I don't want to buy and carry around a specialized battery that works for one device. I used my wife's ipod AA battery thingamig for my iPhone and a $10 external rechargable pack that isn't much larger than a cell phone battery because all it really is is a cell phone battery with a dock connector.
Well this was a discussion based on replaceable battery vs portable iphone charger, not universal battery booster (which I have one of lol.) To top it off, you can buy rechargeable AA batteries so you're not always throwing your money away.
I said it earlier and I'll say it again, a removable battery is really not that big of a feature that most people look at, and if they convince themselves it's the reason they didn't get an iphone, it's more than likely because that had a salesperson there doing most of the convincing. I'm just pointing out the irony in someone saying they don't want to carry another battery, but then they turn around and carry a portable charger specific to the iphone.
Obviously the fewer things anyone has to carry the better. If I could use my phone as my credit card, car keys, and personal ID, I would.
Oh and not having to send the phone off in case (God forbid) the battery screws up is an added advantage to being able to replace the battery.
I just spent an gninormous amount of time on an airplane (24 friking hours including the layovers).
My iPhone lasted the whole time by being recharged via AA batteries. So I watched several movies, read a book and played a lot of games.
All without being able to replace the battery.
Being able to same the pack with most iPods and the iPhone is a definite plus, instead of having to buy a different sized battery for each cell phone you get. The external battery pack you have now should work with future iPhones and iPods.
If you don’t have the pack with you but you have your laptop and the USB cable, connecting it to your notebook without logging in and putting the screen to black is a good way to charge the device many times over during a long trip where you are stuck on a plane or a bus or in some location that you know you won’t get access to an AC outlet.
ASK those bitching about Pre's $199 cost after rebate- not me.
This cost for the 1st gen Pre seems reasonable to me considering all of Palm R&D costs , etc.
I'm not saying that the price isn't right for them. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the lowest they could charge for it and still eke out a profit. But that's also the problem. What if they have to drop the price by 50% over the $100 rebate? If they have to charge $149, or $129, or even $99, can they stay in business with that?
What CDMA peple who are happy with their service would want to switch to AT&T's lousy 3G network-Yechh!
The fanboyz have already switched - lightning will be very hard to strike 3 times. Many of the sales will be renewals only.
It's already been stated that people are switching from Verizon to go to AT&T for the iPhone. So you don't think they're moving from Sprint?
Sprint is bleeding customers right and left. Do you doubt a good number are moving to AT&T and going for the iPhone?
I assume you've been reading about all of the problems Sprint is having with keeping its customers. It's even been questioned whether Sprint will be a viable business in a couple of years.
Both Sprint and Palm need this to be a big success. It has to at least show that it can stop some of the defections of Sprints customer base. It also has to show that Palm will stop losing $100 million or more every quarter. This last quarter, losses were greater than sales. Palm's sales are less than a third than about a year ago.
The Pre is their last chance.
If it fails, it will not only take Palm with it, but will hurt Sprint severely, as they have nothing else to take up the slack. The Instinct didn't do well after the initial surge.
Like other networks, no, even more than other networks, Sprint must have a blockbuster phone. If this isn't it, what is?
My point is that a $200 Pre after rebate is not a bad deal, in fact it's excellent, for a brand new phone with this technology. The iPhone when originally introduced was overpriced- plain and simple. Hence the $200 reduction 2 months later with a $100 rebate for Apple products only. I know it brings up old wounds but that original pricing was BULL$HIT and indefensible.
Not sure what benchmarks you would use to call the price indefensible? Maybe some weird moral code where things should not be more expensive than you think they should be or can afford? The portal to that bizzaro dimension must be very small
It is simple business - price segmentation. If you have some thing revolutionary that you think people will pay a lot for, charge a lot for it so you get the early adopters/suckers' money. Normal business practice. Apple should only be criticized had they not done that. Then you reduce the price to grow volume, increase buzz, etc. after you have creamed off the early $$s.
It was a brilliant plan and it worked beyond anyone's expectations (except maybe Jobs'). Sell a couple of million with long lines out the doors, get millions of $ of free advertising and all that lovely up front revenue. Then offer that $100 rebate soon after to maintain the buzz and pretend to be a "nice" company (remember, it could only be spent on high margin Apple gear). Reduce prices further when you know it is a hit, then go to the standard carrier subsidy model as it goes mainstream. Now they are about to bump features at the same/lower price to hurt lower volume/margin competition, like with the iPod. All while still making industry leading margins...
Nothing about that is B#llsh!t or indefensible - Apple don't owe you a cheap phone. Pre pricing is fair or even cheap because the iPhone has boxed them in - almost no-one will pay much more for it than an iPhone even though it has all those as yet unrecouped R&D costs and Elevation Partners' "last chance saloon" premium to pay back. Palm wishes they could charge $600 each for the first million to frustrated hardcore Sprint fans but that ship sailed a couple of years back.
Let's face it - Apple is a brutal money making machine...
Companies offer rebates in hopes (and with knowledge that) most people will either forget to mail-in the rebate or send it in too late or incorrectly and they get to keep the extra money they originally paid. So, Sprint is VERY hopeful that most buyers who pay $299 will screw-up the rebate offer and they can keep the extra $100. That is why almost everything in Best Buy comes with rebates, it's just a sales and marketing scam that most people fall for. Don't get fooled America!!
As for the Pre, it looks nice, but no landscape view, no landscape typing, extra small keys, and a smaller screen make it a no, no, no for me. Also, Sprint is last in users, I don't know how many will switch from their carrier to join the #4 carrier. We'll see. BUT competition is good, so I welcome it.
I wasn?t making a joke or being funny, but I was reading 3 pages of comments quickly to catch up with the thread. I?m guessing you were just continuing your thought, but you could be going senile you never know.
While it's always possible, if you read what i was responding to, you would have seen that it was a direct response to the other post, and I was conjecturing from what he had posted, that he hadn't thought about the situation, and that he do so.
The "Pre" is V-A-P-O-R-W-A-R-E! It's still a promise, a dream, a phantom, a wisp. Nothing more.
So it "looks good"? Big f-ing deal! Has anyone actually touched or used this thing for longer than 10 seconds? It's a Potemkin Village, folks! It's all facade, smoke, and mirrors!
Tell me: How well does that touch screen actually work? How rugged is it? Battery life good with all those background tasks running all the time? Will you need a bandolero of them for a day's calling and "computing"? How's the reception on the Sprint network? Moreover, how's the Sprint network itself? Hate AT&T and Verizon's coverage? Then you're absolutely going to convulse over Sprint's!
Gonna save some money with this device? Yeah? Not if there aren't any useful, rock-solid applications for it. Not if the service and support after the sale aren't there. Palm is on its way DOWN, ladies and gentlement. The slightest misstep with this phone, and it's GONE.
A TRUISM OF THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY: Never, never, never buy anything with a zero on the end of its version number. Now, let's see. The "Pre" is coming out with NO real-world testing by anyone and usage information from no one--and it's in Version 1.0. GOOD LUCK, people. Believe the dream. Maybe this beleaguered company can pull the first miracle in history and release a perfect device the first time.
The grass is always greener on the other side. Always. Until you get there and taste it. (Here's to the BlackBerry Storm, Vista, Windows 7, cars that run on water, the free lunch, and "the check's in the mail.")
Lol apple fan boys are freaking out! This is hilarious seeing all these paniced posts. If you like your iPhone then keep it. It won't make you any cooler I'd you switch with everyone else and get a Pre. Stop being rediculous people. The Pre is going to sell a ton of phones. I am so excited to toss my spotty coverage laggy iPhone 3g for a phone that works. The Pre is going to be awsome, who knows maybe apples new iPhone announcement will able to get peoples attention away from palms newer much better phone.
When iphone came out, it was 600 dollars, but the argument is that's because of the market. Now the pre is coming out, for half as much, and people are saying this is so horrible. Lets take a look at that for a second and compare it to complaints about the iphone's lack of mms and copy and paste. What's the argument there? The argument is that the iphone is still "young" and other phones had these features because they had time to develop them. Well, HELLO? The Pre won't have a 200 dollar price point right out of the gate because it will take time to get there, just as it took TWO YEARS for the iphone to get to the most basic features of a "smart phone."
To say the Pre should start out with all the latest and greatest is to also say the iphone should have as well. To say that Apple's excuse for these artificial limitations is because of it's infancy is to say that the Pre can carry that excuse for the next two years as well.
It's a given:
1. that a completely new product (like iPhone, Pre, Storm) can't have every feature that it's competitors already have.
2. that a new product will be criticized for the things it doesn't have.
The key to success is figuring out (a) which features will clearly differentiate your new product from its competitors, and make it super attractive to most consumers, (b) which features are needed (i.e. deal-breakers for many) but don't differentiate, and (c) which features aren't really needed in the current increment.
Everybody has a different perspective on what goes in a, b, and c. From my perspective, I don't think Palm has an outstanding (a). And now that Apple has raised the bar with the App Store, it's difficult to put an App Store into category (c) instead of (b).
Quote:
I know I know, Palm was in the phone business long before Apple, right? Well instead of 2 years, lets see what Palm is capable of accomplishing with the Pre in ONE year.
Palm started work on the Pre around summer 2007, so they'll have been at it for 2 years (even discounting all their prior phone experience). And Apple supposedly started working on a phone in summer 2004, taking almost 3 years to get its first iPhone to market.
I'm stuck on Sprint because of our corporate account. I'm very tempted to get a PRE, but my sprint|nextel experience has been so bad in the last year, I don't want to give those bastards a dime extra.. I'd rather see them go down in flames.. Which is a bummer, because I do hope the PRE is enough to keep Palm afloat, but going exclusively with the asshats a sprint doesn't make me feel confident.
sorry for the following, but it was kind of cathartic
<MEGA-RANT>
I had a BB8830 that worked great, had unlimited phone as modem that worked great with my Macbooks, but it died after 9 months, complete hardware failure.. The bulk of our company is uses nextel DC, and since the BB 8350i had just came out I got one of those to get back DC, and just figured Wifi would stand in for the old sprint cdma data plan. It worked great for about a month.
Then it stopped connecting to the network. I ran a software update on it, and it worked for about a day. I literally spent 4 hours and 15 minutes on the phone with tech support, to completely wipe the phone and re-install the os. It worked for 4 days. I did this 3 more times each about 3 or 4 days apart, then for some reason the os reinstall failed and bricked the phone..
I had talked with my rep and initially thought they were just going to send a new phone, but my problems started after the 30 day return policy. Basically it started acting weird on day 26 but I didn't realize how weird the phone was getting until day 36.(My first daughter was born on day 29 and I was in the hospital with my wife for 4 days) My rep couldn't just send me a new one for some reason. He entered in a service note on my account that basically said charge the guy 50 bucks to look at his phone and then give him a replacement.
The guys at the local sprint store basically refused to charge me the 50 dollars insisting that the phone would be fine after a software restore.. and they could do that for free. No charge! Yay!
I explained to them that yes it does seem to work fine for a couple of days before it starts acting weird and won't connect anymore.. I asked the guy do you expect me to drive 20 minutes over here every 4 days and have you spend an hour re installing my os?
He looked at me like a dog that's been shown a card trick, and basically said "but look your phone is working great."
My rep told me to go back to the store and demand that they charge me the fee and replace my phone..
This took place over about a month and a half after the initial failure of the device, and that happened literally 3 days after my daughter was born... so you can imagine that I was fairly tired and kind of crazy busy with that. The last thing I wanted to deal with was dead cell phone. I just kind of assumed that it would work itself out, I mean why wouldn't it... (I think I still had a bit of the new father high going on, I was way more patient than I should've been.)
The worst part were the people at the sprint store. They were acting like I was trying to scam them for a new phone.. Which was just strange, I can see you treating somebody like that if they come in with a year and a half old well abused phone and bitch and moan want a new one. I had the phone for under 60 days.. I just wanted the phone that I had to just work properly, that's all..
I told my rep that it's ridiculous that I should have to go and scream in some 22 year old kids face to get this thing replaced, it's obviously a lemon, and it shouldn't take that kind of effort. I had my account admin send me one of the crappy moto iDen flip phones that we have for backup, switched my number to that phone and told my rep, sprint nor RIM will ever personally see $ from me ever again..
and they never will
</MEGA-RANT>
I'd like Palm to stick around, but I really wonder if they'll see 2010..
You may not get the rebate. That's why they offer it that way.
Believe me, I know. I used to be on Sprint. Half of the rebates they refused to give me, even though I was very careful to do exactly what was demanded.
With one, they said that I sent it in too late, even thought I did it online, the very same day. Another time they said that I didn't fill one out correctly, even though I had made a copy, and showed them that I did.
Another time, I was told that I would be given a new phone for one that was broken, and that I should go back to the Sprint store I bought it from, only to have the manager of the store tell me that they didn't have to do what the Sprint telephone reps said they should.
Believe me, Sprint is not a wonderful place to be at.
If they're offering this with a $100 rebate, I guarantee that a fair number of people won't get it, or will have a hell of a time getting it. That's the whole point of rebates.
You wouldn't think they'd survive the furor. It'll be interesting to see it play out, if that happens.
I don't understand why companies offer rebates to entice a sale and then refuse to honor them. In the long run it's a shoot yourself in the foot policy. Out of convenience I was a regular major appliance shopping at Sears for my apartment building. I didn't get my promised rebate. I complained to the local store and the Chicago office of the CEO. They promised a gift card instead. It didn't come either. Now I get my major appliances from Pacific Sales (Best Buy) and do the "points" thing. So far the rebates have arrived, but would prefer a discounted price.
No company works the rebate themselves, though you may think they do from the e-mails and other communications you receive.
They hire companies that specialize in rebates. One of the biggest selling points these companies make to sell their services is the percentage of successful rebates they pay out. That is, the lower the percentage, the better.
I've preferred Newegg because they usually just have lower pricing. But now they also seem to have rebates at times. Sad.
Being able to same the pack with most iPods and the iPhone is a definite plus, instead of having to buy a different sized battery for each cell phone you get. The external battery pack you have now should work with future iPhones and iPods.
If you don?t have the pack with you but you have your laptop and the USB cable, connecting it to your notebook without logging in and putting the screen to black is a good way to charge the device many times over during a long trip where you are stuck on a plane or a bus or in some location that you know you won?t get access to an AC outlet.
I agree - my reality (only mine, I know), is that I have a 2yr old iPhone 2G, battery is still pretty good, but I have an iPhone/iPod charging ecosystem wherever I am.
Office - desk charger/laptop usb cable
On the road - dual tip to my Kensington laptop AC/DC power adapter or USB cable/laptop or rechargeable external battery pack (in the laptop bag)
Car - dash mount and car charger (used for iPod too).
In a pinch - anyone else's iPhone/iPod charger (even my mum has one)
Sounds like a lot of stuff but it is only mildly incremental to all the other stuff I have to carry anyway - laptop, power supply etc. or sits around in the places I inhabit. Given that I now use it as a gaming device a lot more than I thought I would, a paltry extra battery would not cut it anyway.
A small change in behavior (charge it every night [at least]), is a small price to pay for the productivity/enjoyment I get from it.
I agree - my reality (only mine, I know), is that I have a 2yr old iPhone 2G, battery is still pretty good, but I have an iPhone/iPod charging ecosystem wherever I am.
Office - desk charger/laptop usb cable
On the road - dual tip to my Kensington laptop AC/DC power adapter or USB cable/laptop or rechargeable external battery pack (in the laptop bag)
Car - dash mount and car charger (used for iPod too).
In a pinch - anyone else's iPhone/iPod charger (even my mum has one)
Sounds like a lot of stuff but it is only mildly incremental to all the other stuff I have to carry anyway - laptop, power supply etc. or sits around in the places I inhabit. Given that I now use it as a gaming device a lot more than I thought I would, a paltry extra battery would not cut it anyway.
A small change in behavior (charge it every night [at least]), is a small price to pay for the productivity/enjoyment I get from it.
Speaking of charging, how well does everyone think the "wireless charger" that supposedly comes with the pre will work?
Normally I would have a Apple fanboy kneejerk reaction to anything non-Apple.
but having seen the Pre now, with it's more mature look and feel compared to the candy looking iPhone
did I mention a real keyboard?
might be my next phone, but alas I can't seem to give up my cheap pay as I go phone.
I got a Macbook Pro and internet, I'm not mobile enough. I live in the country.
will they last? I don't think so, the market is flooded.
but then I said that about Apple and the iPhone.
what do I know...?
the real question is: how good is palm's mac support going to be? if it doesn't sync well, it's not going to fly in the mac market. my guess is - it's going to be sub par, crippled compared to the windows support and months later... i'd love to be proven wrong.
Comments
I don't want to buy and carry around a specialized battery that works for one device. I used my wife's ipod AA battery thingamig for my iPhone and a $10 external rechargable pack that isn't much larger than a cell phone battery because all it really is is a cell phone battery with a dock connector.
Well this was a discussion based on replaceable battery vs portable iphone charger, not universal battery booster (which I have one of lol.) To top it off, you can buy rechargeable AA batteries so you're not always throwing your money away.
I said it earlier and I'll say it again, a removable battery is really not that big of a feature that most people look at, and if they convince themselves it's the reason they didn't get an iphone, it's more than likely because that had a salesperson there doing most of the convincing. I'm just pointing out the irony in someone saying they don't want to carry another battery, but then they turn around and carry a portable charger specific to the iphone.
Obviously the fewer things anyone has to carry the better. If I could use my phone as my credit card, car keys, and personal ID, I would.
Oh and not having to send the phone off in case (God forbid) the battery screws up is an added advantage to being able to replace the battery.
Are you buying a Pre?
Hell yes -- I'll be first in line.............................................. ...................................6464 (22.0%)
No, I'm holding off till WWDC to see what Apple announces.................................14395 (49.0%)
No thanks, I'm sticking with my BlackBerry / S60 / Windows Mobile device............5915 (20.1%)
Huh? You mean am I buying the soundtrack to 'Prefontaine' starring Jared Leto?...2628 (..8.9%)
I just spent an gninormous amount of time on an airplane (24 friking hours including the layovers).
My iPhone lasted the whole time by being recharged via AA batteries. So I watched several movies, read a book and played a lot of games.
All without being able to replace the battery.
Being able to same the pack with most iPods and the iPhone is a definite plus, instead of having to buy a different sized battery for each cell phone you get. The external battery pack you have now should work with future iPhones and iPods.
If you don’t have the pack with you but you have your laptop and the USB cable, connecting it to your notebook without logging in and putting the screen to black is a good way to charge the device many times over during a long trip where you are stuck on a plane or a bus or in some location that you know you won’t get access to an AC outlet.
YOU tell me!
ASK those bitching about Pre's $199 cost after rebate- not me.
This cost for the 1st gen Pre seems reasonable to me considering all of Palm R&D costs , etc.
I'm not saying that the price isn't right for them. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the lowest they could charge for it and still eke out a profit. But that's also the problem. What if they have to drop the price by 50% over the $100 rebate? If they have to charge $149, or $129, or even $99, can they stay in business with that?
That's the big question.
HOw is that?
What CDMA peple who are happy with their service would want to switch to AT&T's lousy 3G network-Yechh!
The fanboyz have already switched - lightning will be very hard to strike 3 times. Many of the sales will be renewals only.
It's already been stated that people are switching from Verizon to go to AT&T for the iPhone. So you don't think they're moving from Sprint?
Sprint is bleeding customers right and left. Do you doubt a good number are moving to AT&T and going for the iPhone?
I assume you've been reading about all of the problems Sprint is having with keeping its customers. It's even been questioned whether Sprint will be a viable business in a couple of years.
Both Sprint and Palm need this to be a big success. It has to at least show that it can stop some of the defections of Sprints customer base. It also has to show that Palm will stop losing $100 million or more every quarter. This last quarter, losses were greater than sales. Palm's sales are less than a third than about a year ago.
The Pre is their last chance.
If it fails, it will not only take Palm with it, but will hurt Sprint severely, as they have nothing else to take up the slack. The Instinct didn't do well after the initial surge.
Like other networks, no, even more than other networks, Sprint must have a blockbuster phone. If this isn't it, what is?
My point is that a $200 Pre after rebate is not a bad deal, in fact it's excellent, for a brand new phone with this technology. The iPhone when originally introduced was overpriced- plain and simple. Hence the $200 reduction 2 months later with a $100 rebate for Apple products only. I know it brings up old wounds but that original pricing was BULL$HIT and indefensible.
Not sure what benchmarks you would use to call the price indefensible? Maybe some weird moral code where things should not be more expensive than you think they should be or can afford? The portal to that bizzaro dimension must be very small
It is simple business - price segmentation. If you have some thing revolutionary that you think people will pay a lot for, charge a lot for it so you get the early adopters/suckers' money. Normal business practice. Apple should only be criticized had they not done that. Then you reduce the price to grow volume, increase buzz, etc. after you have creamed off the early $$s.
It was a brilliant plan and it worked beyond anyone's expectations (except maybe Jobs'). Sell a couple of million with long lines out the doors, get millions of $ of free advertising and all that lovely up front revenue. Then offer that $100 rebate soon after to maintain the buzz and pretend to be a "nice" company (remember, it could only be spent on high margin Apple gear). Reduce prices further when you know it is a hit, then go to the standard carrier subsidy model as it goes mainstream. Now they are about to bump features at the same/lower price to hurt lower volume/margin competition, like with the iPod. All while still making industry leading margins...
Nothing about that is B#llsh!t or indefensible - Apple don't owe you a cheap phone. Pre pricing is fair or even cheap because the iPhone has boxed them in - almost no-one will pay much more for it than an iPhone even though it has all those as yet unrecouped R&D costs and Elevation Partners' "last chance saloon" premium to pay back. Palm wishes they could charge $600 each for the first million to frustrated hardcore Sprint fans but that ship sailed a couple of years back.
Let's face it - Apple is a brutal money making machine...
As for the Pre, it looks nice, but no landscape view, no landscape typing, extra small keys, and a smaller screen make it a no, no, no for me. Also, Sprint is last in users, I don't know how many will switch from their carrier to join the #4 carrier. We'll see. BUT competition is good, so I welcome it.
I
I wasn?t making a joke or being funny, but I was reading 3 pages of comments quickly to catch up with the thread. I?m guessing you were just continuing your thought, but you could be going senile you never know.
While it's always possible, if you read what i was responding to, you would have seen that it was a direct response to the other post, and I was conjecturing from what he had posted, that he hadn't thought about the situation, and that he do so.
The "Pre" is V-A-P-O-R-W-A-R-E! It's still a promise, a dream, a phantom, a wisp. Nothing more.
So it "looks good"? Big f-ing deal! Has anyone actually touched or used this thing for longer than 10 seconds? It's a Potemkin Village, folks! It's all facade, smoke, and mirrors!
Tell me: How well does that touch screen actually work? How rugged is it? Battery life good with all those background tasks running all the time? Will you need a bandolero of them for a day's calling and "computing"? How's the reception on the Sprint network? Moreover, how's the Sprint network itself? Hate AT&T and Verizon's coverage? Then you're absolutely going to convulse over Sprint's!
Gonna save some money with this device? Yeah? Not if there aren't any useful, rock-solid applications for it. Not if the service and support after the sale aren't there. Palm is on its way DOWN, ladies and gentlement. The slightest misstep with this phone, and it's GONE.
A TRUISM OF THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY: Never, never, never buy anything with a zero on the end of its version number. Now, let's see. The "Pre" is coming out with NO real-world testing by anyone and usage information from no one--and it's in Version 1.0. GOOD LUCK, people. Believe the dream. Maybe this beleaguered company can pull the first miracle in history and release a perfect device the first time.
The grass is always greener on the other side. Always. Until you get there and taste it. (Here's to the BlackBerry Storm, Vista, Windows 7, cars that run on water, the free lunch, and "the check's in the mail.")
Lol apple fan boys are freaking out! This is hilarious seeing all these paniced posts. If you like your iPhone then keep it. It won't make you any cooler I'd you switch with everyone else and get a Pre. Stop being rediculous people. The Pre is going to sell a ton of phones. I am so excited to toss my spotty coverage laggy iPhone 3g for a phone that works. The Pre is going to be awsome, who knows maybe apples new iPhone announcement will able to get peoples attention away from palms newer much better phone.
When iphone came out, it was 600 dollars, but the argument is that's because of the market. Now the pre is coming out, for half as much, and people are saying this is so horrible. Lets take a look at that for a second and compare it to complaints about the iphone's lack of mms and copy and paste. What's the argument there? The argument is that the iphone is still "young" and other phones had these features because they had time to develop them. Well, HELLO? The Pre won't have a 200 dollar price point right out of the gate because it will take time to get there, just as it took TWO YEARS for the iphone to get to the most basic features of a "smart phone."
To say the Pre should start out with all the latest and greatest is to also say the iphone should have as well. To say that Apple's excuse for these artificial limitations is because of it's infancy is to say that the Pre can carry that excuse for the next two years as well.
It's a given:
1. that a completely new product (like iPhone, Pre, Storm) can't have every feature that it's competitors already have.
2. that a new product will be criticized for the things it doesn't have.
The key to success is figuring out (a) which features will clearly differentiate your new product from its competitors, and make it super attractive to most consumers, (b) which features are needed (i.e. deal-breakers for many) but don't differentiate, and (c) which features aren't really needed in the current increment.
Everybody has a different perspective on what goes in a, b, and c. From my perspective, I don't think Palm has an outstanding (a). And now that Apple has raised the bar with the App Store, it's difficult to put an App Store into category (c) instead of (b).
I know I know, Palm was in the phone business long before Apple, right? Well instead of 2 years, lets see what Palm is capable of accomplishing with the Pre in ONE year.
Palm started work on the Pre around summer 2007, so they'll have been at it for 2 years (even discounting all their prior phone experience). And Apple supposedly started working on a phone in summer 2004, taking almost 3 years to get its first iPhone to market.
sorry for the following, but it was kind of cathartic
<MEGA-RANT>
I had a BB8830 that worked great, had unlimited phone as modem that worked great with my Macbooks, but it died after 9 months, complete hardware failure.. The bulk of our company is uses nextel DC, and since the BB 8350i had just came out I got one of those to get back DC, and just figured Wifi would stand in for the old sprint cdma data plan. It worked great for about a month.
Then it stopped connecting to the network. I ran a software update on it, and it worked for about a day. I literally spent 4 hours and 15 minutes on the phone with tech support, to completely wipe the phone and re-install the os. It worked for 4 days. I did this 3 more times each about 3 or 4 days apart, then for some reason the os reinstall failed and bricked the phone..
I had talked with my rep and initially thought they were just going to send a new phone, but my problems started after the 30 day return policy. Basically it started acting weird on day 26 but I didn't realize how weird the phone was getting until day 36.(My first daughter was born on day 29 and I was in the hospital with my wife for 4 days) My rep couldn't just send me a new one for some reason. He entered in a service note on my account that basically said charge the guy 50 bucks to look at his phone and then give him a replacement.
The guys at the local sprint store basically refused to charge me the 50 dollars insisting that the phone would be fine after a software restore.. and they could do that for free. No charge! Yay!
I explained to them that yes it does seem to work fine for a couple of days before it starts acting weird and won't connect anymore.. I asked the guy do you expect me to drive 20 minutes over here every 4 days and have you spend an hour re installing my os?
He looked at me like a dog that's been shown a card trick, and basically said "but look your phone is working great."
My rep told me to go back to the store and demand that they charge me the fee and replace my phone..
This took place over about a month and a half after the initial failure of the device, and that happened literally 3 days after my daughter was born... so you can imagine that I was fairly tired and kind of crazy busy with that. The last thing I wanted to deal with was dead cell phone. I just kind of assumed that it would work itself out, I mean why wouldn't it... (I think I still had a bit of the new father high going on, I was way more patient than I should've been.)
The worst part were the people at the sprint store. They were acting like I was trying to scam them for a new phone.. Which was just strange, I can see you treating somebody like that if they come in with a year and a half old well abused phone and bitch and moan want a new one. I had the phone for under 60 days.. I just wanted the phone that I had to just work properly, that's all..
I told my rep that it's ridiculous that I should have to go and scream in some 22 year old kids face to get this thing replaced, it's obviously a lemon, and it shouldn't take that kind of effort. I had my account admin send me one of the crappy moto iDen flip phones that we have for backup, switched my number to that phone and told my rep, sprint nor RIM will ever personally see $ from me ever again..
and they never will
</MEGA-RANT>
I'd like Palm to stick around, but I really wonder if they'll see 2010..
You may not get the rebate. That's why they offer it that way.
Believe me, I know. I used to be on Sprint. Half of the rebates they refused to give me, even though I was very careful to do exactly what was demanded.
With one, they said that I sent it in too late, even thought I did it online, the very same day. Another time they said that I didn't fill one out correctly, even though I had made a copy, and showed them that I did.
Another time, I was told that I would be given a new phone for one that was broken, and that I should go back to the Sprint store I bought it from, only to have the manager of the store tell me that they didn't have to do what the Sprint telephone reps said they should.
Believe me, Sprint is not a wonderful place to be at.
If they're offering this with a $100 rebate, I guarantee that a fair number of people won't get it, or will have a hell of a time getting it. That's the whole point of rebates.
You wouldn't think they'd survive the furor. It'll be interesting to see it play out, if that happens.
I don't understand why companies offer rebates to entice a sale and then refuse to honor them. In the long run it's a shoot yourself in the foot policy. Out of convenience I was a regular major appliance shopping at Sears for my apartment building. I didn't get my promised rebate. I complained to the local store and the Chicago office of the CEO. They promised a gift card instead. It didn't come either. Now I get my major appliances from Pacific Sales (Best Buy) and do the "points" thing. So far the rebates have arrived, but would prefer a discounted price.
No company works the rebate themselves, though you may think they do from the e-mails and other communications you receive.
They hire companies that specialize in rebates. One of the biggest selling points these companies make to sell their services is the percentage of successful rebates they pay out. That is, the lower the percentage, the better.
I've preferred Newegg because they usually just have lower pricing. But now they also seem to have rebates at times. Sad.
Being able to same the pack with most iPods and the iPhone is a definite plus, instead of having to buy a different sized battery for each cell phone you get. The external battery pack you have now should work with future iPhones and iPods.
If you don?t have the pack with you but you have your laptop and the USB cable, connecting it to your notebook without logging in and putting the screen to black is a good way to charge the device many times over during a long trip where you are stuck on a plane or a bus or in some location that you know you won?t get access to an AC outlet.
I agree - my reality (only mine, I know), is that I have a 2yr old iPhone 2G, battery is still pretty good, but I have an iPhone/iPod charging ecosystem wherever I am.
Office - desk charger/laptop usb cable
On the road - dual tip to my Kensington laptop AC/DC power adapter or USB cable/laptop or rechargeable external battery pack (in the laptop bag)
Car - dash mount and car charger (used for iPod too).
In a pinch - anyone else's iPhone/iPod charger (even my mum has one)
Sounds like a lot of stuff but it is only mildly incremental to all the other stuff I have to carry anyway - laptop, power supply etc. or sits around in the places I inhabit. Given that I now use it as a gaming device a lot more than I thought I would, a paltry extra battery would not cut it anyway.
A small change in behavior (charge it every night [at least]), is a small price to pay for the productivity/enjoyment I get from it.
WebOS. That's a pretty significant thing. Yes it's just an OS, but no one else has used it before.
Well, no, because it's Palm's OS.
I agree - my reality (only mine, I know), is that I have a 2yr old iPhone 2G, battery is still pretty good, but I have an iPhone/iPod charging ecosystem wherever I am.
Office - desk charger/laptop usb cable
On the road - dual tip to my Kensington laptop AC/DC power adapter or USB cable/laptop or rechargeable external battery pack (in the laptop bag)
Car - dash mount and car charger (used for iPod too).
In a pinch - anyone else's iPhone/iPod charger (even my mum has one)
Sounds like a lot of stuff but it is only mildly incremental to all the other stuff I have to carry anyway - laptop, power supply etc. or sits around in the places I inhabit. Given that I now use it as a gaming device a lot more than I thought I would, a paltry extra battery would not cut it anyway.
A small change in behavior (charge it every night [at least]), is a small price to pay for the productivity/enjoyment I get from it.
Speaking of charging, how well does everyone think the "wireless charger" that supposedly comes with the pre will work?
I'd rather take any stupid rebate from these companies than no rebate from Apple.
I hate rebates too but still prefer it to nothing or $100 off the company's products.
and that $100 bucks will come in handy for the second battery!
... IF you can wait a few weeks until that rebate check comes in.
We knew that.
and we're looking forward to it!
Normally I would have a Apple fanboy kneejerk reaction to anything non-Apple.
but having seen the Pre now, with it's more mature look and feel compared to the candy looking iPhone
did I mention a real keyboard?
might be my next phone, but alas I can't seem to give up my cheap pay as I go phone.
I got a Macbook Pro and internet, I'm not mobile enough. I live in the country.
will they last? I don't think so, the market is flooded.
but then I said that about Apple and the iPhone.
what do I know...?
the real question is: how good is palm's mac support going to be? if it doesn't sync well, it's not going to fly in the mac market. my guess is - it's going to be sub par, crippled compared to the windows support and months later... i'd love to be proven wrong.
Speaking of charging, how well does everyone think the "wireless charger" that supposedly comes with the pre will work?
No doubt it will work well enough. This isn't a new technology. My electric toothbrush has that as well.