Life on webOS and webOS only - robbed of everything but my TouchPad 78
July 19th will be a remembered day in my calendar. It is the day that my entire digital life was stolen from me. Literally. As some of you may have already read in the PreCentral forums, my house was robbed a few days ago. Whoever did it managed to take my TV, my computers, my Playstation 3, my Xbox 360, and some really nice headphones. To put it shortly: they stole my entire digital life.
Thankfully, nobody was home at the time, but that doesn’t change the fact that all of my things are gone. In the end, all that was left for me to enjoy was what I had on my person: the HP TouchPad, its case, and its magical touchstone... yes, I said magical.
As most of you can already guess, this brought me upon a very interesting experiment: what is life like when the only technological device you have to enjoy is a tablet, more specifically, my TouchPad. People say that every cloud has a silver lining, and I suppose the positive outcome of this was that I can have a unique experience that I would have missed out on had I not been robbed.
Until I can afford another computer of the caliber that I had before (a high-end MacBook Pro) and until I can save up to afford all my other luxuries that were stolen from me, my TouchPad will be the center of my digital universe. My TouchPad will be my TV, my entertainment center, my video player, my music player, my word processor, my PDF viewer, my web browser, my gaming system... everything.
It has already been a good start, as I have had to find replacements for things that I would usually do on my laptop. For those of you that are wondering how document creation works on the TouchPad through Google Docs, what do you think I wrote this on? I’ll be keeping you updated over the coming days on how my experience goes, and I am sure it will be a great experience supported by the raw power and flexibility that is HP webOS and my beloved HP TouchPad!
78 Comments
Ouch. Sounds like bad times. Hope the touchpad will be capable enough to hold you over until your digital life back up and running. Sorry for the loss but just glad to see its just items and not life that was taken.
Can't you file a claim or something? I can't imagine this happening to me.
Didn't you have insurance?
Dude, you know all of those ads on TV from State Farm, Geico, Progressive etc? I hope you had insurance. Clearly you had the means to have a big TV, Macbook and headphones but no Insurance? You need to protect yourself from scumbags like those who invaded your home and stole all your stuff.
Having said that it must suxk to get robbed like that. Change your locks and buy an alarm before you start restocking for the losers who will innevitably come back for more.
Actually, it's statistically very unlikely that he'll be robbed again by the same people. That being said, if he lives in a bad area, it could happen again from some other scumbags.
Good Luck Esteban, Keep your head up man.
It may not be a macbook pro, but I have a few P4 small form factor computers lying around if you want one. Hit me up bodgingbrom (at) gmail (dot) com, shipping is on me as well.
What an amazing offer! It's one of the things I love about the webOS community. Five stars for you.
No one is really prepared for these things. Friend of mine lost everything in a fire last year and had no insurance. You just don't expect it will happen to us.
Sorry for your loss and one of the many reasons I carry renters insurance with my stuff costing more then the whole house put together. Either way, it reminds me that I need to update my logs and make sure I have everything on file and documented just in case it happens to me.
Glad to see you still have your TouchPad and your new journey should be if nothing else more interesting. Look forward to future updates and posts. Sorli...
It's unfortunate what happened, but this will definitely give people good insight into what it's like to use a TouchPad as your only device.
Good luck with everything.
Sorry to hear that man. Hopefully the touchpad will get you by until you can replace all your stuff. Hopefully the Developer can help you out with apps sooner then later
sorry to hear it. maybe hp will p/u on this story and send the guy some TP acessories or even a hp laptop??
I think this would be a nice thing for HP to do...not obligated...don't anyone say I think that! But, it would be a good PR move, and a thank you from HP for Esteban stepping up to a difficult situation and finding a positive use of this difficult situation.
I applaud you Esteban...and HP? I think it would be a great opportunity to set Esteban up with webOS on a new desktop, printer, laptop, Pre3...and don't forget that toaster! ;)
Sorry to hear about your losses, but I'm also keenly interested to hear about your experiences using nothing but the TouchPad - it should give some serious insight into it's capabilities and shortcomings.
I hate to hear you got robbed. Some **** broke into my apt and stole my 50" plasma and laptop a couple of years ago. I wish I had a TouchPad then to get me through the tough time until I replaced my lappy.
Kids, remember to back your stuff up (thank god I did) and keep a copy off site if you can.
not to sound insensitive, but I'm impressed by the mirror setup to get a photo of your desk with the touchpad's front facing camera ;)
I feel your pain though, my car was broken into last week.
Get in contact with HP, tell them your story and your plans of living with only your touchpad. maybe they can make some type of advertisement out of it and would donate you a computer or something. ;)
hey, why not? its worth a shot. :)
they won't care.
They might. They may not know unless we tell them...
I think this frontpage article told them..
I would be very surprised if decision makers at HP even read what happens on pre-central.
I say this because we've been complaining for a new phone, we've been complaining for a slate phone for a long time.
People keep announcing that they can't wait anymore they are switching to android. You would think HP would see that and say "we better make an announcement so we stop losing more and more people to android."
If they came out today and said "The pre 3 will be available in August on Verizon and AT&T. We are still working with sprint to make this happen." This would put the brakes on people switching to android due to lack of announcements.
Trust me, the ones in charge of webOS are aware of Precentral and know the complaints.
HP has admitted they're not the best at PR on this much of a consumer level. They're learning.
From the interview: I will tell you, for HP broadly, this is a new mantra — if you will — of having a tethered relationship with an end consumer, and delivering innovation literally on a daily basis. My apologies from the get-go if we somewhat stumble and bumble early on in this process. It’s one of the reason we’ve got the butler service out there. To make those first 90 days as exceptional as we can. And we’re going to have a very high touch, intimate relationship with all of our customers. But we’re going to have to get used to how we communicate that this innovation is coming every day.
Plus Richard Kerris and others have posted here as well. So HP is aware of Precentral.
I think blackfireball5 has a great idea! I've never done a blog, but that may be the way to get the experience out there... Good luck to you, I do know this; since I've had my Touch Pad I have hardly touched my laptop at all. I do, however, use my desktop at work every day.
I actually work with HP. We are trying everything we can to see how we may be able to help Esteban out. I'm not sure how much we'll be able to help, but you better believe we're not going to leave him hangin :)
I pray that I never catch someone robbing me, because I will unreservedly and with full intent murder the mother-f***er. I loath and despise thieves. They're blood-sucking parasites and deserve to be extinguished.
I've had douchebags break into not one but two of my cars. The first time, they stole a mobile telephone (the huge kind that sits on your center console - this was a *long* time ago... :). The second time, they struck every car in my apartment complex overnight during a 2 foot blizzard (because they knew the snow would mask the sound). They didn't find anything of value in my car, and the snow kept them from stealing the car (they carved out part of the steering column, so I know they were trying to jack it), so they got revenge by turning the stereo up full blast (as if smashing my side window and carving up the steering column wasn't bad enough).
Attention thieves: you may think you're clever, but there is a god (hint: His name is God), and he *will* exact justice for your crimes. Life is fleeting, so justice will come upon you before you know it...
Sorry for your loss...
Yep, that's why there is a loaded shotgun next to my bed at all times. Never know when problems can arise and the police are usually no help.
"Ain't many problems that a man can't fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty-ought-six"
Is that a line from SpongeBob Squarepants?
If Jared got a spokesman gig out of eating Subways, why not. I fully agree. Hit them up and (possibly) turn a frown upside down.
I've been there and it's awful, I'm so sorry. Insurance is great but on things like dvd's and games they put the screws to you.
Good luck mate!
Sorry for your loss.
I haven't lost anything but my HDTV watches me as I play with my Touchpad, my PC barely gets used and my cellphones are back to being phones.
Just an FYI, if you have Dish Network you can watch certain movies and tv shows on the Touchpad for free at dishonline dot com. No Slingplayer or anything else needed. You can only watch what you subscribe to. Epix has over 1,000 movies online that I can watch on my Touchpad for free right in the browser. But some shows/movies require a browser plug-in that webOS does not support (hopefully, yet!)
Sorry for your loss. I have a macbook pro my work bought me. I found out these things go for $2000. it is not worth it at all.
First thing I did was wipe out OSX and installed Linux on it.
You can get better hardware in a $1000 toshiba or HP laptop.
I've had the opposite reaction to my MBP. Solid hardware, really nice UI (better than Windows' UI IMO), and a terminal that gives me almost all the power of Linux. Best mix I've used. Totally worth the cost for me.
dude, this is a good reason why you should cut webOS fans, especially the ones active in here, some slack. i'm not saying i agree (i like Windows), but if you feel it in your bones that the MacOSX is better than the Windows, then of all people you would know how we webOS fans feel. you must get ridiculed in certain circles about how some major "apps" aren't committed to the Mac platform and how Windows still has something like 85% of the market share. more often than not, first in market beats best in market. i'm not saying one desktop OS is better than the other; i'm saying it's all a matter of preference. a lot of the folks here love their webOS and shouldn't be belittled for it.
No, I'm not ridiculed in any of the circles in which I travel for using a Mac. I wasn't ridiculed when I used a Pre either...just ignored. I had been a Windows user since back when it ran as a UI on top of DOS (and still use it to this day). I did not convert to the Mac (for day-to-day stuff) until it proved that it can run the software I needed, when I needed it.
The Mac ecosystem is pretty solid and it's rare that I can't find an application that I need that is not available for it. In fact, for many of the development stuff that I do, I find Windows to be limiting, actually. In today's world of VM's, even windows specific software are now available with on the Mac. I'm doing some .NET development on my MBP today. Works fine.
I don't go for popular, I go for what works. My media center is Windows 7 because it is just better than anything the Mac or Linux has to offer. My personal servers are Linux based because I don't have the time to deal with Windows and it's quirks when I need remote/command line access. My powerhouse, day-to-day machine is a MacBook Pro. I use Android for my phone and iOS on my iPad 2. I use what works and don't care about "ridicule".
The Mac ain't perfect and I've been known in my circles to bash it heavily when needed (in fact, some of my colleagues were surprised to see me using a Mac because of how much I've bashed it). All OSes (including webOS) get the same treatment from me in terms of commenting.
And I continue to read and comment on these things (and more). Why should I cut *anyone any slack? I'm a fan of technology itself (as opposed to being a fan of a single product).
> Why should I cut *anyone any slack?
because that's what nice people do. just because you don't care about being ridiculed doesn't mean others don't care as well.
I think you just want to argue. I'll leave you to it AND I'll continue to post the way that *I* post. Feel free to continue posting your way.
Cheers.
dude, you're bashing hp/webOS/touchpad on "precentral" and you're saying "I" want to argue? how do you say it.... /smh
I know exactly what you feel like - though I was lucky enough that the thief left behind my desktop and one of those monitors. Stole my TiVo HD, my 42" plasma, a Core Duo laptop, and a few other things. It was two weeks before I was moving into a house I was buying, so I had not gotten renters insurance. Frankly, with the rent I was paying, I'm not sure I could have afforded it. The worst part? There was no break and entry - the most likely suspect three years on? My ex-landlord. It's a long and messy story.
That out of the way, take half the money you WOULD spend on replacing the MacBook Pro and buy yourself a nice Dell laptop - you'll still be able to afford something near the top of the line. Seriously, go look at the numbers. I'm not arguing religion, I'm arguing economics. Do your wallet a favor. The price premium on Apple's laptops is the definition of insanity. (Well, then you can look at those Pro model desktops of theirs, but I don't even bother since I'm not filthy rich.)
Ouch! Regrettably, I can also add myself to the 'been there before' list. The only word I've been able to use to properly describe it is 'violated'.
To echo an earlier comment -- hopefully this will be a good reminder for all of us to take lots of backups: including offsite/online copies if possible (I had my laptop AND backup drive stolen on the same day -- only business data I had remaining was in my pocket courtesy of my then in-use Palm T|X).
Esteban: all the best in getting your life back together -- hopefully quickly.
Well keep up the great work. Dont let this get you down
Just so people know there are other online Doc editing web apps. Try Zoho Writer it works on the Touchpad. Do not know if it will work with the bluetooth keyboard. There are known problems with the bluetooth keyboard and Google Docs.
Dang dude. Sorry for your loss. Keep your head up.
Craigslist: For Sale.. i'm moving and need to get rid of my Xbox360, flatscreen, macbook pro, PS3, and a sweet pair of headphones.
kidding aside(yes people post stolen things on craigslist ALL the time.
How did no one see anything? and 2 people having to make TWO Trips! There are no cctv cameras anywhere? across the street?
Maybe too early for jokes, but that was funny.
hope noone was able to access your laptop...thats always been my worry...the game console and tv are not as important...that said.....sorry for your loss dude :(
Sorry for your loss, but get an insurance...
This. And if buying the "luxury" items leaves you broke with no savings, stop buying them.
if you don't already have the Bluetooth Keyboard, that should be your first purchase (or maybe HP will send you one in exchange for the story...) it will give you much better typing and screen space :) Good Luck!
Sorry to hear about this type of intrusion. While you can replace everything you owned, the most upsetting part, I'm sure, was the invasion of your privacy and the disgusting remnants of that thief's fingerprints all over your house. I can't imagine the anger, probably more for the actual intrusion rather than for what you lost.
I'm a truck driver and my truck was broken into one time and the crack-head took a 13" black and white tv and tried to pry the stereo system out, but couldn't. The outrage that I experienced was not for the lost tv (obviously) but the perv went into my drawers and ransacked my clothing(everything personal) even dirty laundry. So, I did what most girls would do, I threw all my undergarments away!
Good luck and keep your head up because people who do this shouldn't take away from you your dignity and the fact that you are far better than them!
wow. :( Sorry for your loss!
Necessity is the mother of a great blog?
Tough Break though. It would have been an awesome experiment if the Touchpad was in the house at the time of the incident. I'm almost 100% willing to bet that they would have left it behind with a $50.00 bill and a sympathy note.
"Dear victim... we thought about it, but it's too thick and bulky....get something else!"
Reminds me of that best buy commercial where everything was stolen except from that old (8088-looking) computer.
Not that I consider the touchpad to be that...just reminded me of it.
hahahaha nice.
I don't mind the thickness, but nice on the price.
Sorry to hear this. It is terrible news.
I think its admirable that you took a bad situation and turned it around with your analysis on life with just a touchpad. I think HP would be very interested in it.
I think i'd be returning that Touchpad if possible and try to replace that computer.
i'd get all groomed up just in case HP comes calling with an idea for a commercial. you might just find your face in one of those touchpad commercials....
...they stole my tv, so i watch my shows here
...they stole my xbox, so i play my games here
...they stole my laptop, so i do all my emails and social networking here
....
Wish u the best with regaining your lost possessions.
Ok im sorry this is totally off topic but the thought of u purchasing another Apple product to replace your Macbook angered me. There are millions of die-hard Apple fans who brag and boast about everything Crapple. Specifically about their earnings per PC they sell. They make more off of one Mac then HP makes off of seven PC's. They were so proud the day that was published. WHY DO THEY NEED TO MAKE 7 times what the pc giant HP makes? How do they feel ok with that? At some point they had a meeting about how much they should make per Mac. Some1 asked should we double what HP makes per PC? And they looked at that guy and said **** nah we need to make seven times what they make cuz we're a bunch of greedy a*#holes and our ignorant **** fans will actually brag about paying 5 times what Apple would need to make a decent profit!
Why's this anger you? They charge what enough customers are willing to pay. You'd do the same.
You know what your right. They better get their money while they can because the I pad will not be number 1 forever and Webos will be to blame. Also those trolls are they same people at these tech sites that gave the Tp a bad review. Not because its inferior but because their threatened. I have the IPad 2 ( gave it to my 8 year old) and the Touchpad and any 1 who can honestly say the IPad is a better device is nuts. My opinion
If you don't like Apple products or think they are a bad deal, don't buy them then?
Just as it may surprise me or you how much some people love Apple or are zealous about their products, you are clearly just as angry against them.
They charge a lot because people will pay that much for their computers. If you don't want to buy a Mac, don't.
Not everyone is either a die-hard Apple fan or die-hard Apple hater (like yourself). Some people just buy the computers they like and are willing to pay for.
It seriously angers you that much that someone wants to buy a product you don't like...?
I wonder how angry you get when people fly first class instead of coach, or buy a Proche instead of a Honda or a $10M home instead of a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath family home...
...or a smartphone instead of a cheap/free feature phone.
I'm truly sorry to hear that you lost everything. I'd be devastated. I wish you the best. It will be interesting hearing your experiences of only using a TP though.
I'm also so sorry, and amazed at your positive attitude. You'll go far in life.
I'm always scared of something like this happening to me, too. Luckily my alarm system is my German Shepherds. Nothing like a living protector to judge when the situation is dangerous vs benign, and to bark quite loudly when necessary to deter any nefarious deed.
Again I'm sorry this happened to you but, "Life on WebOS only" really?
I dare you not to use home brew on it and i'm curious how long you can last.
Please write a follow up weeks from now and let us know how it went.
How is Homebrew not WebOS?
No wonder they stole your MacBook, Any free thinker on webOS should not be a Mac fanboy. Make ur next purchase a PC
Wiz-Out
You owned thousands of dollars worth of digital equipment and didn't have any insurance to cover it? I won't state the obvious... I feel no sympathy.
Thankful no one was home at the time? Must be a gun-free zone...
At least they left the guitar.
And perhaps the camera used to take that photo?
You seem to have a great attitude about the whole thing by turning this negative situation into a positive one. Best of luck to you!
Great Attitude.
I would definitely start a Blog, or twitter / facebook your experience, and let HP know you are doing this. Like eberyone else has said you never know. I think this would be a great "Reality" Ad campaign for HP. No one cares about Russell Brand, but someone who is able to live on only a TP is pretty awesome.
Sorry to hear about your loss. Insurance is cheap and key.
Good luck.
I have some old DVD players if you need one.
my sympathies, Esteban...
Sorry about your loss. Your loss has, however, reminded me to get my renters insurance that I have been putting off for so long! I hope everything works out for the best for you.