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liam_on_linuxQuite impressed by the pettiness, petulance and small-mindedness being shown by some of the alleged luminaries of the mobile world online today.
The thing is, Palm is launching a new device soon - in about a week. It's called the Prē - it's a somewhat iPhone-like smartphone, with a multitouch screen, a superficially iPhone-like OS but with multitasking, and a slide-out keyboard.
There's been a fair bit of excitement over this device. It looks beautiful, the new OS, called WebOS, is very pretty, as smooth-looking as the iPhone but capable of running multiple side-by-side apps and exchanging data between them. And it's the first really new device in a long time from Palm, the former masters of the pocket-device segment.
But now, as its launch is looming, some very negative pre-launch opinion is appearing. The causes of this seem to be:
[1] the device is fairly cheap at $200, and according to some, feels it
[2] it doesn't have freely-available development tools
[3] Apple's big annual show is coming up right after the launch, and people are expecting great things, including the return of Steve Jobs
after 6mth off to recover from some fairly horrendous surgery for pancreatic cancer. There's a new release of the iPhone OS coming, but some are expecting a new phone, too.
[4] And finally...
This is the bit that disgusts me. Apparently, some chaps in the States decided to organize a whole array of developer conferences for the new device. This is entirely off their own bat, with neither involvement nor consultation from Palm.
After it's all up and running, using someone else's product name and so on, then they ask Palm to get involved. Palm says "dude, WTF?" They say "oh, you need us, you need this". Palm, hesistantly, clearly thinking "who are these guys," asks them to sign an NDA to get pre-release info about the new phone. The bunch of guys publically announce the meeting, but refuse to sign the NDA. Palm tells them to get lost.
And now, these guys are blogging all over the shop about how the Pre is crap, Palm are bastards, the device will fail, Palm are bastards, the company's dead in the water, the timing's wrong, Palm are bastards, and anything else they can bitch about.
It's a stunning display of petty petulance. Frankly, I hope the new phone does great and that these childish loudmouths are both sidelined and proved very wrong.
The thing is, Palm is launching a new device soon - in about a week. It's called the Prē - it's a somewhat iPhone-like smartphone, with a multitouch screen, a superficially iPhone-like OS but with multitasking, and a slide-out keyboard.
There's been a fair bit of excitement over this device. It looks beautiful, the new OS, called WebOS, is very pretty, as smooth-looking as the iPhone but capable of running multiple side-by-side apps and exchanging data between them. And it's the first really new device in a long time from Palm, the former masters of the pocket-device segment.
But now, as its launch is looming, some very negative pre-launch opinion is appearing. The causes of this seem to be:
[1] the device is fairly cheap at $200, and according to some, feels it
[2] it doesn't have freely-available development tools
[3] Apple's big annual show is coming up right after the launch, and people are expecting great things, including the return of Steve Jobs
after 6mth off to recover from some fairly horrendous surgery for pancreatic cancer. There's a new release of the iPhone OS coming, but some are expecting a new phone, too.
[4] And finally...
This is the bit that disgusts me. Apparently, some chaps in the States decided to organize a whole array of developer conferences for the new device. This is entirely off their own bat, with neither involvement nor consultation from Palm.
After it's all up and running, using someone else's product name and so on, then they ask Palm to get involved. Palm says "dude, WTF?" They say "oh, you need us, you need this". Palm, hesistantly, clearly thinking "who are these guys," asks them to sign an NDA to get pre-release info about the new phone. The bunch of guys publically announce the meeting, but refuse to sign the NDA. Palm tells them to get lost.
And now, these guys are blogging all over the shop about how the Pre is crap, Palm are bastards, the device will fail, Palm are bastards, the company's dead in the water, the timing's wrong, Palm are bastards, and anything else they can bitch about.
It's a stunning display of petty petulance. Frankly, I hope the new phone does great and that these childish loudmouths are both sidelined and proved very wrong.
