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Palm CEO on Apple iPhone Threat

Mr_Ed said:
I couldn't agree more. I still think a cell phone should be, first and foremost, a decent telephone! If it stops working after I drop it on carpet, or the person at the other end sounds like they are taking through a "tin can", or if the reception "goes down more frequently than a five dollar hooker" and it drops calls, I don't really give a rat's ass about a built in camera, video, music player, fancy ringers, or any of the other "bells and whistles" that seem to be a marketing priority these days. Then there's the whole battery life issue. I don't want to caught off guard with a dead phone late one night because I happened to be in the mood for music that day and used the phone as a music player all day. Give me a good telephone, and decent features that enhance that function (BT hands free, sync, etc.) first. Then worry about the other gimmicks.
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I'll agree as well. One feature that Apple might be able to captalize on, if they do sell direct to consumers rather than through carriers, would be resolution of the bells/whistles problem.

For some people, a phone isn't a phone unless is has a 3MP camera, takes 640x480 video, etc. For others, all they want is basic PDA functionality. Would it be possible for Apple to offer a BTO option? I mean, Camera/Video is generally listed under a single menu option, and it wouldn't be that difficult to design the firmware to only display the category if the Camera is installed. To make things easier, Apple could stock one or two basic models in their stores, and leave people to go to apple.com for customizations...Any reason why this couldn't work?
 
nbs2 said:
I'll agree as well. One feature that Apple might be able to captalize on, if they do sell direct to consumers rather than through carriers, would be resolution of the bells/whistles problem.

For some people, a phone isn't a phone unless is has a 3MP camera, takes 640x480 video, etc. For others, all they want is basic PDA functionality. Would it be possible for Apple to offer a BTO option? I mean, Camera/Video is generally listed under a single menu option, and it wouldn't be that difficult to design the firmware to only display the category if the Camera is installed. To make things easier, Apple could stock one or two basic models in their stores, and leave people to go to apple.com for customizations...Any reason why this couldn't work?
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Other than confusing everyone with too many options, no.

If you're a teenage girl, your phone has to have a camera on it, meaning you'll have to go to Apple.com to custom-order it. That's complicated.
If you're a hiker, maybe you're going to want a phone with GPS, meaning you'll have to go to Apple.com to custom-order it. That's complicated.
If you're a huge multitasker, you're going to want PDA-functionality, meaning you'll have to go to Apple.com to custom-order it. That's complicated.

Very few people, I feel, will want a bare-bones phone... meaning most will have to go to Apple.com to custom-order it. That's too complicated for most people to do.

So in short, no, I don't think that'll work. Good idea, though. That way you'd get a phone with the features you want without the crap that you don't want. Unfortunately, as far as a particular model of phone goes, it's either all or nothing... and I don't think Apple will want to release 18 different models of phone, each with different capabilities... that's worse than BTO.

-Clive
 
Wouldn't it be something if Apple sold one of the first unlocked phones from the get-go.

You walk into an Apple store, they have the iPhone in GSM form.. and you get a trade-in discount for your old phone.. the Apple reps pop-out your sim card, transfer your contacts.. and hand you an ipod like phone that has all your old info in it and works with your current plan.

:eek:
 
cr2sh said:
Wouldn't it be something if Apple sold one of the first unlocked phones from the get-go.

You walk into an Apple store, they have the iPhone in GSM form.. and you get a trade-in discount for your old phone.. the Apple reps pop-out your sim card, transfer your contacts.. and hand you an ipod like phone that has all your old info in it and works with your current plan.

:eek:
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im pretty sure thats what steevie boy has in mind ;)
 
Here is my prediction:

The number one characteristic of the first generation of Apple phones will be that they a "#$+@ expensive".

What does this mean? A concept they teach in business school is how to set a price to maximize profit. It's easy to see that if you price it to low you sell a zillion units but loose money and if priced to high you don't sell any so there is a sweet spot where the number of units sold times the per unit margin is maximized. In theory you can write an equation to model this then do some math to find it's maximum point. (remember: set the derivative to zero then solve for X from Calculus 101?) So much for theory. I doubt they will do that. I think Apple will price these higher then the theoretical "best" price. This way they sell far fewer units then they otherwise would. This let's them grow their service side of the iPhone business at a manageable rate. If Apple's business plan is sane they can't be going for a large share of the cell phone market

OK so in short they use a high price to throttle sales to a rate their service can support. I'm thinking this will be a $500 phone with a $99/month minimum contract. Basically you ain't going to get a free Apple iPhone with your $29.00/month 2 year contract.

Apple is partnering with an air-time provider so they will not get to keep much of the per-month fee, they will have to make money up front with hardware sales unless they can offer some non airtime monthly service like .mac
 
ChrisA said:
Apple is partnering with an air-time provider so they will not get to keep much of the per-month fee, they will have to make money up front with hardware sales unless they can offer some non airtime monthly service like .mac
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No. I don't see apple "partnering" with anyone. This will be an Apple phone... the carriers will line up to sell the next hot thing. If Apple "partners" with Cingular.. the phone loses part of its apple identity... I don't see it happening. Plus it invites someone else to the table.. I don't understand why Apple would do this.

Ah gotcha, with the max/min talk. NM.
 
Clive At Five said:
Other than confusing everyone with too many options, no. <snip>
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You break my heart. Something tells me that this won't be the phone for me. I would put money on it having the one thing I don't want - a camera. I don't want it, I don't need it, and it's a pain to have one.

Although, I was thinking that there would be just a couple of BTO options - maybe a camera and BT - not an entire gamut of BTO possabilities. I agree that too many would be expensive (and the firmware would end up too complicated).
 
"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,'' he said. "PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.''

Oh fercrissake! These corporate types just never learn, do they? Remember when digital photography came along and Kodak said it was not worth the time to bother with? Remember when music stores and music player companies sat around and ignored the iPod and iTunes? Remember when Microsoft wasn't so sure about this new fad called the Internet?

You either learn from history or you repeat it. If Apple unveils some interesting new take on the cell phone, these same guys are going to be crying foul over it, and yet they've had all the time in the world to prepare for it and--better yet--do something really innovative on their own. I hope Apple does pull off another iPod-style shake-up. I despise the way most cell phones are (over)designed and don't function the way you would expect. I'd love to see Apple come at it from their own design viewpoint and freak everyone out.
 
nbs2 said:
You break my heart. Something tells me that this won't be the phone for me. I would put money on it having the one thing I don't want - a camera. I don't want it, I don't need it, and it's a pain to have one.

Although, I was thinking that there would be just a couple of BTO options - maybe a camera and BT - not an entire gamut of BTO possabilities. I agree that too many would be expensive (and the firmware would end up too complicated).
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I think I would sold on a camera if and only if it takes >3MP shots & syncs w/ iPhoto... and the phone costs less than $300. :p

-Clive
 
Palm makes nothing but garbage.

The management of the company, in fact, was so pathetic that they ended up selling out to big MS and making PPC-based phones like everyone else. Ever since that day, I have no interest for any of the garbage they make - and I was lusting after their stupid overpriced and ugly PDA phones before they made that decision.
 
Alex Urchin said:
Wasn't it exactly the same story with the iPod?
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Exactly. :rolleyes:

How are Rio, Creative, and all the other "iPod Killer" product manufacturers like Sony doing nowadays in the digital music player market? :p

Rio's out of business and Creative is now part of the "Made For iPod" accessory community? :eek: Walkman? what the H*LL is that?! :confused:

Take notes Palm. History repeats itself. :cool:
 
vincebio said:
im pretty sure thats what steevie boy has in mind ;)
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I never buy "locked" phones anymore. Yeah, unlocked ones cost more because they're not subsidized by the cell phone companies, but if service sucks or I go overseas (which I frequently do), I can get another company's SIM and put it in my phone. Voila! It works!

I have a Sony/Ericsson W810i with 2GB memory card. Its tiny screen only allows 176x144 video (MPEG-4 or 3GP at 30 frames per second), but that also becomes an advantage. Full-length movies at that screen resolution only take up 150-200MB. I use FFMpegX to compress movies for my phone.

The phone also has a 2 megapixel camera with true autofocus and macro, and plays MP3 and AAC/MP4 audio files with its built-in speaker or outstanding earphones. It has a FM radio with RDS, plays Java games, has Bluetooth and can be used as a Bluetooth controller/mouse or modem on Macs and PCs, it supports EDGE high-speed Internet, it can run the Java version of Opera but it also has a decent built-in browser, and is fully supported by iSync. And it's tiny.

Okay, Apple... that's your yardstick. Come up with somethings significantly better. I know you can do it.

-Aaron-
 
So Palm is saying Apple can't make a phone as good as Palm. Palm makes smart phones, which I don't even know that Apple is making. But let's say they are. A smart phone is a cell phone combined with a PDA. Which leads to my question: didn't Apple invent the PDA with Newton, or did Palm come first?

I always assumed the Newton came first since everyone always says Newton's failing was being ahead of its time, but I might be wrong.

But nonetheless, you have to think that there must be valuable technology and learninge experience Apple has for having made both the Newton and the iPod that they would use in making a phone.
 
Colligan said:
"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,'' he said. "PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.''
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It's this kind of thinking that is behind the failure of Palm today.
 
iPhone

I am very excited to see what Apple is going to make of a mobile phone (or whatever it will be). iChat integration would be great, but even greater still, is an EASY way to use iChat to communicate with the rest of the world. Not just MSN, but Yahoo and a host of other services, why don't they all sit down and either use all formats, or agree upon a common standard so that everyone can contact eachother, just like we can do by using a phone! Which is where we started this thread about. About that 'PC guy' remark, Apple is in the Mac business when it comes to computers. Not PC's. (Yes I know a Mac is a PC in a sense, but it's far more developed, and sexy, yes I said it, sexy!Macs are sexy, and they also work well for those who are not sensitive to that appeal)
I think that whatever Apple is going to introduce, is going to be innovative beyond belief.

Whether the market will accept it and buy it in great numbers we'll see, but Apple has a far greater appeal to the general public than it had say 10 years ago?
 
apple knows hot to create sexy products and market a gotta-have-it item, and with the cell phone market fickle yet fervent, a brand name like apple with premium brand badging and daring design could make big waves and have their loyal fanbase purchase yet another apple product in a different arena... i think its a good risk on apples part and will probably make me shares go up.
 
Living in Australia, we don't have many technological advantages over the US, but the telecommunications strategy is one.

We, in general, do not have locked phones over here, nor crippled ones like your companies currently provide but they are still subsidised by the telecoms.

I currently have an 02 XDA II Mini, and if Apple did release a phone with even basic PDA features, wi-fi and bluetooth I would dump this Microsoft POS immediately.

The hard thing to get right about a PDA with phone, is that it is a PDA with a phone component added in. It doesn't work brilliantly.

I have no doubt that Apple would do a much better job integrating all the different components together for a seamless experience, even with V.1 of the product.
 
Actually, I just realized the real irony in this comment Palm made!

:D :D

It's rather funny, Palm is saying "PC guys" can't design a phone, but last I checked, Palm got their butt whooped so bad by some "PC guys" that run a little company called Microsoft, that all of their new products run that OS!

Hypocritical, no? :eek: :D
 
vincebio said:
yeah. except they forgot to put RAM in it...and the firmware is crap so far..and the battery last about...erm, 24 hours..and they wont support mac..ever!

great phone though!:)
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If I am not mistaken the phone is Linux base which does mean Apple support from my knowledge of Linux pdas.
 
JoeG4 said:
Palm makes nothing but garbage.

The management of the company, in fact, was so pathetic that they ended up selling out to big MS and making PPC-based phones like everyone else. Ever since that day, I have no interest for any of the garbage they make - and I was lusting after their stupid overpriced and ugly PDA phones before they made that decision.
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They sold out to MS because the idiots at Palm couldn't find their butt with a flashlight and both hands. Seriously in 2001 the CEO of Palm stood infront of a crowd at CES and stated our users don't want color, sound etc. It was the beginning of the end because by the time they figured out that yes. Not only do users want color and sound they also want the ability to multitask. Something that POS (Notice that Palm OS and Peice of **** share the same acronym.) STILL to this day doesn't really do. Well it sort of does it in a craptacular manner. My point is Palm doomed them selves because they had management who didn't have a clue or simply didn't have the resources to really revamp the OS from the ground up. I'm willing to bet there is legacy code in POS that dates back to v1. Because POS never had its OS X its Windows 2000. It never had its rewrite. All Palm has been doing is slapping on a new addition to the house and calling it NEW and improved!
It isn't. It sucks and the Pocket PC or Windows Mobile (ick I hate that name.) kicks the living snot out of POS right now in pretty much every way imaginable. Heck Palm is so lost that they are trying to pull an Apple. they purchased some *nix company in China that has experience with mobile versions of *nix and right now is trying to migrate POS over to a *nix flavor of OS.
Unfortunately unlike Apple its too little, too late.
Palm went to Windows because they didn't want to stay stuck in the mobile equivalent of DOS.
 
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