HP TouchPad...Phoenix?

Those following the tablet market has seen a whirlwind of activity over the last few weeks. First, HP announced the end of the WebOS line of tablets and phones. Next, the HP TouchPad was dropped down to $99, a truly bargain basement price, and that set off the fire sale. The HP TouchPad appears to have leapt over the competition to become the second most popular tablet on the market. Obviously, the iPad is first.

Now, HP has a problem. They have generated incredible interest for a product they no longer make. They have generated incredible sales figures, and probably incredible profits for the retailers selling their stock of TouchPads. HP probably won't see a dollar of that though, and now they have interest, and no product. Worse still, most of the interest was generated by a price they cannot maintain without taking a huge loss.

Now, rumors are surfacing that the TouchPad may not be dead after all. Is it possible that the TouchPad, like the Phoenix could rise from the ashes of its own destruction?

So, let's be sure of our timeline. On August 18th, HP announced that it was discontinuing the TouchPad and the WebOS line of phones. On August 20th, the Fire Sale commenced when HP announced that the remaining stock of TouchPads would be sold for $99. By August 29th, all the TouchPads in Austin, Texas stores had been sold. I don't know how many that was in Austin, but it appears that as many as 500,000 Touchpads may have been sold by the end of fire sale. With most of those sold in 10 days, those numbers might even approach iPad sales for the same period.

First, tech pundits were talking about the TouchPad being cut off at the knees. Next, there were rumors of an update. Late today, HP has pretty much said that the PC unit will be spun off into a new company, and that the TouchPad might go with it. Some are acting surprised, but why?

When you put a good tablet (I'll let others debate how good) at the same price as the bargain basement tablets, is it any sort of surprise that it sells?

HP has already said that they intend to keep developing WebOS for printers. Is it really a surprise that there would be updates?

Next, consider the following factors.

1.the reports (rumors) that some HP execs didn't know that they were pulling the plug on the TouchPad.

2.the supply train built to produce the TouchPad, which cannot be turned off overnight.

3.the new installed base of devices created by the fire sale.

I see a surprise announcement, an existing supply train, and an installed base to give the device traction.

Is it really a big surprise that HP might rethink the decision and give the TouchPad a second chance?

What if the HP CEO (I can never remember how to spell his name) really did make a decision and announced it publically first, rather than run it through channels? Maybe he knew that it would mean dozens of annoying meetings while the TouchPad guys pled their case and he didn't want to listen to it. He authorizes the Fire Sale to dump the existing stock. That cannot be a huge surprise, since their were already rumors that Best Buy wanted to send them back. If you have a dud on your hands, you try to lessen the impact. If retailers send them back, then you have shipping cost that you will probably have to pay, and you still have to dispose of the excess stock, which will probably cost you money, rather than generating revenue. I am betting that HP basically said to the retailers...price them at $99 and keep it. If they don't sell, then we will take them back.

The TouchPad folks within HP have had ten days to get their arguments ready, and now those arguments are stronger with half a million units in the wild. I don't think that HP did this knowingly as a ploy to gain market share at a loss, but I do think that someone may have found the silver lining in the dark cloud of the TouchPad failure and fire sale.

And now? With the news today, it looks like the HP PC line will survive under a new name, and with the changes in the market, including the sales figures for the iPad, it could be a good way for the new company to generate revenue, with a second generation tablet based on the TouchPad, with a installed base of users whose opinion of the original TouchPad will improve, if HP can provide some good updates to the OS.

Yes, I think that the TouchPad might just survive this and come out a winner.

The Great Austin Burger Hunt - so far

It has been nearly a year and half since I started The Great Austin Burger Hunt, and I have now reviewed ten burgers. At this less than momentous occasion (let's be honest), I thought I would take a look back at the burgers I have reviewed and provide a rating of the first ten. I cannot say that I have found a truly spectacular burger. Some have been surprisingly good, and several of them have been good, but nothing like the reaction that you see in the The Greatest Burger in New York episode of How I Met Your Mother.

Some may complain that I am not experiencing the burger as intended, because I do not like all the fixings, and I know many people, my wife included, who feel that I burger is naked without onions and tomatoes. Well, I think that fixings can be used to mask poor choices of beef and bun, and bad cooking. I think that the best way to experience the burger is with nothing on it, but cheese and condiments. It is an argument that won't get decided in the pages of any blog, and since I don't like tomatoes and onions, I have to remove them, or I won't like the burger.

So, here is the list, and I won't make it a Top 10 list with the best at the bottom.

• Chili’s
  12901 N IH 35
  Austin, TX 78753-1018
  512-251-2442
  


• Texadelphia
  9828 Great Hills Trail Suite 140
  Austin, TX 78759
  (512) 338-1338
  

This was as close to a tie as I can imagine. I have given the nod to Chili's because I don't ever plan to have another burger at Texadelphia. I always order a Cheesesteak, so if I am thinking burger, I doubt I will think of them, but it was very good.

• Five Guys Burgers and Fries
  3208 B Guadalupe St
  Austin, TX 78703
  (512) 452-4300
  


• Hill-Bert’s Burgers
  5340 Cameron Road
  Austin, TX
  (512) 371-3717
  

Another close pairing. Hill-Bert's was less pretentious and I liked them for that. The fries are a big draw at Hill-Bert's.

• Wingzup
  1000 E 41st St
  Austin, TX 78751
  (512) 323-2587
  

Good burger when you want to watch sports, because watching sports, not burgers is the reason to go to Wingzup.

• Posse East
  2900 Duval St
  Austin, TX 78705
  (512) 477-2111
  

The Fries are the big draw.

• BB Rovers
  12161 Jollyville Road
  Austin, TX
  (512)335-9504
  

When you want an unusual beer with your burger.

• Whataburger
  11135 N. I-35
  Austin, TX
  512-251-0528
  

Wait-a-burger, but nothing to complain about

• Terra Burger
  10611 Research Blvd.
  Austin, TX 78759
  (512) 382-5864
  

Dry

• Short Stop 12
  3811 North IH 35
  Austin, TX
  

It fills your stomach, but don't expect much more.

So, there you have it, the first ten reviewed burger places in Austin. I am still on the hunt for a really good burger, so send me your suggestions.

The Great Austin Burger Hunt

Posse East
2900 Duval St


My wife has raved about this place for years. When I first started the Great Austin Burger Hunt, she suggested it. When her boss decided to take her to lunch there, I tagged along. Posse East is on the edge of the UT campus. It has been around for 40 years and is a well-known campus watering hole. It has kind of a rustic appearance, and it sits on an inconvenient corner, which makes parking hard, but with a 40 year history, obviously they are doing something right.

I ordered my usual, a cheeseburger and fries, and of course had them leave off the pickles, onions and tomatoes. You can get a selection of cheeses and this time I chose Cheddar. That keeps it closer to the other burgers I have reviewed, though I might choose Swiss Cheese the next time. This is the sort of place where you pick up your order when they call your name, but it is small enough that isn't a problem.

The burger arrived on a seeded bun, with green leaf lettuce and mustard, with a pile of fries beside it. The burger was not the juiciest I have had....how exactly do you say that I burger was not juicy without giving the impression that it was dry? I am not sure I have a good answer, but that is what I am trying to express. From a juicy-ness standpoint it was okay, but not great. In fact, from a taste standpoint, the meat was okay, but not great. The cheese was good, but not enough to really improve the burger all that much. The bun was good, but nothing terribly special. The lettuce was okay, except that by the end of the second bite it had wilted so completely that I took it off.

I think I did it again. I have given a review that seems to say that the burger was bad. Well, it wasn't, but it didn't stand out. It was a burger. It was even a good burger. It was not a great burger. It was not memorable. It was also rather light on condiments. Next time, I will try adding a bit of mayo and a bit more mustard and see if that helps.

But, the fries more than made up for any deficiency in the burger (and there wasn't really anything to make up for). The fries were some of the best I have ever had. They almost looked like they had a light batter on them. They were incredibly crispy, with almost a little crust on them. They were perfectly salted and delicious. I cannot speak highly enough of the fries. Far and away the best fries of any of the place I have reviewed.

I will not be putting Posse East at the top of my Best Burger List, but it might go at the top of the Best Fries List and that might be enough of a reason to visit Posse East again. I certainly won't be afraid to order a burger, but it will be the fries that I will truly be looking forward to.

The Great Austin Burger Hunt

B.B. Rovers
12161 Jollyville Road
Austin, TX
(512)335-9504

B.B. Rovers is an Irish pub with a fairly nice atmosphere and a large selections of beers, so many that the beers have their own menu. Now, I'm not a drinker, so I don't really care about that, but while eating there with friends the other night, I decided to try their Burger and review it for the Great Austin Burger Hunt.

I decided on the rather plain Cheeseburger, which is offered with a choice of cheeses, Longhorn Cheddar, Swiss, Pepperjack, Provolone or Blue Cheese. I decided to try the Longhorn Cheddar this time, despite being a big fan of Swiss on burgers. When I ordered they gave me another choice, white, wheat or rye? Being intrigued by the rye, I ordered that. I was not given a choice on how I wanted my burger cooked. Now, many places don't give you that option, but it is much more common among sit down restaurants. I was a little surprised by the lack of choice, but not that much.

I took a little bit of time to arrive, and then the waitress tried to give me the wrong burger, but eventually I got my burger with chips on the side. I was pleasantly surprised to find my burger on a pair of slabs of nicely toasted marble rye. Unfortunately, the bread was the best part of the burger. The bread was perfectly toasted so that it had a slightly crunch to it, and the bread was very tasty.

The burger was a rather dry, a little overdone, and just not very tasty. It wasn't bad, just not very good. It came with a single leaf of leaf lettuce, which wilted before I finished the first half of my burger. I removed the lettuce from the second half. There also wasn't much evidence of condiments on the burger and I really wonder if the cheese was Longhorn and not American. It didn't add much to the taste.

In fact, the burger was nearly a patty melt, which is a burger with swiss cheese on rye bread and then the sandwich is grilled. I love patty melts. It would have been better as a patty melt.

The side order was a small pile of out-of-the-bag chips, absolutely nothing special.

It wasn't awful, but I think I will be avoiding the burgers at B.B. Rovers.