Palm and Apple actually are a lot alike, if you think about it. Garnet is basically Palm's Mac OS 9 - a minority of users (including myself) feel that it is more usable than Windows, but it is missing many modern features and looks and feels dated. Tellingly, Palm is switching to a Unix-based solution, just as Apple did.
You could even make the case that the Centro is Palm's iMac G3. Both products provided a much-needed success to (hopefully) hold its parent company afloat until the next-generation operating system was ready. Both products established a "consumer" brand to sit alongside a professional brand (Power Mac and Treo). Both products are even known for coming in a multitude of colors, unusual for products in their respective market segments.
The thing is, I'm not sure if Palm will survive. Palm doesn't have a Steve Jobs. Apple was able to base OS X on NeXTSTEP, but Palm seems intent on building its next OS from the ground up (um, hello, Android?), and time is running out. Many Palm users (including myself) who like Palm OS for its usability are finding the iPhone more usable still, and as the iPhone OS develops into a true smartphone platform (third party apps!) the smartphone space will just get that much more crowded.
So what has Palm done to stay ahead? The Centro has been a success, especially with people who have never considered a Palm device before, largely due to its "non-smartphone" size, price, and feel. So that's good, right? But, at the same time, the Centro is almost identical to the Treo 750 at a third the price. Who but the most spendthrifty corporations are going to pay three times as much for an extra quarter inch of screen?
Luckily, they're updating the Treo, but I'm not sure if it's enough. The Treo 800 seems more competitive with the BlackBerry 8000 series (and I'm being generous at that) than the shiny new BlackBerry 9000. They've launched a thinner, non-touchscreen version of the Treo, the HTC-sourced Treo 500, in Europe, but even that seems unlikely to win any converts from the sleeker BlackBerries. (Continuing our Apple comparison, the Treo 500 would be the, um, Power Mac G4 Cube.)
What I'm trying to say is, Palm needs to do something big. Rehashing the Treo design for several more years is not going to cut it in this age of iPhones and BlackBerry Bolds. The Centro bought them some much-needed time, but it also devalued their higher-end products - the Treos just don't seem price competitive any more, if they ever really did. They don't just need an entirely new OS - they need an entirely new phone platform, and I'm not sure if they can deliver that in time.
The odd thing is, for *years* the Palm faithful have been begging for something Palm practically already makes: a Palm TX, only with a built-in phone. The TX is thinner than any US-market Treo (not sure about the Treo 500), it's made out of metal, and it replaces the keyboard with a larger screen. Throw a prettier home screen on there, and it's more of an iPhone competitor than any other "iPhone killer" released to date. It even has Wi-Fi, which the Treos are just now getting, and it makes the Treo and Centro feel like the cheap, plastic, bloated phones they are. Why Palm did not have something like that for sale *years* ago (or at least since the iPhone was announced) is beyond me. It might be more profitable in the short term to sell ancient hardware at premium prices, but that does not a valid long term strategy make.
With the current available hardware, if Palm managed to put their new "wonder, iphone-ish" OS on a Palm TX equipped with a slide-out vertical keypad, they would be making many dreams come true.
There may be some similarities between Palm and Apple, but I don't think Palm is going to rise up again like Apple did. It's just too late. FAR too late. They're literally using the same OS they've been using since 2004 (a little earlier actually) just outfitted with a few hacks to support the new hardware. I LOVED my T3 (hence the name -- though the slider is probably the worst feature) when it came out, but the sad part is that Palm hasn't released a single device that's better-spec'd than that old T3 I got in 2004. The TX has more storage space (NAND Flash) but less dynamic heap, which actually allowed it to run worse than the T3 (yep, my T3 plays Doom just fine -- Hexen, too, because of its large dynamic heap). There have been rumours of Palm releasing a Linux-based OS for YEARS now, and it's too little too late. Too many people -- especially developers -- have jumped ship to Windows Mobile (and now the iPhone), and I don't think anything Palm does can bring them back. I love Linux -- and I *really* wanted a Linux-based Palm (anyone who loves the iPhone interface needs to realize that it was invented LONG ago and used in many of Palm's devices -- multitouch was just the new addition that lessened taps/keystrokes. That's one thing that Palm OS Garnet [and older] had over Windows Mobile), but it never came. I jumped ship and bought a Sharp Zaurus, which is basically the perfect device for me (640x480 display, touchscreen, excellent keyboard, the easiest device in the world to flash yet impossible to brick, and Linux -- REAL Linux, not hidden from the user) -- I just wish it had WiFi (and maybe was a little thinner).
Anything Palm releases now will just be lost among the many other devices that are equal or better. If they had released it before the iPhone they may have had a chance, but I really doubt they're going to get enough of the iPhone-drones to cross over to a Palm device now.
Well said! As one of the Palm faithful, I couldn't agree with you more. I finally purchased a new Palm T|X (waiting for it to be delivered) and I couldn't help but think of the same thing you wrote. Simply add a phone function to the T|X and you have an iPhone killer.
Sure, keep the Centro rolling, but bring out a Treo T|X iPhone killer! Palm is sooooooooooo close!
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Palm and Apple actually are a lot alike, if you think about it. Garnet is basically Palm's Mac OS 9 - a minority of users (including myself) feel that it is more usable than Windows, but it is missing many modern features and looks and feels dated. Tellingly, Palm is switching to a Unix-based solution, just as Apple did.
You could even make the case that the Centro is Palm's iMac G3. Both products provided a much-needed success to (hopefully) hold its parent company afloat until the next-generation operating system was ready. Both products established a "consumer" brand to sit alongside a professional brand (Power Mac and Treo). Both products are even known for coming in a multitude of colors, unusual for products in their respective market segments.
The thing is, I'm not sure if Palm will survive. Palm doesn't have a Steve Jobs. Apple was able to base OS X on NeXTSTEP, but Palm seems intent on building its next OS from the ground up (um, hello, Android?), and time is running out. Many Palm users (including myself) who like Palm OS for its usability are finding the iPhone more usable still, and as the iPhone OS develops into a true smartphone platform (third party apps!) the smartphone space will just get that much more crowded.
So what has Palm done to stay ahead? The Centro has been a success, especially with people who have never considered a Palm device before, largely due to its "non-smartphone" size, price, and feel. So that's good, right? But, at the same time, the Centro is almost identical to the Treo 750 at a third the price. Who but the most spendthrifty corporations are going to pay three times as much for an extra quarter inch of screen?
Luckily, they're updating the Treo, but I'm not sure if it's enough. The Treo 800 seems more competitive with the BlackBerry 8000 series (and I'm being generous at that) than the shiny new BlackBerry 9000. They've launched a thinner, non-touchscreen version of the Treo, the HTC-sourced Treo 500, in Europe, but even that seems unlikely to win any converts from the sleeker BlackBerries. (Continuing our Apple comparison, the Treo 500 would be the, um, Power Mac G4 Cube.)
What I'm trying to say is, Palm needs to do something big. Rehashing the Treo design for several more years is not going to cut it in this age of iPhones and BlackBerry Bolds. The Centro bought them some much-needed time, but it also devalued their higher-end products - the Treos just don't seem price competitive any more, if they ever really did. They don't just need an entirely new OS - they need an entirely new phone platform, and I'm not sure if they can deliver that in time.
The odd thing is, for *years* the Palm faithful have been begging for something Palm practically already makes: a Palm TX, only with a built-in phone. The TX is thinner than any US-market Treo (not sure about the Treo 500), it's made out of metal, and it replaces the keyboard with a larger screen. Throw a prettier home screen on there, and it's more of an iPhone competitor than any other "iPhone killer" released to date. It even has Wi-Fi, which the Treos are just now getting, and it makes the Treo and Centro feel like the cheap, plastic, bloated phones they are. Why Palm did not have something like that for sale *years* ago (or at least since the iPhone was announced) is beyond me. It might be more profitable in the short term to sell ancient hardware at premium prices, but that does not a valid long term strategy make.
V. TRUE.
With the current available hardware, if Palm managed to put their new "wonder, iphone-ish" OS on a Palm TX equipped with a slide-out vertical keypad, they would be making many dreams come true.
longest reply ever..
There may be some similarities between Palm and Apple, but I don't think Palm is going to rise up again like Apple did. It's just too late. FAR too late. They're literally using the same OS they've been using since 2004 (a little earlier actually) just outfitted with a few hacks to support the new hardware. I LOVED my T3 (hence the name -- though the slider is probably the worst feature) when it came out, but the sad part is that Palm hasn't released a single device that's better-spec'd than that old T3 I got in 2004. The TX has more storage space (NAND Flash) but less dynamic heap, which actually allowed it to run worse than the T3 (yep, my T3 plays Doom just fine -- Hexen, too, because of its large dynamic heap). There have been rumours of Palm releasing a Linux-based OS for YEARS now, and it's too little too late. Too many people -- especially developers -- have jumped ship to Windows Mobile (and now the iPhone), and I don't think anything Palm does can bring them back. I love Linux -- and I *really* wanted a Linux-based Palm (anyone who loves the iPhone interface needs to realize that it was invented LONG ago and used in many of Palm's devices -- multitouch was just the new addition that lessened taps/keystrokes. That's one thing that Palm OS Garnet [and older] had over Windows Mobile), but it never came. I jumped ship and bought a Sharp Zaurus, which is basically the perfect device for me (640x480 display, touchscreen, excellent keyboard, the easiest device in the world to flash yet impossible to brick, and Linux -- REAL Linux, not hidden from the user) -- I just wish it had WiFi (and maybe was a little thinner).
Anything Palm releases now will just be lost among the many other devices that are equal or better. If they had released it before the iPhone they may have had a chance, but I really doubt they're going to get enough of the iPhone-drones to cross over to a Palm device now.
Sorry Palm -- too slow.
Well said! As one of the Palm faithful, I couldn't agree with you more. I finally purchased a new Palm T|X (waiting for it to be delivered) and I couldn't help but think of the same thing you wrote. Simply add a phone function to the T|X and you have an iPhone killer.
Sure, keep the Centro rolling, but bring out a Treo T|X iPhone killer! Palm is sooooooooooo close!