Comments on: The Palm Pre: Hope or Hype?

By: John Dingler, artist

John Dingler, artist — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:42:12 +0000

My dear little friend Aviv…. See, I can talk down to you even more. But why should I. I take the high road; I do not need to talk down to anyone.

On topic…while I also think that Apple is the only player now, i would modify that sentiment by saying that it’s the only significant player, and why I nearly agree with you that it has no significant competition now, my point is that it itself became the competition to the mobile phone industry and, as such, is the alternative to the stodgy and limited technology that it seems to be displacing, and it remains the competition in this context.

By: Aviv

Aviv — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:48:08 +0000

@John: Your argument is flawed my friend… Apple is the ONLY player in the mobile industry. They have NO real competition. If you trying telling me RIM is something they should be worried about… just please don’t… All they make are blackberries.

Am I the only one who is thinking about the App Store? Do you know how many iPhones Apple sells because the App Store is so desirable to EVERYONE. Other companies cannot compete with it. Bottom line.

By: John Dingler, artist

John Dingler, artist — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:44:54 +0000

Owww, come on, Aviv! You say “If the mobile industry keeps chugging along without any real competition….” The industry had all the competition it could stand, and it still did not further it to any appreciable extent, content to linger within the eddy current of OKness. The industry needed competition. It go it. It’s Apple. Apple is the competition. The industry has real competition now, which abundantly weakens your point that there is no “real competition.”

By: Aviv

Aviv — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:33:18 +0000

A few people in this discussion thread seem to be missing the point. “I’m hounding the release of the Palm Pre the same way I hounded the iPhone”, and I can’t wait to buy one, sign up for service and put it through its paces.

Even still, Palm is dead in the water. They owe hundreds of millions of dollars, and when battling uphill with the Pre vs. the iPhone, they are relatively screwed. I think I heard someone say “the Pre’s UI is better than the iPhone’s” — I’m going to ignore this, because I know for a fact you’ve never held one, let alone turned it on and used it.

The real comparisons will be done when I’ve used both the Palm Pre and the iPhone for an extended period of time… Until then, I’m sorry to say, the Pre is nothing but hype.

By: diatribe

diatribe — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:50:15 +0000

Here’s the skinny on my decision between Pre or iPhone. I’m locked into an already existing contract with Sprint until June 2010. Now, I can spend about 300 or so when the Pre comes out and stay with Sprint, or pay $200 to quit Sprint, pay $200 or $300 for current gen iPhone or say even $400 or more when the 3.0 comes out. And who even knows when the new iPhone will come out.

Pre it is for me. I’ll have a better (and cheaper monthly unlimited plan), a phone I can insure and not have to change carriers.

I mean, how many people are really going to pay early term fee or MSRP for phones without a contract just for an iPhone or Pre?

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:44:52 +0000

Oh, and one last point, the time spent on the Pre is pointless mentioning. MS worked on Vista for what, 4+ years and it sucked when it came out. Apple worked on the iPhone for 2 yrs and it’s a runaway hit. Time doesn’t make up for lack of ability.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:43:29 +0000

“Palm just needs to produce a good product, before july, with no significant launch issues.”

Does Palm have a track record of being able to pull this sort of thing off with relatively few bugs? I ask because I don’t know much about Palm in the last few years. They’ll probably do ok, and maybe offer some competition for Apple, but I wonder if it’ll be enough. Although the iPhone has become huge for Apple, they have other revenue streams that Palm just doesn’t have. And Palm is not in a position of strength when negotiating with Sprint, so they probably won’t get as lucrative a deal as Apple is with AT&T.

By: TB

TB — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:48:02 +0000

i agree

By: q

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:25:03 +0000

I agree with Nick. This fanboi stuff is out of control. Palm just needs to produce a good product, before july, with no significant launch issues. Which I think is very possible given the amount of time they’ve been working on it. They need to run they’re own game. I think its articles like these that are actually driving an iphone revolt.

By: Nick H

Nick H — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:31:50 +0000

Hrm..well I think you put way too much into the patent issue. That’s mostly bluster – Palm has no reason to back down and Apple doesn’t really want it in court (as shown by the current lawsuit they are under). I completely agree that Apple needs some compeition (this is something I with the fanbois would get a grip on).

What I think you are missing is that the Pre doesn’t have to kill the iPhone (nor is it going to). That’s irrelevant. All it has to do is sell well enough to keep Palm and Sprint alive – I think it has a very good chance of doing this. It’s actually Sprint that I wonder about – the Pre will be on other carriers come 2010 and that’s going to hurt Sprint. There are enough Apple/AT&T ‘non-likers’ (I’m one of them) that there’s plenty of niche to fill. As far as the Apple store…meh. Again, the Pre doesn’t have to crush Apple to succeed.

You have (not suprisingly given the lean of the site) geared your most of your article towards the Pre vs the iPhone. That’s just a fanboi issue – not everyone in the world wants an iPhone. The only relevant item is will the Pre live up to the hype.