I remember with fondness the heyday of Palm. My first Palm handheld, a PalmPilot, transformed my life and my career. It helped me become more organized and effective. When I discovered AvantGo, my Palm became a portal to a world of information. I spent many a lunch reading tech and other news on my Palm between bites of tuna or turkey (and sometimes pizza).
When my PalmPilot became dated, I briefly moved up to the revolutionary Palm VII. This Palm device connected to a wireless data network run by Palm. It could access e-mail, maps, stock prices and other information whenever you needed it. I remember being in upstate New York and finding a restaurant, complete with directions and a map, through the device. It was amazing. The Palm VII used little applets which performed specific functions — displaying a map, stock, etc. They were efficient, but designed for a Palm’s low-bandwidth network, not the world of the Web.
My next Palm wasn’t a Palm — it was a Sony Clie running the PalmOS. I bought it because the high-resolution color screen looked gorgeous. It wasn’t a connected device, but it came with very cool multimedia features such as an MP3 and video player. For about two years, along with the Clie I used a Treo (an early flip-phone model). I know the Treo was supposed to be an all-in-one device, but I kept my schedule and MP3s on the Clie and used the Treo for phone calls and Web browsing. The Treo broke after two years, but Clie ran reliably for years.
The last Palm device I purchased was a Palm T|X. It had an even better screen than the Clie — finally occupying nearly the full size of the device — and included all the multimedia features of the Clie, plus WiFi for Web browsing. I still use it, though the screen is scratched (a common weakness for this device) and that’s made it a bit frustrating to use.
I’m relating all of this because, after my Palm T|X, I couldn’t find any device from Palm worth buying. I don’t really like the form factor of the Blackberry-style Treos. Lot’s of people like that design, but I’m not one of them.
When I saw my first iPhone, I thought “That’s the device Palm should have made!” I know a lot of people had the same thought. Many of the apps on the iPhone reminded me of the PalmVII applets.
Palm seemed to be paying the price for its lack of vision. The company faltered, promising great things when its new OS debuted. Many of us had given up hope that Palm, a company which had genuinely transformed our lives, would ever play an important role in the industry again.
I must admit that I have not yet seen a Pr? up-close, but from the product demos I’ve seen on the web and from news reports it looks promising.
I believe smart phones are about to hit the mainstream. Already we’re seeing “amost smartphones” like my Samsung Instinct becoming popular. But these phones are limited in what they can do. How long will it be before they want more? Better e-mail, better multimedia, better calendar, better notes, better applications?
Enter the Pre. I can’t wait to see one up close. I may never buy an iPhone (an iPod Touch meets all my needs), but I’ll probably buy a Pre or other WebOS (Palm’s new OS, finally coming to market) device. I’ve heard the Pre is just the first of Palm’s next-generation devices, and future releases will be even more amazing.
Is Palm back? Have they got the vision to regain their old leadership position? We’ll see.
I, for one, hope so, but I’ll be watching.
