Palm Searches for Growth - Too Little, Too Late?

Palm Searches for Growth - WSJ.com.  It is somewhat like seeing an old friend who is down on his luck. You remember the good old days, and are sad at the comparison. I ran a law practice on Palm phones for many years. They were innovative, and made me more productive. However, when they finally became innovative again, they chose Sprint as the exclusive carrier, and I was swept away by the Android army. Now, after I have gone to the dark side, Palm decides to innovate again, and will be offering souped up versions of the Palm Pre and Pixie phones, complete with Web OS, and a very cool new app that allows the Pre and Pixie to be turned into mobile WiFi hotspots. Just run a program on the Palm, and up to 5 of your dearest friends in the vicinity can share the Internet connection. Wow. Hopefully, Android and Google will be able to make deals with Verizon to copy the software. But, it probably, along with the Verizon launch, will give Palm new life. 

Comments

[Stephen Nagin]

Palm has ignored reality in its quest for ever smaller form factors for its products. Our eyes are not getting sharper, our fingers are not getting smaller, only the devices are shrinking -- apparently to appeal to the Palm designers. Palm simply should have upgraded the brains and storage capacity of its original 650 Model, and through advanced electronics, perhaps slimmed-down the depth, leaving the height and width at least the same (perhaps even larger).

The Palm Web site provides no way for a consumers to provide feedback -- evidently Palm simply did not and does not want it. The bottom line: Palm deserves to achieve oblivion status for real hubris (a/k/a chuptzah) and poorly designed products. Shame on Palm!