The Final Demise of Palm

Posted on June 4, 2007 by Bruce Keener

Update: Some important clarifications are provided by readers in the comments, and the “demise” doesn’t sound as certain to me as it did. Be sure to read the comments and to chime in with any experiences you have had that suggest my “demise” statement is a bit too strong.

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It’s been incorrectly said many times over the years that Palm is dead. However, the saying seems to be an accurate one now. The reason: in two critical areas where it had to succeed, it has fallen short. The following posts, from people I really respect, give good reasons why Palm can now be taken off life support:

  • Stan Lau, over at Gear Diary, gives his initial impressions of the Palm Foleo. The bottom line: it’s a dud because it missed out on key design requirements, such as not having full screen viewing of Calendar and Contacts. When I first read that, I just couldn’t believe it: how could any company miss anything so basic and fundamental? Maybe some developers will step up to the plate and come up with apps that do the job the Foleo should do on its own, but it shows that Palm is not engaged as it should be in thinking about its customers. Of course, all companies fall short on this from time to time, but Palm had to get this right and they didn’t.
  • Marc Orchant summarizes his woes with the Palm 700p, noting that he has been waiting on a firmware update for a year. Can you imagine? There are still operating system problems with this device. I know I gave up on my Treo 650 a couple of years ago because it had significant operating system problems … I struggled with it for almost 6 weeks, and then got rid of it. And they still have operating system problems? Wow! I am glad I found this out because I had been thinking about getting a Treo 700p (considering it among several other options). (By the way, remember that we have a contest going on to help Keener decide on another Smartphone.)

To top it off, you can read some of the hundreds of negative comments on the Foleo over at The Official Palm Blog.

I think this is incredibly sad. I so much wanted to see Palm keep the market competitive with some innovations and good service, and they are just not going to do it.

Having said that, I realize that many of you are Palm users. You will continue to find material on this blog to help you get the most out of your device … I am not one of those who likes to take aim at anyone’s operating system, as I believe there are advantages and disadvantages to all of them. In fact, I may even write an article on some Palm software for Getting Things Done later this week. But, it looks to me like Palm has missed its last opportunity to remain viable.

Your thoughts?

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  • Marc Orchant

    Not dead yet but they are hurting Bruce. Personally, I think it is way too early to write off Foleo. Until the device is actually shipping and we have more information, what we’re seeing is a lot of opinions based on little more than a product announcement. Like the Nokia N800, I think there is a market for the Foleo but it will take good marketing and definitely an adjustment in price point to make it fly.

    As far as the Treo 700p woes I wrote about – no argument (obviously) – there is a serious problem here and I continue to hope that someone at Palm will wake up to that fact and try to do something right for the many users of that device who are justifiably angry.

    Is this fatal? I don’t think so and surely hope not. The Treo line has, despite its wrinkles, long been my favorite smartphone. But as I said in my post, it could not be worse timing to drop the ball so badly at the very same time that a new product category is being introduced..

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Thanks for weighing in on this, Marc.

    I think you are right on all points, but I get so darned frustrated at Palm for being such a disappointment at times, when it has the potential to be a real market leader (like it was at one time).

    Glad to hear the 700p issues are not fatal. With the exception of the Treo 650′s operating system problems (which were significant for the early ones, like I had), I loved the phone and still think of it as being really the best one I have ever had (or having the potential to be the best one I ever had).

  • Mark

    The Foleo is supposed to have many more apps available (including PIM) by the time it ships this summer. I’m really looking forward to a clamshell net device that isn’t hamstrung by Windows.

    Also, I’ve had a Treo 700p for over six months, and despite constant use and installing tons of 3rd party apps and games I have had almost zero problems. I just installed the update released today and that fixed my only gripe: the phone app now loads instantly, without the 3 second lag it used to have.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    That’s great to hear, Mark. With your comment and Marc Orchant’s comment making the “demise” seem less true, I am updating the post accordingly.