Editor's note: This is a forum member's opinion on the future of webOS that we thought would make for interesting discussion, especially now that HP is getting out of the webOS hardware business. What do you think? Discuss at the forum link below.

Android's got a lot of things wrong with it, there are IP concerns, privacy concerns, security and malware concerns, and it looks like the manufacturers were starting to feed on each other. I'm pretty sure the main motivation of buying Motorola was to prevent an Android manufacturer from collecting royalties from other Android manufacturers. That would have just killed Android and nobody would have had any confidence in Google protecting them. That also shows what precarious ground Android is in.

webOS for end users offers a lot that Android does - it's not Apple and it's not Microsoft, and it is Linux based, so more open than those two. It has a much better interface than Android as well, without any of the IP or privacy concerns either. It's also a good option for manufacturers if HP were to license it. Android is now questionable, as Motorola undoubtedly will get preferential treatment. Windows Phone isn't quite so certain either as there's less differentiation available, and everyone wonders about Nokia getting special deals. Obviously HP has the edge with webOS, but it makes more sense to diversify the portfolio to include Android, webOS and Windows Phone, so if any of them lose viability there's always something else to fall back on.

Forum discussion here.