I Am A longtime employee of Hewlett-Packard AMA

Not personal!

Is anyone finally aware that 8460p laptops have a manufacturing issue? We had 45 mobos replaced and we only bought 90 8460ps... support denies it's a known issue and it takes us 40! minutes to convince them to come and replace the mobo. Every time...

Why is there some sort of link between the mobo and the hard disk? Remove a HD from a portable and put it in another one and the WiFi won't work anymore.

Universal drivers suck. Make real drivers available. I don't want your buggy software running on my print server.

What's with the failure rate of your small printers?

And why does EVERY new printer model need a new sort of toner?

I was not aware of that. I am typing this on an 8470p right now in fact. I wonder if it is an issue with the product or maybe it was isolated to a specific batch of components. If you ordered 90 laptops it is likely that they would have all been fulfilled in the same production run and use the same component shipments. There is a big difference between a manufacturing issue with a product and a quality issue with a specific subcomponent. I hope it is the latter and your replacements work out better for you.

define "small printer" Failure rates are very low in general since most small printers have all the technology embedded in the print head, which is replaced every time you put a new cartridge in.

Sometimes new toner/ink for new printers is driven by improvements in the HW technology, and sometimes it is driven by the desire to limit the production of clone products. There is always a time lag between the intro of a new printer and the ability of refillers/clone makers to reverse-engineer a cartridge that will be compatible.

Oh, sorry on the other bits, I dont have the technical knowledge on why we choose universal drivers over custom, but I would guess it is part a financial decision. Developing custom anything increases unit costs and when customers are not willing to pay more than a certain amount for a printer the cost needs to come out of somewhere.

Thanks for your elaborate answer on my vindictive post. I'll explain more but am on phone now :)

I don't take it personally. I know how frustrating it can be do deal with a big company. I have many moments of anger myself dealing with other departments at times.

the idea of universal drivers is not a bad one, most of the printers are very similar in nature (if not exactly the same). The problem with HP drivers is all the unnecessary bullshit packaged with them. 348mb for a printer driver?? why HP? WHY???

hmm, I don't really have the detailed knowledge to answer that. I also find bloated software frustrating. People don't want more features, they want fast simple software.

Anybody get the feeling this is some horrible PR attempt? Sorry, but I don't know a single person who hasn't raged about their HP printer in the last 10 years. Haven't heard any raging as of late bc why? Because no one buys an HP printer anymore.

W/in a year of Carly Fiorina taking over, the printer quality started tanking. Now with Meg Whitman at the helm I don't expect anything to get done right.

If my memory serves me correctly, any PC bitching I have heard has always been HP. I would think there were HP predecessors to all first mac purchases. Sorry, but my last printer with you guy's left an open wound, which too bad bc you guy's used to be the king of printers.

nope, no PR at all. feel free to hate. I am just an ordinary dude working for them who thought this could be fun.

Proof please.

http://i.imgur.com/jp6IcKK.jpg

Why is there so much fucking bloatware on branded computers? I'll only build my own computers from now on for that very reason. Any insight?

They get paid to do it. The bloatware companies pay the manufacturers.

The best thing I learned while working for HP: Never buy HP.

I have quite a few HP products and they serve me well.

I absolutely love my windows home server.

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mine had racing stripes.

Did anyone at HP alert top management that the Autonomy aquisition was a bone headed idea? http://www.informationweek.com/software/information-management/hp-missed-chance-to-dump-autonomy/240146707

I was in no way involved in that part of the company, so from my corner of the company we all relied on analysts reports the same as anyone. I was personally not in favor of the acquisition since it seemed that competitors had already passed on Autonomy as too expensive when they were priced at 4 billion... but I am not in a role that is shaping overall company strategy so I guess I have to live with the ideas of senior management as long as I want to keep working here.

People in the company must talk about it, no? Is the consensus that Meg is unqualified to be CEO?

Of course we talk about it, but it seems like some of the decisions are made so far away that it is like talking about another company.

Meg is a very good public speaker and she does a pretty good job in the coffee talks and employee meetings. I think there is still a cautious optimism about her, she is very positive and enthusiastic but has not made any huge positive changes yet. She has not had any disasters either, so she has not lost too much confidence yet.

Most people were so unhappy with Leo Apotheker, Mark Hurd, and Carly Fiorina that Meg is still cruising on goodwill.

Why were people unhappy with Mark Hurd? I mean, he did that one really fucking stupid boneheaded thing, but HP was doing awfully well under his tenure until then.

Mostly the pain of the cost saving measures. They affected many employees in a very personal way and you felt like decisions were being made from the 10,000 foot level looking at a spreadsheet.

It was never a feeling that Hurd resepected people as people.

Does HP really expect to compete with EMC in the storage world? Or are they aiming for smaller market? Their acquisition 3PAR made is seem as though they were going to try to be a big player in storage

Well, the intention is to grow....

Your thoughts on webOS?

Love it, huge fan who was very excited when we bought them. I was really disappointed when HP decided to stop making new HW.

My Pre3 is still my main phone and I have a touchpad at home. I will likely abandon it in the next year or so now that its so long dead.

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yeah? I was sticking with WebOS since it meats my needs as a media player and web browser. What do you recommend to do with it as an Android device?

I absolutely love WebOS, but after putting android on my Touchpad it just runs so much smoother/faster. It really seems like WebOS 3.0 was rushed out the door prematurely, and the designers didn't have time to iron out the kinks before it hit store shelves (and reviewers hands).

If you do decide to put Android on it, you can always dual-boot it, so you can switch between the two operating systems.

I still love webOS and cry a little each time I wish there was some more bug fixing and development being done. I love my Pre3

32GB TouchPad owner here. Do it.

what apps do you recommend?

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not much of a gamer to be honest.... I mostly like music and video and it runs those pretty well with webOS

How was the companies reaction to the really weak demand for the touchpad? Personally I loved it but the market just didn't want a mediocre tablet. Was anyone surprised that it didn't do well or was it more or less expected? Cm9 runs wonderfully on it btw.

very disappointed. I don't think people expected it to be the iPad, but we thought it would at least build a foundation and get some momentum for the OS that would carry us through to later versions.

I still use mine...

Im a former HP employee and I WILL reveal anything confidential such as specific financials, costs, or profits. AMA.

can you explain why the budget for salaries is so low when the exec VPs are getting over 4 million in bonuses in 2012?

Has the company had any large shifts or changes in the past decade or two?

Do you think computers are becoming more commodotized?

Do you have personal or workgroup printers in your office? What do you use?

What's your favorite part of the job? The worst?

Are there any interesting stories you can tell, perhaps being a little vague?

1) massive ones haha. Look at the ERAs under each CEO.

2) Workgroup. We had personal printers until about 2006 then we moved from fixed desks to mobile and only networked printers.

3) Job flexibility. You can pretty much manage your time however you want, even work from home as often as you like as long as you are delivering what you are supposed to. The worst is uncertainty in overall corporate strategy and often incomprehensible strategic decisions. I almost never agree with the big $$ purchase of the companies we have acquired in the past 10 years.

4) I know of a person who subcontracted his entire job out to three Chinese programmers. He drew a full salary, took his assignments got the work done by his employees and then presented it as his own. The whole time he was spending his days "playing with his dog and kids" while making pretty decent money.

Why don't laptops ship with OS cds anymore? You've recommended an immediate reinstall of Windows on a newly purchased computer, but in my experience, I've had to create a recovery disc, which just reinstalls all the bloatware again.

The other option HP support offered was to purchase a copy of the OS disc for $60. Which I don't want to do since I already purchased my OS license.

Well, there is a cost factor again, every penny that can be saved goes to HPs bottom line. Removing disk production may seem small, but on the scale HP ships PCs it adds up fast.

Everyone is connected to the net these days and OS patches and updates come so fast you actually get a better experience having the OS downloadable. The license is really the only valuable part anyway, you can use any windows disk as long as you have your license key.

What is the general opinion of Carly Fiornia among the employees?

not very flattering. I don't think I have heard a kind word about her. She is largely viewed as someone who was more of a politician than a business leader, she seemed to be more concerned with showing off and being a public figure than actually running the company.

I personally still believe the the acquisition of Compaq was the worst thing we ever did. We could have more easily got the market share by giving away 40 billion dollars of free computers.

One of the running jokes in my old job was the stock options that Carly gave everyone when she first became CEO to celebrate. Every employee got 100 options, but the stock tanked so much the options were never worth anything. I think they would be good for about 88$ per share now, not exactly a bargain compared to the current price.

did you say a prayer to the carly fiorina picture required to be in all cubicles?

more like burnt an effigy in masked covens.

Every round of layoffs is more fuel for the jet!

that makes me sad.

Thanks for doing the AMA. I'm an HP rep hired through a 3rd party to help promote the product in Best Buy, Staples, etc. What is the reaction throughout the company when certain products don't sell as well as they'd have hoped to? For example, the Top Shot printer, E-station printer, the Tx-2 laptop from a few years ago?? Products that are pretty innovative but are obviously not popular with the majority of consumers.

Depends on who you ask. When some new technology comes along it is often presented internally as if it is going to cure cancer and world hunger together. Then when it hits the market people just don't seem to feel the same way.

HP is so large it is really hard to judge reaction "through the company" you normally react very much to the products in your division/group and the rest just seem a little far away. I know I personally was devastated with the handling of Palm, I REALLY wanted us to do well in the phone/tablet business and I have friends who felt similar.

I can also think of the edgeline printers of a few years ago being like this, we were told that they would replace photocopiers, but in the end people just did not adopt them.

If I take an example from right now, the envy X2 tablet/laptop just started shipping and received some OK but not great reviews. They brought his product around for us to play with a few months ago and it was universally adored by my immediate colleagues. I think my manager was the first person to buy one in Europe, so now when it is not a massive hit we are all a little disappointed.

A lot of the reason for products not taking off comes down to pricing. Products need to be priced to be profitable, but sometimes despite being innovative they just don't fulfill a customer need that people are willing to pay for.

I am really hoping the Envy X2 does well. We received several trainings around it along with Windows 8. I think it's an awesome product, I just wish it came out before the holidays. I think it would have sold better but I know the reasonings why they didn't. The Envy X2 has been out in my stores for a couple of weeks now and it has been a little difficult to sell, especially when you have a Samsung tablet/pc right next to it for $80 cheaper with extremely similar specs. Good thing for HP is that I believe Samsung is in a copyright dispute and are on a freeze for selling them. So your right about the price. I don't think the economy has gotten to the point where consumers are willing to fork out $700, $800, $900 for a laptop. The Envy 4 ultrabook has been really difficult to sell but I do my best to point out why HP is above the rest. I enjoy working for the company and I love to see what they will come out with next. The E-print function has been a huge success and the fact that they are so compatible with Apple products has been wonderful. Thanks again for answering our questions and just know you have faithful employees working to make the company successful!

Like everyone, I would be happier if it was $100 buck cheaper, but on the whole I like it. I thought it was supposed to initially launch back in November, I am not sure why it was delayed.

I of course want everyone to buy HP since a profitably company is much nicer to work for. The more HP that gets out there, the less likely my friends and I have to worry about downsizing haha.

I inherited one of your old programmable RPN calculators. They are really rad and I still use mine often. Why are they no longer produced and why do they start beeping once the batteries start to fade

I have no insight into the calculator business. I can only assume it was driven by market growth. People just use smartphones instead and getting an RPN emulator is easy for iphone or android.

Once products have no future growth potential and profit $$ dry up, it is unlikely they will last long.

the beeping? I would just guess its to let you know?

I too am a longtime employee of Hewlett-Packard. Can I have karma too?

Where do you work? Im in PPS Operations now.

In which department do you work?

At the moment I work in supply chain for the PPS (printers and PCs) but I am relatively new here. As in the previous answer, I spent the longest time in printing and supplies doing analysis and sometimes product management.

PPS Operations.

My dad is a Project Manager for HP, and more often then not he hates it because a lot of the people that he gets to work on projects for him aren't the brightest. He originally worked for EDS until HP had bought them. My question is how do you enjoy working for HP, and can you explain to me why they allow you to work with Macs rather than PCs?

I quite like it as there are still a lot of benefits. The salary is reasonably good, job content is interesting, HP is very flexible to work for...

I have only seen people using Macs if there is a very specific business case for it. For example we had a guy managing the relationship with apple (they carry printers) and he used a Macbook, but for the most part people have to use the standard HP offering.

In my current office of a couple thousand employees, I know of two people with Macs and they work for the aforementioned Mac team.

How does it feel working for a "technology" company whose biggest innovation in the last 25 years is expensive ink?

I dont feel like I work for a tech company as much as a consumer electronics company.

We did have more innovations than that, but I dont want to feed a troll.

Why do you not release updated drivers for printers purchased after 2003 to work with new OS?

Why does your stuff crash so often? From laptops with a corrupt recovery sector to printers that refuse to print unless you perform a certain ritual.

What is your opinion on refillable cartridges? Is your company planning some sort of "drm" to protect against this?

1) I don't have any knowledge in that area 2) I don't think crashes are particularly more common than on any other PC 3) I don't like them. HP's business model for printing relies heavily on selling supplies, so it is bad for me when other companies are getting profits I would prefer to be with HP. I don't think any DRM would be foolproof enough to get around clone makers indefinitely.

I did a 2 year internship at Agilent, and then later a 1-year contract position at HP.

I found the entire experience pretty soul sucking. I don't really have any questions. I guess just, props for making it long term. I know there have been rounds after rounds of layoffs in the past couple decades.

It can be tough, but like I said, there are a lot worse places to work. I have a nice manager and good colleagues in my immediate work group. I would not be in a hurry to leave.

Why do your home printers induce a violent rage from within that I didn't know existed until the printer refused to print for no good reason?

Machine empathy, they feel your mood.

I am driving home now, will be away for ~2 hours. will try to come on and answer a few more later.

why do HP printers cost more than EPSON?

I don't think they really do... There are specific price points that all printer manufacturers target. HP, Epson, Canon, etc. The company decides to create a product to fit in the 39/49/79/etc price bracket and then designs the product/featurset to fit there and maintain the acceptable margins.

If HP specific HP printers cost more than Epson then it is normally because the company has decided not to fulfill that price point.

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I will do my best to influence this.

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Not great for printing photos, but a real workhorse for normal use.

Could you please ask your OS division why they had to kill Tru64? After they answer please hit them hard, all of them.

//cluster for life!

If more people bought it, it would still be there. Profit drives product.

No it wouldn't. Nobody buys HP-UX either, and it is still around. Tru64 was killed as part of the "compaq was just a name, all their stuff was garbage" nonsense. HP-UX was (and is) worse than Tru64 in every way, and sold just as poorly, but it is still around. They kept the HP-9000 around and killed off alpha completely. It was politics, not profits.

There is also contractual obligations to consider on some products.

Alpha was already on the way to the grave at Compaq, HP was not about to reverse that decision.

Any chance of getting someone to fix their driver download page? There is no way that a single computer model can come with 37 different wireless drivers.

I noticed this too. I think they put up multiple revisions so you can download different generations/versions. I would prefer it to be more clear.

What is the HP employee complaint against Mark Hurd? From afar he seemed like a hands on guy. I read that Larry Ellison thought HP nuts to fire him.

He was very good for shareholders and cutting costs... but for employees it was just a slash and burn experience. He may be great at managing resources and assets, but he was certainly not great at managing people or coming up with new products. Under Hurd the company really became a widget factory manufacturing commodities as cheaply as possible. Any growth or interesting new business was going to come via acquisitions rather than development, it was very frustrating. I think you can look up quite a lot of articles that describe the draconian cost cuts that tool place in some locations, things like stopping garbage collection and removing light bulbs. It was nuts.

HP's R&D budget was cut massively under Hurd which resulted in a pretty big loss in the development of new products.

To his defense, he was a big supporter of Palm and if he had not left when he did HP may not have abandoned the platform so quickly.

Do you work with the web press products? Is HP considered the industry leader in that product line? Is a web press the only type of printer that can print on thin paper, like the paper used in a phone book or magazine?

I do not, that is Indigo, which is still managed very independently from the rest of the printing division.

I don't know for sure of our position in the market, but I think it is quite good, I know Oce and MAN as competitors.

Designjet printers also have some pretty thin paper that is used in applications such as engineering and architecture, but that is very application specific.

I did some printing on onion paper about a decade ago on a consumer inkjet.

if you put paper in a standard printer less than 50gsm then it is likely to be torn by the paper feed and just jam everything up.

How similar are compaq machines to hp's? Is there anything but the name in it? What actually happened to your tablets, they were around for like a few months then discontinued? What brand of laptops and printer do you use? Or what would you buy if you didn get the perks? That is all

Its branding only. Components are shared across brands where needed. The brands also drive design and features, Compaq are the business oriented boxes, so they would not have as much "chrome" and multimedia stuff as a pavillion.

brand? I use an HP Elitebook 8470P. I use the office workgroup printers and there area a bunch. the closest to me is a Color Laserjet 4700, but I have access to others if needed for a specific job.

Since I am used to Windows, I stick to PC as my platform of choice. When buying personally, I still would get HP as long as I am working here since I dont see any reason to put money in the pockets of companies competing with mine.

Why does HP not have ANY support for laptops with two switchable ATI cards? It's ridiculous that we have not gotten a single update since they released the laptop back in 2010 (HP Pavilion 4050us user here). Also what's your input on HP laptops and heat issues?

I lack the knowledge to answer this.

What's the office culture like? Is it bureaucratic or is it surprisingly easy-going (for a company as large as HP)?

VERY VERY easy going.

Hi. Sysadmin here. Please pass along to your higher-ups that we are switching from HP to Lexmark printers because fuck the HP UPD. This will actually save us money because we will have much less downtime. It is the worst piece of software I have ever had to work with. It is an abomination. And it's too bad because your hardware is pretty damn rock solid, but you chose the lazy route and tried to make a UPD that will work for all your printers - it doesn't work well. It's terrible. Write dedicated drivers (and only drivers. nobody wants or uses the bloatware you bundle with it) or stop making printers.

I will indeed pass on this comment. Thanks for a very specific recommendation rather than YOU SUCK LULZ

Were you there when the HP-12C financial calculator debuted (1981)?

no, I was in elementary school then. I'm only 40.

As a tech, I would rather gouge out my eyes with a dull plastic knife knowing that I have to call HP for support. I've never been on the phone for less than 60 minutes for a support call which always ends up in them sending someone out to look at the issue. Of course I know that someone needs to come out before I call and that's why I'm calling.

Why has HP made the process so difficult? I personally would never buy an HP product knowing that is what I'll have to go through if something goes wrong.

I would recommend you keep track of what words and phrases get you past first or even second line support. Most first line support people are just following scripts to solve the problems that most users come up with. The majority of calls coming in to a support centers are things that are pretty easy to solve with low cost/cheaper techs who just have a cheat sheet.

You want to find a way to get past them as quick as you can to the real problem solvers. I don't have any magic words for you, but I would suggest you keep a log and watch what works best to get by them.

Anything Hp is problem-matic. Say for instance the first tablet series by hp, TX series, had NVIDA gpu chipset failures, to the point they should have done a recall, never done...

Hp purchases Compaq, Compaq tanks.

Call customer support, welcome to INDIA!

Even Hp printers are junk, Laser hp printers are the absolute pits.

<b>Any reason why HP uses Dell Servers? Reputability and reliability issues with HP servers?</b>

Compaq was tanking before HP bought them. That was how they ended up in a position to be bought.

HP does not use dell servers.

I think your level of troll-y anger is off the charts.

My Dad works for HP as well in the thin-client division are you guys best friends?

haha. I used to work for pl5x. maybe we crossed paths.

If you had no affiliation with any electronics company, would you choose HP over your competitors? I guess what I'm asking is are you biased towards your company or so you really and truly find satisfaction in HP?

I don't think I can give an honest answer, I have been drinking the company koolaid for over a decade.

I did originally come to work out of HP because I liked and respected the company though.

Is there really a way to remove the HP bloatware laptops without reinstall? When i tried it all depends on each other.

Not that I know of, but I also think that is a windows issue. Software gets its hooks deep deep in the DLLs and registry that no uninstall can counter.

I noticed you said you are in PPS. What do you think the long term plans are for HP printing with the dramatic reduction in printing in a more digital world?

I believe the strategy will be to expand the presence in the commercial space to make up the deficit in home usage. SMB should be a growth area.

Why do your computers tend to operate at a temperature that is roughly half that of the sun?

My thoughts is a lot of the reason comes from Intel/AMD/Nvidia.

I cannot specifically confirm that though as I am no hardware engineer.

Do you have anything to do with the campus in plano/dallas area?

I interviewed for an internship (got it) at that location and wanted an opinion form you.

No. In the US I worked out of the San Diego (escondido) location. Right now Im in Europe.

Ever went to the Irish office? Lovely place isn't it? Worked there for a short while before going back home to my town in the Netherlands which sports another one of the HP offices!

I have been to the DIMO in Dublin. It is very nice. Netherlands has a big site for Indigo, I have a former boss who went there.

• How long have you been working for them?

• What is your day to day role without getting to specific?

• Excuse me, but why the hell does HP laptops suck ass? Mainly the dv6000 series.

• I have been at HP for 12 years
• I have worked in a few places, the longest in business analytics for the Imaging and Printing division (product category) but have also spent some time with workstations, servers, and supply chain management.
• I think you need to be a little more specific than "sucks ass" what specifically are you unhappy with?

You have to consider that most computers are really just commodity products being assembled as cheaply as possible these days. All PC manufacturers purchase a design for the internal components from a 3rd party (mostly one of 3 companies in Taiwan) then design the box that will hold all the guts. Since margins are so low, the pressure to have cheaper and cheaper builds are needed to remain profitable.

I hope you have time to respond to this. I have a 2nd interview with HP next week for a software support engineer position. Do you have any advice or suggestions? How is it working for HP? Is it overall a good company to work for?

I still like it, but it depends a lot on your division, manager and colleagues. I find the pay quite good, benefits nice and my manager and department are a pleasure to work for.

My main advice is be totally honest. Tell them what you are good and don't misrepresent any skills. There is nothing worse than getting in under false pretenses and not be able to perform. You would be sad and so would the boss.

I've hated the HP laptops for a long time... never bought one but I've seen friends who spend $500+ for a new one only to see them break a few months later. More specifically, I've noticed the lid/shell construction is especially weak. I think it's b/c HP uses subpar plastic that cracks really easily. Not to mention keys constantly fall off the keyboard. I've heard the desktops are better, but not by much.

Sorry to hear about that.

Recently I have been using an elitebook and I find the build quality to be good. Metal body and the keys are springy and nice.

It is my own experience that laptops in similar price classes tend to be made from similar materials and have about the same quality.

I've had a HP Pav Entertainment PC (Forget model number, but it's dvx series I think) it's worked wonderfully the past 4 years I've had it.
I've even dropped it off a 5 foot bunk bed two years ago, and nothing is wrong. Still runs really well.

I am delighted to see someone who is enjoying an HP product. Thanks for the comment.

I really enjoyed my first HP laptop, it was quick and sturdy but it only lasted me 3 years until it randomly shut down permanently. I received another one for christmas this year and I honestly have to say that it is terrible. The laptop itself needs a better design, it's not fast enough to run or support Windows 8 very well and it isnt sturdy. I feel like no quality goes into the products they make, sorta like they just design and manufacture a laptop ASAP. From reading your AMA, i know you don't have anything to do with how the laptops are produced or what software they use. However please inform someone that cutting costs on the laptop won't save them money in the long run.

I feel the same way. There are lots of changes I would make if I was giving strategic decisions to HP.

I would love to see the company produce fewer products of a higher quality than cover every possible configuration.

That would be the way to go. I feel like the executives are not with the times.

i think a lot of it is inertia. You have a huge corporate structure and many VPs carving out little kingdoms and no one wants to give anything up.

Makes sense. And to be honest, if I was making millions upon millions I would probably become greedy too

I don't know if its greed per se, but as a public held company beholden to a board and stockholders, they are obligated to generate as much value as possible.

The largest component of this is profitable products.

Is it expensive for HP employees to live in California? Does the company have departments and divisions that are based in other states than CA?

There is a lot all over the US. in California there is of course Cupertino and San Diego as big locations which are relatively expensive.

There are also pretty significant sites in Boise, Vancouver (WA) Houston, Fort Collins. There are sales offices in lots more locations, so it really depends on the department and the role you want to fulfill.

Are you based in California? What is it like in that state nowadays immigration wise? Why is the state so anti republican party?

I am not. I am actually in Europe at the moment. I have previously been in the San Diego office though. Our CEO is a republican ;)

When I was there there seemed to be a lot of immigrants from both other parts of the US as well as other parts of the world. You did not very often meet people born and raised in California.

There is no way I could answer why CA is so democratic party friendly, I am sure there are books and books written about it.

How durable is a pavilion dv6t 7000 in terms of travelling? I got a really nice one for Christmas and would like to know if I should bring it places or leave it home most of the time.

I would not strongly recommend any pavillions for business travel. They are aimed at the home market as desktop replacements.

For real durability I would recommend the elitebooks with metal body, they are sturdy (although a touch heavy and more costly)

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I dont think they are focusing any less... they are still a huge part of the business and getting a lot of attention.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-01/hewlett-packard-says-it-may-dispose-of-units-not-meeting-targets.html

http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/20/2887662/hp-folding-printer-group-into-pc-division-allthingsd

Oh that. There is not less focus so much as elimination of a layer of management. I think this was actually not a bad idea. For example, why maintain two totally separate logistics organizations to deliver products from the same manufacture regions to the same distribution hubs and ultimately the same customers.

The merge of the divisions was not that bad at all.

How do you feel about the latest brand change?

If you mean the logo/marketing...

its not any worse than the last one, but it does not do a lot to get me excited.

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I do not, sorry.

When did HP give up on making a quality computer?

I still think people are genuinely trying to do the best they can within the constraints of their job. You have people on the lowest level trying to execute given very specific guidelines to overall structure. Then you have multiple layers of management making notes and improvements to your products long after you are out of the loop.

In someways I imagine it is like the movie and television business. The product engineer is the writer and the corporate management is the studio. The writer is trying to make a great film, but he has to live with the studios notes and changes. In the end when the audience thinks its a terrible movie, they just blame the script.

Its really a complex environment to get anything done, while tiny companies may be envious of the resources HP has, I certainly envy the small decision making structure of a start up.

Why should I even care?

because you took the effort to come to the thread and make a post?

who worked on the fairness opinion for the autonomy acquisition?

no one close to me at all.