Here's a famous quote that sums up the reaction to yesterday's surprise announcement by HP to stop supporting webOS, and, by extension, the TouchPad tablet, as well as get out of the PC business, courtesy of the classic 1968 film, The Planet of the Apes: "YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! OH, DAMN YOU! GODDAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!". We all knew that Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Apotheker was a software guy, we just didn't realize that meant he'd pull the rug out from under consumers and do a dramatic IBM-style business shift. At least we can still buy their printers, right? ... Anyone?

This affects me personally, because I was working on TouchPad For Dummies, which would have been my third book for 2011, to go along with the recently released, Motorola ATRIX For Dummies, and the upcoming, My Xbox: Kinect, Xbox 360, and Xbox LIVE. While these events are much bigger than me and others will be affected far more dramatically, I thought I would still give my personal impressions, starting first with a little background on the book stuff, some discussion of the TouchPad itself, and then get a bit more into an analysis of the present situation within the industry.

My co-author and best selling Dummies author Dan Gookin discusses the Motrola ATRIX 4G and our soon-to-be-released book from Wiley, Motorola ATRIX For Dummies:

Motorola Atrix 4G LapdockI'll be able to reveal more details shortly, but I'll most likely be working on a Motorola Atrix 4G book very soon. As such, I'd love to hear from owners of the platform out there, including your good and bad experiences, what you think of the various docks - including the unique Lapdock that turns the phone into a laptop - etc. Since the phone runs Android 2.2, if you own a different device that runs that OS, I'd also love to hear about your experiences as well. Sound off in the comments below, or, if you'd prefer, send me a private e-mail. Thanks!

Click here to go to the Armchair Arcade product page for Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time (2009) by Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton.