AfterDawn: News

Did Apple and Facebook have a fight over the HP TouchPad?

According to Mashable, Apple and Facebook had a huge falling out due to the, you guessed it, HP TouchPad.

Around three months ago, before the tablet's demise, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs visited Mark Zuckerberg multiple times to yell at him about the company's connection with the webOS-based HP TouchPad.



Facebook was, at the time, preparing to launch a webOS app for the social network.

HP wanted a native Facebook app first and Apple wanted a native FB app first for the iPad. FB develops their own apps for Android and iOS, while HP was in charge of creating their own webOS app, just like RIM and Microsoft do for their respective platforms.

Acquiescing to Apple, Zuckerberg, despite not being able to block HP's launch, restricted HP?s access to its APIs.

HP was convinced the app would have separated it from the pack, but Facebook killed the project, and the TouchPad eventually died of its own devices.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 3 Oct 2011 2:16

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• 5 comments

• KillerBug

  Wow...here FB is doing all the heavy lifting for apple, and Steve Jobs is yelling at the owner because he is allowing someone else to do all the heavy lifting for their platform...and instead of filing a restraining order against Steve like any rational person would, he caved!
  
  Not even Apple and Facebook fanboys could condone that.
  

  
  

  3.10.2011 06:34 #1

• flyingpen

  And with the next update iOS and Mac OS X will magically have a "bug" what wont allow you to access FB. ... Just like when Jobs got pissed at adobe >.>
  

  Carpe Noctem

  3.10.2011 09:03 #2

• dali

  Originally posted by flyingpen: And with the next update iOS and Mac OS X will magically have a "bug" what wont allow you to access FB. ... Just like when Jobs got pissed at adobe >.>
  In a logical world that would mean users massively fleeing from Apple platform instead of justifying that move and/or blaming Adobe for it. But, once again, fanboys are anything but logical.
  

  “You know, it seems that quotes on the internet are becoming less and less reliable.” -Abraham Lincoln.

  3.10.2011 10:13 #3

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by dali: Originally posted by flyingpen: And with the next update iOS and Mac OS X will magically have a "bug" what wont allow you to access FB. ... Just like when Jobs got pissed at adobe >.>
  In a logical world that would mean users massively fleeing from Apple platform instead of justifying that move and/or blaming Adobe for it. But, once again, fanboys are anything but logical. In a logical world apple fans would demand that they fix the iPhone4 antenna, that they would support flash, that they would offer dual-core phones, and they they would come installed with Android...but we don't live in a logical world.
  

  
  

  4.10.2011 01:00 #4

• llongtheD

  I have a hard time believing that jobs visited zuckerberg several times to yell at him over the app. I have an even harder time believing that the facebook app was THE key to hp's touch pad success, or failure. Even HP's idiot has been CEO, wouldn't base a products success or failure on a single app.
  
  I think I smell a resurgence of touchpads at middle of the road prices. Say double the fire sale price?
  

  If your fish seems sick, put it back in the water.

  4.10.2011 07:00 #5