The TouchPad tablet from Hewlett-Packard was one of the most closely watched new gadgets of 2011 - and quickly turned out to be the year's biggest flop. The TouchPad, which was supposed to be a rival to Apple's iPad, lasted just seven weeks on the market before H.P. killed it, citing weak sales. Analysts point to a long list of factors behind the tablet's quick demise. But some of the people involved in creating the tablet's core software now say the product barely had a fighting chance. That software is called WebOS, an operating system built on the same technology used by many Web browsers. It promised to be more flexible and open than Apple's tightly controlled iOS software, and more beautiful than Google's sometimes wonky Android system.