Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar.
Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!
Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets.
Some to the common pulpits, and cry out
"Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!"
Well, not really in this case! Google being in charge of anything
scares the hell out of me, and I'm no countercultural conspiracy
theorist. I keep very good track of my stuff, and don't really want
Google doing that for me, thank you very much! I know that
[EMAIL PROTECTED] has gotten past that barrier; I haven't!!
In addition, I use Palm not because it's NOT MICROSOFT, but because it's
better. I suspect as long as Palm can be better, it will survive. I
for one use Google tools quite a lot - daily in fact - but find their
user interfaces amateurish at best - awkward and counterproductive at
worst. Brilliant ideas poorly implemented is what continues to drive me
toward and away from the WinCE derivative devices (and nearly all
hardware made by Belkin). Google is in that mold. I really can't see a
Google phone being any more productive (remember, that's WHY we carry
these, right?!?!) than the products of Microsoft. They just don't pay
enough attention to making the UI efficient in any of their products.
Just look at the main Google page if you want evidence of this: see how
many clicks it takes to get to Blogger, or Documents, or Groups? And
this from a nearly EMPTY PAGE! Anyway, if Palm falls, I'll likely be a
RIM customer once the keys fall off my last Palm device. Research in
Motion seems to be following a very Palm-like road from a UI point of
view, minus the touch screen. No idea if they can do wifi or "real"
multitasking, or whether they'll build a Linux box and play nice with
Google. But nobody seems really to care about that, do they?
And I don't say this out of ignorance -- I've bought iPaqs, Moguls, a
Blackberry or two, and a few other odds and ends. Always it comes back
to Palm for the best overall package (manifested right now in the
Centro). If Palm hadn't enhanced Versamail to the point where it is on
the Centro right now, I might be looking at Blackberries (Blackberrys?
What is the plural??). Maybe not the current crop, but the next
generation. If Palm can deliver a device in 2008ish that's got power
under the hood and the same elegance and simplicity above ground (maybe
with a bit more color!) it'll survive.
Craig, I'm surprised!! You have been seduced by the Google side of the
Force. That's not the Jedi or the Sith. The Google side of the force
is just quietly waiting to amass enough money to buy out the Jedi and
the Sith - let them all retire to a desert island somewhere - and take
over that way!
Wow, from Bill to George in one email. Multi-century references. Must
be late and I must have had a glass of wine!
Cheers,
Don
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
Craig Froehle
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 6:15 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Treo] Palm makes the loser's list
On Nov 5, 2007 7:14 PM, Don Ferguson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I love the predictions of doom and gloom. So easy to make, especially
> in blogs like this one where they need symmetry.
I'm joining the chorus, Don...this is Palm's death-knell.
For Palm *not* to join up with the OHA likely spells its demise, as
this is essentially what it was trying to do, except keep it
semi-proprietary (without the mass to control much anymore). Google
is stealing it's thunder, and its lightning, and Palm will be left
with what, exactly...brand recognition? Ha. If Palm does not jump on
board as a contributor and intend to launch an Android-based product
as soon as possible, I predict Palm's stock price will be in the low
single digits by mid-2009.
