Armchair CEO: Apple
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Palm is now palmOne and PalmSource - US
This happened a while ago, and I'm only now getting to comment...
Why? Because Palm won't be around for much longer...
No, I'm not bitter because Palm's newest OS isn't mac compatible. It's the old story where a company, once dominant, decides to replicate instead of innovate.
This is one instance where Microsoft's PocketPC format is really making a superior OS for a couple of reasons...
1. Flash player! Why doesn't Palm get on board with this? I mean, there's a TOY that uses Flash for crying out loud! This is critical for developers... At least, those hobbyist developers like me. It also goes to "create once, publish anywhere"-- a philosophy I helped pioneer when Flash came out. How can Sony tweak the PalmOS to run Flash, but Palm can't?
2. Personally, I think the Palm hardware/software split is ridiculous. It reminds me of when Apple spun of Claris. What hubris! There are inherent efficiencies when dealing with tight software/hardware co-development... I don't see how the split helped efficiency. Imagine Apple splitting it's hw/sw departments. Also, Microsoft made a pretty good case for not splitting it up (monopoly) into browser and OS divisions...
3. They might not go away, but will be relegated to smart phones. Let's face it, devices like the OQO are where the future lies, and Palm keeps churning out inferior hardware/software in comparison (granted, it's much cheaper).
I think Apple, Sony, or even MS should just buy Palm out... And don't give me a sob story about BeOS. They should've gone into hardware for a niche. They could have beat Apple to the punch if they'd played their multimedia-OS cards correctly... (think iLife 1999)...
