Tom's opinion on the introduction of the HP touchpad

February 9th, Hewlett-Packard came out with its answer to the iPad, the TouchPad and its operating system, WebOS. It looks impressive, but the presentation and ancillary marketing materials -like the e-mail I got on an old e-mail address-leave several questions to be answered.

Great! When it’s coming out? Later this summer. That leaves a lot of wriggle room.

What will it cost me? The retail price has yet to be determined.

Where can I buy one? Again, no answer. HP markets its desktops and laptops all over the place, so I would presume they would try to get some saturation on this product.

Since it’s primarily wireless, who will serve as your wireless partner? Again, no answer. Is the TouchPad in play for the best deal from the competing wireless carriers?

Also, by the time this comes out, Motorola should have its Xoom tablet out. Apple, of course, should have the second version of the iPad out.

I’m of the opinion that many potential customers will not wait for HP to get its act together and will buy a competing product they can physically touch in the store. Such as the new and improved iPad 2