I’m far from a gadget-hound, but I’m insanely excited about the new Palm Pre. I’ve resisted the many and varied lures of the iPhone, the Blackberry, and the Android (don’t even mention Windows Mobile to me, thanks) — but I’m volunteering to shower my hard-earned cash on Palm. Why?
* Users are super loyal to their favored input devices; aka You can pry my thumbpad from my cold, dead hands.
* Screw AT&T in all its manifestations. That is one brand I have bad blood with, going back a long way. I trust Sprint a whole lot more on the 3G front.
* Hello, Hersheys? The iPhone is like holding a foil-wrapped chocolate bar up to your head to take a call. The Pre looks more like holding a bar of soap to your head.
* Linux core. Given that my last Palm lost its IM client (which I paid money for!) after a year or so, I would like to think the OS would make it easier for Open Source to pick up the slack on apps.
* Apps are allegedly going to be pure DHTML. People who haven’t developed an iPhone app (or paid for one to be developed) do not realize the import of this fact.
I should probably also confess that one of our friends is in charge of the software stack on this new Palm phone. I think that factor has minimal sway with me right now, but full disclosure whatever. I still think it’s an awesome addition to the Palm legacy, and I’ve been a fairly loyal customer for quite a while now.
Fishy thoughts 