Buzz is that the Palm Pre will be a serious challenger to the iPhone. The NY Times calls it an "an elegant, joyous, multitouch smartphone" that yields more value per dollar than the iPhone, though with a short battery life. Stephen Levy writes this summary at WIRED, "Great look and superb feel. Well-conceived OS with multitasking and instant notification. Physical keyboard. Utilizes iTunes to load and refresh content. TIRED: Multitasking puts a big suck on the battery. Sprint exclusivity will be annoying to Palm-philes on a contract with AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile. Keyboard is puny."
I'd love to hear from anyone who is planning to get one when they go on sale tomorrow.
Naturally, Apple isn't sitting still. The next version of the iPhone is reportedly coming out next month.
Case Study in Innovation
Palm, as you may remember, stole Apple's thunder once already. I consider the failed Apple Newton, introduced by he-who-shall-not-be-named in 1992, to be the first handheld computer. While the Newton never caught on, its vision was vindicated by the revolutionary Palm Pilot in 1996.
A case study focusing on Palm inventor Jeff Hawkins and the PalmPilot's early days is available at the University of Cambridge. Forbes has the current development story on the Pre here. .
Just thinking out loud. Let's take account of where technology has taken us... A handheld device in 2009 includes: desktop computing power circa 1995, internet access (wireless), phone, GPS, gaming platform, email, calendar, camera, alarm clock, That's enough to inspire any pessimist. Oh yeah, they have music. And movies. Movies?! And am I the only one who uses his iPhone as a flashlight at night when checking on the kids or tiptoeing to bed myself? I can hardly imagine what computing will be like in 2020.
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