At 11:17 PM +0200 08/7/00, Bradly J. Barton wrote:
>Yes, to continue that conversation.. I said "I don't know". When asked
>again, I had to tell them what Palm told us here on this forum. The new
>devices are a rumor, and should be treated as such. Since most rumors prove
>to be false and with a lack of support from Palm, I had to tell the customer
>that it looked like they (ZDNet) got the story wrong.
Well, there's your problem! You made an "educated guess" about the validity of a
rumor, and you were wrong. Palm cannot (and will not) take responsibility for your
error. Next time, don't interpret.
Palm does not and will not confirm *or deny* any rumors about unannounced products.
On the other hand, we're generally very good about bringing developers into the loop
very early on new OS developments. The way we look at it is you should be developing
for the entire platform, and so you need to know about platform changes early. If
you're doing a device-specific solution, then you've got to wait for the device
details like everyone else.
As to why, the only reason I can offer is that leaks about new devices can be very
damaging to ongoing projects and sales. As you noticed. These leaks hurt everyone.
If Palm put the developers 'in the know' about new device releases early, that would
perhaps help their businesses. Especially as it concerns development for longer term
projects. But it would cost more in terms of immediate sales, and also in terms of
putting projects "on hold" while we waited for announcements. So we don't do that,
and I think that's the best strategy for all concerned.
If you want to avoid looking silly in the future, use the same "cannot comment on
rumors" line. Then your customers will perhaps draw the conclusion that you do know
something, but won't tell them for reasons of integrity. :-)
--Bob
________________________________________________________________________
Bob Ebert, Consulting Engineer, Palm Computing Europe V: +33 4 9952.4354
77 rue Samuel Morse, 34935 Montpellier Cedex 9 France F: +33 4 9952.4397
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