The ink on the Palm purchase paperwork is barely dry, and there’s been nothing but problems over at HP.

First, CEO Mark Hurd announces that HP didn’t buy Palm to get into the smartphone business.

Then, CEO Mark Hurd announces that actually, they might have bought Palm to remain in the smartphone market. Kind of.

As if all that wasn’t bad enough, then CEO Mark Hurd gets ousted from HP for questionable expense practices and liaisons with a soft core porn actress.

If this all sounds a little bit “Days Uf Our Lives”, the latest news is a little more down to earth.

Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO and general silicon valley know-it-all emailed the Times to tell them HP firing Mark Hurd is equivalent to Apple firing Steve Jobs back in the 90s.

Finally, the icing on the cake is that Peter Skillman, the man responsible for the Palm Pre’s design is leaving Palm after eleven years with the company.

These two companies have so much potential, yet together they don’t seem to be able to create anything but a couple of page two news headlines.

If only we could expect an HP branded Web OS smartphone device to brighten the outlook..