ComputerWorld Canada’s third annual Blogging Idol contest drew to a close on Friday, but not before our 25 competitors logged more than 140 posts and almost 200 comments. Now, it’s off to the judges to award our prizes.
This week, a couple of our bloggers took opposing views on the purchase of venerable mobile device maker Palm Inc. by Hewlett-Packard Co.
“Kudos to Elevation Partners, the private equity firm who dodged a bullet when they unloaded their 40 per cent share of Palm in HP’s $1.2-billion buyout,” wrote Maurice Amzallag. “This investment was widely expected to go south, so a five per cent return over two years, a dud by any other standard, is considered quite the save. But will HP be able to make a better go of it?”
He doesn’t seem to think so: “A non-standard OS, weak experience with consumer electronics, and very powerful competitors mean that HP won’t be winning any popularity contests and may end up with a $1.2-billion slap in the face.”
Chris Lau‘s a little more hopeful. “Palm will fit in a niche area within HP that may let Palm thrive provided that: management encourages Palm to be nimble and responsive to competition, especially the competition from RIM (for business) and Apple and Google on the consumer end; (and) HP develops and promotes Palm Pre to small businesses (the unified contact feature is powerful – it’s just that no one really knows about it),” he blogged.
Ron Van Holst pondered why we blog. There are more reasons than the need to be heard, the need for a creative outlet, financial gain or an enhanced reputation for blogging: “Sometimes we believe we can make a difference. We want to leave our mark on the world and feel we have made a difference. If we wish to make a change in our society, it has never been easier to put your message out there. Getting a good reputation and following takes a lot of hard work, consistency, quality and relevance to what you are writing about. We all have subjects that we are passionate about, and it is built into the fibre of our being to improve our lot in life, and improve the lot of those around us that we care about.”
Just because the contest is over, doesn’t mean the platform will disappear. Our Blogging Idol site will continue to be updated, and we hope our contestants will continue to contibute.
Thanks to all our bloggers, and see you at the wrap party.