Ars on the Cloud Killing Palm
The highly-respected Ars Technica, a website not known for hysteria or sensationalist journalism, has posted its take on the current plight of Palm in the form of a new editorial entitled "RIP Palm: it's over, and here's why".
In the Ars piece, author Jon Stokes pulls no punches and paints an extremely bleak future for the smartphone maker. Stokes surmises that one of only two fates remain for palm: an acquisition or insolvency. This article is already must-read for its general content but Stokes makes a masterful claim suggesting Palm has been suffocated by their very own cloud.
The article goes on to list a number of six primary causes (though arguably not all the reasons) for Palm's current woes and the lukewarm market reception of WebOS and its accompanying devices. For brevity's sake I'll skip re-listing those reasons here as they have frequently discussed elsewhere and are quite commonly-known by now.
However, I found the final point made in Mr. Stokes' piece quite interesting and one that I had personally not pondered at length or seen truly discussed online. Prior to his concluding paragraph, Stokes maintains that Palm's all-out push to free their smartphones from the shackles of the desktop and migrate their data directly to the cloud--no compatibility with the classic Palm Desktop software, no hardwired sync, and no tight integration with an iTunes-like piece of proprietary desktop software--all combined to make WebOS a platform that is extremely for users to jettison once the initial transition period has been made. Of course, the same can be said for the similar Android OS, but that OS is gaining momentum daily and appears to be rapidly gaining traction at Palm's expense.
Most of the various cloud services, such as Microsoft's Exchange are cross-platform or, in this day of HTML-based everything, even platform-agnostic like Google and Yahoo. Stokes' piece effectively focuses the spotlight on something that Rubinstein, McNamee and others likely never considered during the device's gestation period: there is no single compelling reason for users to cling to their WebOS hardware. In fact, Palm even provides a downloadable Data Transfer Assistant for Windows that easily and seamlessly moves user data out of Palm Desktop and onto their WebOS device and into the cloud. Palm also has detailed step-by-step guides on their support site for migrating one's data to the cloud.
By eagerly handing users the scissors necessary to cut the cord and move into the cloud, Palm is banking on brand loyalty, and the inherent appeal of Palm's WebOS, apps, and hardware to keep users from jumping ship to another platform. Any other minor niceties of WebOS such as its app store exclusives, a handful of stunning 3D games or the Palm OS Classic app simply do not offer enough appeal to keep most users in Palm's camp. After a strong run that began with the original Pilot handheld, Palm appears to finally have lost the unique, differentiating factors that captivated users for nearly fifteen years.
Thanks Mike Cane for the tip.
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RE: Ars: RIP Palm: it's over, and here's why
Microsoft will fade into the distance as Macs get heavier adoption by consumers, education, and even enterprise. When I was in college, the number of Apple laptops was anywhere from 30-40% of the total. These are tomorrow's business leaders, these are tomorrow's consumers. A lot of them love Apple products, and virtually all of them become fiercly loyal to the platform, refusing to switch back. The college market is a very lucrative one. If you can get them buying your products now, they'll be buying them for life. Apple has them absolutely cornered.
RE: Ars: RIP Palm: it's over, and here's why
the same thing could have been said in 1989. go study your history. in the technology world, things can change on a dime and anything can happen. Steve Jobs is going to leave Apple someday - and I wouldn't be so bullish on the company after that happens.
RE: Ars: RIP Palm: it's over, and here's why
They launched the 3GS while Jobs was having a transplant. Sounds like they know what they're doing, even without him.
The studies have been coming in, showing that deployed Macs in the enterprise are cheaper to own over the life of the computer. One day, Microsoft will lose their grip on business. Just like RIM.
Been there, said that already...
Then there's the lack of the ability to back up to an internal card. We don't always have connectivity due to signal strength, system outages, or whatever electrical interference i.e. overhead lighting or neon signs in a restaurant's window; etc.
Then there is the security issue. I don't think Joe TechMgr would sign off on keeping sensitive corporate info in the cloud- at least a new one. Remember how a major bank's glitch caused depositor soc. sec. #'s to be printed on mailing labels. That might have been bad programming, but the hackers must have been licking their chops when the cloud started to take hold....
It is a shame really, I love my Centro & I have it all tweaked out w/3d party apps & utils & now you can't even get one unless you go to eBay...
I'm glad I resisted getting a Pre... the extra memory, etc available on the Pre Plus doesn't cut it. Too little too late.
I'm holding on to my Centro for as long as possible; 'cause I love not having to carry a PDA & a cellphone.
I may even keep my Centro as a separate PDA & go back to a non-smartphone cell until the smartphone OS platform matures some more.
Using Centro, Apt, Accessorizer, Initiate, Butler, Datebk6, Bonsai, DayNotez, MemoLeaf, Resco Backup+Explorer+Viewer, SplashID+Money, TAKEphONE, Palmary Clock, & more & loving
RE: Been there, said that already...
Palm had the edge
The problem with the cloud is the issue of control. If you dont control something, you have to assume it isn't secure. This is an issue which is going to shake itself out in the future. Unfortunatly people are going to get hurt in the process.
PDAs:
Sorry, can't reveal the whole list cause my wife will kill me for not being able to settle on one for very long. Suffice it to say that the list is long, and goes back 14 years.
Current Iphone user.
RE: Been there, said that already...
RE: Been there, said that already...
RE: Been there, said that already...
rpa wrote:
Holding on to my Centro as well...need the PIM and hot syncing to Outlook on the desktop, 2 of the killer features of Palm that were forgotten in Palm's rush to the cloud. Too bad the OEM for the Treo Pro can't come out with a Garnet version...
Technically they can... Access is still licensing GarnetOS.
RE: Who will buy it??
RE: Who will buy it??
Palm Inc
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E-T
RE: Who will buy it??
Hopefully Dell will buy them out.
RE: Who will buy it??
Good grief.
I would humbly suggest you pay attention tothe CTIA show going on today through Thursday.
New Dell Android phone.
New Dell Android tablet.
Sheesh.
RE: Who will buy it??
GMAFB. R u serious? Even with Archos lacking a camera, it still kicks Dell's ass.
RE: Who will buy it??
But Dell's MP3 players were crap, their printers are rebranded Lexmark junk, and their low-end Wal-Mart oriented products are pretty poor. I particularly remember that their short-lived line of LCD TVs were atrocious. One of the organizations I work with deployed a large number of Dell LCD TVs & projectors about 2.5 years or so ago (the higher-end hospitality/commercial ones). These TVs are constantly having issues ranging from crackling speakers, power supplies failures, dying backlights, up to faulty remotes.
That said, Dell is awlays a force to be reckoned with and I feel they might slowly be upping their game. For example, their recent Adamo-inspired Vostro V13 is arguably one of the best bang for the buck business notebooks out there today if you don't need a ton of bells & whistles.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro
RE: Who will buy it??
Dell literally has no need for webOS.
Though, perhaps, they could use some more tweaking on what they have.
But that's material for another thread probably somewhere else.
RE: Who will buy it??
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RE: Who will buy it??
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RE: Who will buy it??
Tuckermaclain wrote:
There is always Access. I still wonder what they're doing with the Palm OS.
They're still licensing Palm OS i.e. GarnetOS.
http://tamspalm.tamoggemon.com/2010/03/23/news-from-aceeca-mez1500-garnetos/
RE: Who will buy it??
Someone sees Palm and they think "Oh are they still around?". When they run the ads with the freaky chick you have to pay attention to see that they are talking about a Palm product.
RE: Who will buy it??
E-T
RE: Who will buy it??
Only companies willing to buy Palm are Apple, Google and Nokia. This will increase their patent portfolio
RE: Who will buy it??
The 700p was technically an upgrade of the CDMA Treo 650 and the 680 was the replacement for the GSM Treo 650. The 755p, the final Palm OS-based Treo, then replaced the 700p for CDMA networks. I remember very well when the 700p came out, as I had three of them and they were all rather dismal performers.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro
the real reason for Palm's collapse
:-)
RE: the real reason for Palm's collapse
Best line\excuse\reason I've heard all year!! Nay, all DECADE!
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro
I still cannot buy a Palm Pre
Good Engineers, Bad Management.
[ I did not click "Next Page" in TFA because I want to improve the web getting rid of these abominations, so it may also have mentioned this ]
RE: I still cannot buy a Palm Pre
E-T
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Ars: RIP Palm: it's over, and here's why
Ouch. I can't argue with any of that.