I recently read a Wired article titled Analyst: Palm Needs a Savior, and Treo Pro Won’t Cut It in which Palm’s demise is discussed. They go in to what makes a great handheld device and where Palm went wrong. In my article, I’ll discuss where Palm actually went wrong and why the Wired article is incorrect. Palm screwed up first by going to Windows Mobile, second by not making the Treo widescreen, and third by keeping prices too high.
In the article, Peter Hoddie, president of Kinoma, a software company that makes Palm applications, says “Operating systems don’t matter to most customers. What matters to them is what they can do. …Why do [people] love iPhone? They love the apps. Why don’t people love Windows Mobile? It’s in fact an amazing operating system … but the apps on top of it? Not so inspired.”
Sorry dude. Why did Palm lose me? Because they switched to Windows Mobile. He talks about Palms as running Windows Mobile, but they were much worse once they did. The iPhone is nice because of the big hard drive, wide screen, built in wifi and EDGE, great map program, and of course, iPod functionality. However, the Palm OS was great. In addition, the article mentions that people love the iPhone because it’s 320×480 while the Treos are only 320×320. Um, is the iPhone supposed to be my first 320×480 handheld device? I’ve had 320×480 devices before (Clie NR-70/U, Palm TX). I agree that the iPhone’s widescreen makes viewing the web great, but I did that with my Palm TX as well.
I’m not saying the iPhone operating system isn’t nice. It has Apple’s usual wonderful aesthetic to it. However, the Palm OS was full of features and very nice. What really brought me to the iPhone was the iPod/iTunes functionality and the wireless data access. Yes, I could have had wireless data access on a Treo, but Treos weren’t widescreen! On top of all that, data access was cheaper with the iPhone, I think because Apple was offsetting the cost. If Palm had made the Treo 320×480 and kept it using the Palm operating system, it would have been a much harder decision to choose between Treo and iPhone. Palm OS vs iPod? Close call. Windows Mobile, 320×320, expensive data access vs iPhone OS, iPod, 320×480, cheap data access? Good bye Palm.
SplashData coming aboard with their fine apps helped too. And Warfare Incorporated is being ported. Hell yes.