into my Core i7 notebook with a dongle. The thing was built like (and weighed as much as) a house and was priced appropriately for the tech.
HP is/was a premium brand... that went completely tits to the wind a few years back. Now, you buy HP if you're looking to save a buck and don't give a rats ass about quality. In short... they practically just another Dell.
Let me make something clear... you can sell to the CEOs, you can sell to the CTOs, but no matter how much you sell to them, you can't sell more if the IT geeks are spending too much time supporting your stuff. You have to get it right. An HP machine SHOULD cost more. And, it should be a higher quality. I think that Hewlett and Packard would cry if they saw what the management has done to their company. HP has consumed and destroyed so much of the worlds greatest companies. If I were them, I would seriously consider spinning off a premium brand name like DEC to make a difference.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
