Dear HP webOS,

When I first met you, you took my breath away. I fell in love with you at first sight. The way you multitasked was so elegant and simple, and back then, no other mobile OS could even multitask at all. Your notifications were so polite and beautiful; you never interrupted me or nagged me. Your Touchstone wireless charger was so much fun, and the fact that you had a hardware keyboard and a touch screen was just so sexy. Our relationship was so easy. I never had to share you with a computer; you just downloaded all of your updates over the air. You kept track of everything on Google and Facebook and pulled it all together with Synergy, and you never made me synchronize you. You took care of everything in the background, and I could just enjoy quality spending time with you.

When we got together, I was just getting out of the relationship with your older sister, Palm OS, and you were there to help me through the pain of the break up. I had flirted with iOS (she just called herself iPhone OS back then) before you and I got together, but I missed being around your folks so much that being with you just felt natural. Even though a lot of my friends gave me a hard time because you didn’t do as much as iOS and Android did, you were learning so much, so fast.  It seemed like we were only together a few months, and you already had video recording and you had 3D games.

However, I think I may have rushed into this relationship too fast, and forgot to get to know you first. We should have taken our time. For example, I thought that you would support Palm OS and me still being friends, but it wasn’t too long before you insisted that we never speak again. I thought that you told me that you would support full document editing at launch, but here we are over two years later, and you still can’t even edit a spreadsheet.

For several months now, I’ve felt us growing farther and farther apart. I don’t blame you for what happened. I think it was one of those things where we drifted apart for all sorts of reasons, including your near bankruptcy, the merger with HP, and the pressure of supporting you through your various crises.

Maybe I’m a fool for leaving you, especially now, but I just need some time to find myself. I know that you are on the verge of some major breakthroughs. You keep telling me that you are going to change “in the coming months” and now “in the coming weeks.” Honestly though, I am afraid that you aren’t really going to change, because the way you have talked about how you are going to change doesn’t instill confidence. It just sounds like the puffed up bravado you’ve given me in the past. Ultimately, you made me promises that you didn’t keep, and I think that’s what hurt me the most. Some people have acted like that it shouldn’t bother me, and told me that, ultimately, it was the right decision for you to make, but it still makes it hard to trust you.

I think we both know this hasn’t been working out. It’s been over a while now, and last weekend I ‘moved-on’. I need to tell you that someone from my past, iOS, has come back into my life. I knew her years ago but there were so many things that interfered with her and I having a relationship that could not be overcome, but that has passed and although she is still not perfect, she and I are making another attempt. We were at the Apple store, and well, one thing lead to another and she ended up coming home with me.

I think that we’ll be better off apart than we were together. You don’t need me. I know you have a lot of friend who are supporting you now, and I know you’ll find someone else. I loved you more than I probably will ever love another mobile OS. If things don’t work out with iOS, maybe we’ll be together again someday, if it’s our fate. Either way, I hope we can still be friends. My contract doesn’t run out for another few months, so I’d still like to hang out with you from time to time. Also, I still have a lot of stuff I need to get from your place, and move over to iOS’s.

Again, I really am sorry. I wish we could have made this work.

Goodbye webOS.

– Ray

P.S. I’m sorry I had to do this in writing instead of in person, but at least I didn’t just leave you a Post-it note, right?