On Closer Look, the Palm Pre is Still Impressive
I got a closer look at the Palm Pre before leaving Las Vegas this weekend, and I think it's still Best of Show from CES. The phone can do video, which was one lingering doubt.
Several readers have pointed out in the past that smart phones are about the software. The Pre's is more impressive in detailed demos, though Palm kept reporters and analysts from hands-on tests.
That said, Priya Ganapati at Wired's Gadget Lab explained a key point about the power of the new Palm software. The "cards" metaphor that the Pre uses is more than just a gimmick. It's about juggling multiple tasks:
The iPhone's apps are great and a big part of the phone's appeal. But have you ever tried to listen to Pandora while you're checking Gmail? Can't do it. The iPhone's limitation on running multiple apps is a serious drawback. The [Google phone] tries to improve on that with the notifications drawer, but it's an insufficient solution because it's still too hard to see what's currently running. The Palm Pre solves that problem.
But the iPhone's defenders came out in numbers. A thorough, somewhat technical and harsh review came from Daniel Eran Dilger at RoughlyDrafted Magazine. He concludes:
Palm has accomplished step one in defeating Apple: introducing copycat hardware that apes some of the iPhone’s features. Considering the waves of similarly ineffectual iPod-killers that washed up dead on Apple’s shores over the last 7 years, that’s not enough to claim victory.
I have to take issue with him on another point, though. He seems to think we in the media have some axe to grind with Apple:
This is just another gagging example of how the tech media can complain about the downsides of getting Christmas ponies from Apple while marveling at the potential of diamonds from the chunks of coal thrown at them by other tech companies.
What? If anything, the iPhone is a media darling and the press heaps praise on Steve Jobs and Co. Maybe it's that Palm is now the underdog, but I'm glad to see it trying to take a bit out of the iPhone.
Tags: cellphones | technology | Consumer Electronics Show
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Reader Comments
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Palm Pre
I am forever holding out for that 'perfect' phone. The iPhone was nearly there - the Pre could well be a lot closer. But there will be something missing. Now, as a product development manager I know only too well that a company can spend a lifetime perfecting its product but by then it will no longer be in business. What matters then, is that the company has a far sighted game plan to give you that 80% perfect product and then incrementally improve on it - and yes of course it will cost in upgrades but that's business. I truly hope Palm has this plan sorted with the same level of thought that has been put into the Pre's execution. I often think that Apple never did this right - the 3G version of the iPhone almost seemed like an afterthought or a knee jerk reaction to the public response. And what about the headphone jack - products have a roadmap but I suspect Apple has a few u-turns in its. Is the Pre's lack of a memory expansion slot a cynical marketing exercise - I doubt it.
I wasn't aware of the iPhone's limitation in running multiple applications, which seems ironic to me: that was one of the inherent weaknesses of the old Palm OS. And, that alone will cause me to abandon my longing for the iPhone and wait for the Pre. I want to be able to do more than one thing with my mobile device, and it sounds like the iPhone simply wont' allow that.
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