gdgt

I think Palm's been doing a lot to kill itself by not paying attention to the developer community. I just got an email *yesterday* about them "heading towards the public launch of the Palm webOS Developer Program." I think at this point, they've just dragged their feet too long to ever catch up with Android or iPhoneOS. Which is a shame, because I think WebOS is the nicest UI of the lot.

And now, back to badgering my wife to let me get a DROID... ;-)

I agree with your overall points, but I am still routing for the Pre. My biggest worry is that it will never be supported and die too soon just because it doesn't have the following. That support will go away because not enough people have it and the only way to expand mobile devices nowadays is through apps. No apps for the Pre = no developer support. Really hoping that doesn't happen. I really like my Pre!

They've actually exceeded their public sales estimates, so I'm not sure why you are so confident that the Pre has failed to meet Palm's expectations. Last quarter's sales were about 20% higher than analysts had predicted, so there's no surprise there either. The SDK was available for download far earlier than promised, and their app store has gone from under 100 titles to nearly 400 in the past 6 weeks. Seems like a very odd time to throw in the towel since the Pre has consistently expectations.

The other point is something pointed out on the Engadget podcast-- the Droid is a geek's phone. More geeks will own Droids, no doubt, and probably more gdgt fans. That's the target. The Pre's aim is broader and shallower, the Pixi broader still. Which one is going to appeal to the 90% of mobile phone users that have never heard of gdgt or Engadget-- the 6 ounce behemoth that is the Droid or the svelte 3.5 ounce Pixi that's as light as most feature phones?

Strange time to be shoveling dirt on Palm's grave-- since about March, the trajectory of the WebOS launch has been clear, and Palm has met all their goals. Sales exceeded first quarter estimates, the Pre is far & away the top Sprint phone, accounting for as large a share of Sprint customers as the iPhone does for AT&T. They launched internationally before summer was out, Europe in the fall. The Pixi is hitting the market only 5 months after the Pre. And they will launch on additional carriers next year. The SDK has been available earlier than promised. They are going to have the best-yet approach for an app store-- a walled garden that want to make sure their apps meet Palm's quality standards, and a free-for-all for the rest of us. They've engaged the developer community and have ENCOURAGED the Homebrew scene on PreCentral and elsewhere.

But hey, if there are better phones for you, go for it. But this notion that Palm has failed because the Droid is a better geek's device is downright silly.

Peter,

I think you miss the mark on a lot of things. Your being a little to quick to judge. Remember with whats looking to be the two big dogs in consumer space (Apple, and google, I see RIM as bigger in Corporate), their first models were horrible, full of bugs and needed a lot of refinement. It took a year before Apple even started letting developers build apps (and still beats them with a stick when they do). Considering that the phone has ONLY been out for 5 months and is in the process of building its developers base, I think they are moving themselves into what could be a strong position (I'm not saying they've knocked this out of the park like you accused jakerome).

5 months after the G1 was launched, I remember looking at that operating system and thinking how much it sucked and wasn't ready. If you notice it took a year for other cell phone makers to want to jump on the band wagon. Why did it take a year? because the operating system had to build its developer base and work out the tweaks of the OS.

Now go to 5 months from the launch of the Web OS, granted there are still some tweaks that need to be worked out, but you have 2 levels of the phone out, with 3 OS updates already pushed out into the world and (by my best guess) a 4th OS update coming next month in December (remember palm is allowing developers to sell outside of the apps store, this will take a OS update to achieve). My prediction is earlier January or February palm will be at other providers with the Pre and 5 months after that with the Pixi (lets go back to history real quick and notice how Palm has 6 month exclusivity deals before selling with other providers).

This game is a chess match and Palm is still positioning its pieces to make its piece of the pie. Its still going to take some work, but I think they will be holding a strong position this time next year. My prediction is also going to be Palm releasing a 4g pre with a 16gb and 8gb model to pick from. If they are taking a page out of the IPhone playbook, considering they have some big talent from apple, then I don't think I'm too far off with my prediction. More Palm models will mean more revenue and larger market share. You can take them off your wish list Peter, but you might be putting it back on next year.

the one thing i loved about the Pre was it;s new multitasking feature. Now if Apple could combine that feature on the Iphone, it would be a great hit.

If only I had such power!

I think this is just one of those sad cases of a company turning itself around too late. If they had started a year earlier they would probably be in great shape right now, the rest of the market is moving too quickly these days.

Honestly, I think only being on Sprint is killing Palm.

PALM is killing PALM, with every wrong move and every foot drag. I'm saddened.

I did the same thing, but couldn't wait. I just a week ago maybe moved the pre from have to had. It is a great OS, and I had high hopes, but I became less and less able to convince myself that it would acheive the same quality as iPhone. Dragging is still choppy (UI), the apps are all 3rd party or don't exist (facebook, flickr, yammer etc), and most of the web apps like gmail, latitude etc just don't work.

It was a hard move, but I feel like there was some sort of inflection point about 3 weeks ago. Not sure what it was though, but the mood on the web seemed to change.

agreed, Palm HAS to get onto other networks, whether it's truthful or not Sprint has a reputation that people aren't going to switch for. I love the look of webOS better than Android even HTC's sense ui, yeah Android is more open, but it's no amazing (app)store full of toys either, my roommate and girlfriend got Droids this week, they like their phones and love their network but both are disappointed by the lack of "iphone apps" on the droid, seems like regular folk don't "get it", they dont know enough to know that smartphones are & aren;t like computers, you have to watch your battery usage like it was a laptop, but your apps are gonna depend on whether you are a "mac or pc".

personally I'd love a Pixi with wifi on a GSM carrier, sounds like a lot of people would, more than a gsm Pre, c'mon Palm don't let us down, we are cheering for you, we just aren't gonna switch to Sprint for you.