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Palm. Disclaimer: I work for Palm. That being said, I actually believe it. The Pre rocks, and it's just the beginning. Plus, if the Pre works out, I'm sure we'

Palm. Disclaimer: I work for Palm. That being said, I actually believe it. The Pre rocks, and it's just the beginning. Plus, if the Pre works out, I'm sure we'll have a lot of motivated, intelligent people (maybe even from HN) willing to come help us out.

andrewl-hn 18y ago
Palm has a very recognizable brand, indeed. Besides there're not that many Palm phones around and it can help building 'uniqueness' of the products. Of course Nokia make great products, too. But their market share is just too bug to be an 'elite' product. Other manufacturers like HTC do not have such a strong brand like Palm. The problem with Palm might be that Pre 'is just a beginning'. I mean currently they have very few models and that eases the choice for consumers. Apple does it very well unlike HP, Asus and others and I personally think that helped them a lot. Today when you say 'HP laptop' I get no idea how it's going to look like. But if you say 'Apple laptop' I get a clear cut image of a shiny high quality product. Low number of models keep them recognizable among consumers. That's the key for building a strong recognizable brand. I think Palm will keep the 'cool' factor as long as they do not introduce very few new models. One or two WebOS-based phones is Ok but if there are going to be more they will become just another brand. Anyway the great products (especially the first-gen models) are essential if the company wants to become the Next Brand. Google made a huge mistake with G1. Everyone I talk about it says the phone looks very low-quality and cheap. And it seems like Android is not going to be cool after G1. I wonder what phone was the first to have a Windows Mobile. I suspect it wasn't a great phone.
- brk 18y ago
  I wonder what phone was the first to have a Windows Mobile. I suspect it wasn't a great phone. I'm pretty sure it was the Audiovox Theia. I had one, it sucked. The battery life was good for about 2 calls. The radio would randomly shut off if the phone was idle for a few hours. App integration sucked.
brk 18y ago
I think Palm has a valid shot. One thing, IMO, that is crucial is to realize the world does not run on a single OS. The majority of your cool/hip adopter base in on OS X today. If the software to sync data, backup information, transfer photos, etc. does not run on something more than just windows I think a lot of people will never even bother to pick it up. That is the main reason I switched from a Blackberry to an iPhone. I miss my blackberry for most things, but I DON'T miss not being able to really do much with it with OS X. And yes, I'm aware of the various 3rd party apps that almost work for about 50% of the functionality.
jmdev 18y ago
Remember the answer doesn't have to be a phone device. I might be something else...created bottom-up. I still think that a narrow strategy focused at a specific market might be a success..like a dream mobile linux device - with something extra to it..

andrewl-hn 18y ago

Palm has a very recognizable brand, indeed. Besides there're not that many Palm phones around and it can help building 'uniqueness' of the products. Of course Nokia make great products, too. But their market share is just too bug to be an 'elite' product. Other manufacturers like HTC do not have such a strong brand like Palm. The problem with Palm might be that Pre 'is just a beginning'. I mean currently they have very few models and that eases the choice for consumers. Apple does it very well unlike HP, Asus and others and I personally think that helped them a lot. Today when you say 'HP laptop' I get no idea how it's going to look like. But if you say 'Apple laptop' I get a clear cut image of a shiny high quality product. Low number of models keep them recognizable among consumers. That's the key for building a strong recognizable brand. I think Palm will keep the 'cool' factor as long as they do not introduce very few new models. One or two WebOS-based phones is Ok but if there are going to be more they will become just another brand. Anyway the great products (especially the first-gen models) are essential if the company wants to become the Next Brand. Google made a huge mistake with G1. Everyone I talk about it says the phone looks very low-quality and cheap. And it seems like Android is not going to be cool after G1. I wonder what phone was the first to have a Windows Mobile. I suspect it wasn't a great phone.

brk 18y ago
I wonder what phone was the first to have a Windows Mobile. I suspect it wasn't a great phone. I'm pretty sure it was the Audiovox Theia. I had one, it sucked. The battery life was good for about 2 calls. The radio would randomly shut off if the phone was idle for a few hours. App integration sucked.

brk 18y ago

I think Palm has a valid shot. One thing, IMO, that is crucial is to realize the world does not run on a single OS. The majority of your cool/hip adopter base in on OS X today. If the software to sync data, backup information, transfer photos, etc. does not run on something more than just windows I think a lot of people will never even bother to pick it up. That is the main reason I switched from a Blackberry to an iPhone. I miss my blackberry for most things, but I DON'T miss not being able to really do much with it with OS X. And yes, I'm aware of the various 3rd party apps that almost work for about 50% of the functionality.

jmdev 18y ago

Remember the answer doesn't have to be a phone device. I might be something else...created bottom-up. I still think that a narrow strategy focused at a specific market might be a success..like a dream mobile linux device - with something extra to it..