Roger McNamee's wild predictions shot down -- by Palm itself
By Tim Stevens 
posted Mar 10th 2009 7:12AM
posted Mar 10th 2009 7:12AM
The statement in the second paragraph of the article that "not one" person who bought an Apple, Inc. iPhone on the first shipment date "will still be using an iPhone a month" after the two-year anniversary of that day is an exaggerated prediction of consumer behavior pattern and is withdrawn.It's good to know that, even in these tough times, there's still some comedy left in the corporate world. More boardroom humor after the break.
[Via Palm Infocenter]
With respect to the statements in the tenth paragraph of the transcript that the Palm Pre is "going to be a million times – well, not a million times – several times faster" than Apple, Inc.'s iPhone products and is "going to run rings around them on the web," the Palm Pre is still under development and it is premature to state the speed at which the device accesses the web or the relative speed of the Palm Pre compared to the smartphone products of competitors.
Where were these guys when Creative made the Zii sound like the second coming?
So when is this thing supposed to be released?
probably right after Apple announces an iPhone that trumps it [the Pre] in most ways.
He merely said that iphone users coming off contract would basically jump to another phone a month later. While exaggerated, a lot of people do upgrade after contract. And he didn't say they'd go to the Pre. Amazing how the media turns and twists things out of context. He's been pretty complimentary of competitors.
The rest of his comments were pretty close. McNamee is fun to listen to. His enthusiasm is great.
Palm is just covering themselves as well as preparing for a sell of stock.
So, you didn't read what he wrote. It was outrageously stupid. Nobody believed him, especially when they realized he's a big stakeholder in Palm stock. But apologetics will not wash the stain on his credibility off so easily when they were so blatant and outrageous. Yes, he said every iPhone user whose contract expires in July would switch to the Pre. You can't white wash such a ludicrous claim with excuses.
Like cmil1212 said, while McNamee does get a bit over-excited at times, his comments have been twisted by many in the media because a sensationalistic headline like "death of the iPhone" gets more attention.
McNamee is what many of us are: tech geeks who love great technology. One difference: He has put his money where his mouth is, and quite a bit of it. If I invested hundreds of millions of my money in a very impressive piece of technology like the Pre, something tells me I may think its pretty F'ing cool too.
Besides, do we really think people haven't been over the top in their ridiculous praise for *other* phones?
...the zii cant be the second coming engadget...
...you have already given steve jobs that position...
...the zii is more like thor...
...a NON-pansy deity...
Dude, I think the period key on your keyboard is stuck.
His period key isn't stuck... He is Sven Vollstag!!!
If you don't know him, you obviously don't go on enough forums, he also goes by the name "ramakandra".
http://geeks.pirillo.com/profile/ramakandra
McNamee promised a lot more than that - his CES videos are pretty much the same...:faster than any other device on the web".
Perhaps Palm should watch all of his videos and prepare a stack of "FWPs".
Roger McNamee should be careful. If the Pre fails to deliver on what he promises then it's going to get a mauling in the press.
Wrong or right it would be worth it. I'd rather go all out for something I believe in. As unrealistic as it may seem to some, imagine if he's right.
Like he gives a damn. Do you know how much money he has?
He looks like Max Weinberg...
So how much shit talk exactly is enough for Palm?
At least he's cut his hair.
Ponytail.
Every time I see this guy I hear "SHARON!"
I keep seeing people mocking McNamee for his hair. Trust me, he was well aware that it looked horrible, but there was a reason for it:
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20090122/obama-wins-roger-mcnamee-loses-his-hair/
The takeaway from the article: Roger McNamee was not cutting his hair in protest of the Bush Administration and its policies. After Obama was elected, McNamee cut it all off (about 14 inches) and donated it to Locks of Love, an organization that creates hairpieces for sick children with cancer and similar diseases.
Hmm... A millionaire techie with principles, passion, child-like excitement, artistic talent, compassion, and a dislike of the Bush administration...
We could use more people like McNamee in this world.
Everybody knows that he said that cause he throw $400 million at palm. I'll tell you this much, if the Pre is not fully cook before it's release his gonna be a pretty broke hairy poppy, Palm has no room for error this time.
Palm probably needs to do this in order to cover their ass from bloodsucking scumbag lawyers who will try to use these claims against them once the pre is launched and Palms stock price doesn't go through the roof. These bottom feeders will claim that this rhetoric was part of a pump n dump scam or some other such BS. See wired 4.11 for more details.
As I said earlier, this guy will eat his words. Pre has been killed while in the womb, like watchmen scene. iPhone has Steve jobs n palm has this guy. Palm might lock him away till after release date. Can't wait to see if breaks zero to 1 million 72 hour record. Wouldn't that be something,,,???can it,? Will it??I guarantee u it will not,. They already have wrong marketing formula . Seems I'll have to stick with my iPhone 3g.
Say what you will about McNamee, he is tops for entertainment.
Palm is protecting themselves with their statement.
Personally, I want to put Palm's team (or single person?) that wrote this statement in the same room as McNamee. It would be so much fun to see the absolute contrast.
Either his enthusiasm is gonna be sapped, or he will win them over. Who will win? :)
'Boardroom' humor? I see what you did there.....
Apparently McNamee simply wants to challenge Ballmer as "King of Talking Stupid About the iPhone."
A valiant attempt, McNamee, but you need the classic faux chuckle and subsequent sneer of Sweaty Ballmer before you can unseat him from his throne.
McNamee is doing his job - getting publicity about the Palm Pre so that the public talks about it. And sure enough, we are.