Palm would do itself a huge favor by trusting it's developers, retailers, etc. enough
to let them in on the company plans. Apple does this all the time- they make them
sign non-disclosure agreements and give them ample time to make any changes to their
strategies before the products come out. Maybe palm is just more liberal with
manufacturers than developers, which I think is ridiculous. If
you look at Palm's webpage for their new products, they have Palm Glove cases
available, which are made by Body Glove (i think). if that's the case, then Body
Glove surely had to have ample notice, certainly more than developers. The point is
that developers shouldn't have to exercise good or bad judgement in response to
rumors. Rumors should be left to the consumer community, developers
should be treated as insiders- as people on the same team as Palm. When Palm has
solid plans to release new products, they should tell developers about them, plain and
simple. Palm should trust it's developers, we all want Palm to succeed.
Kevin
Bob Ebert wrote:
> 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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