The once - mighty Palm , still successful on newspaper publisher from the momentum of past gloriole , is doomed to slump and unsuccessful person . It was n’t always thus . Here ’s my pre-emptive post - mortem .
About 12 twelvemonth ago , I met with a man I did n’t be intimate , work for a startup I was unfamiliar with to see a product I ’d never heard of .
The adult male was Ed Colligan . The inauguration was Palm Computing ( though it had recently been acquired by modem Godhead U.S. Robotics ) . And the product was code - named “ Touchdown , ” later to be brand the “ Palm Pilot . ”
At the time , I was executive editor program of a computer magazine , and Palm was just one of a twelve or so companies schedule that week . Most of those meetings were forget minutes after they concluded . But the “ Touchdown ” meeting was a Book of Revelation . Colligan , now chair and CEO of Palm , left me a machine to test .
At the time , there were dozen of electronic organizer on the marketplace . But the Palm Pilot blow them all aside with its basal ease of consumption and alert performance .
The company invent the first great “ connected organizer , ” a PDA that synchronized with desktop coating like Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes . A computer software developer of almost any accomplishment level could create applications for it , and thousands did . Later , the founders of Palm invented the first great fresh earphone — fundamentally a Palm Pilot that made phone calls . They were tacky , round-eyed and merriment to apply .
The brain behind both these invention was , of form , Jeff Hawkins ( pdf data formatting ) . Together with atomic number 27 - founder Donna Dubinsky , Hawkins launched the companies and invent the devices that transformed — and , for a time , dominated — mobile computing .
The Palm Pilot was corking for the same ground iPods , Macs and other Apple product are expectant . In each case , development was lord over by a design and usability fascist drive by a herculean visual sense of the complete user experience .
What rifle incorrect ?
The tragical story of Palm ’s declination from greatness is a chronicle of consume resources and misplaced effort .
As transcendent as the companionship ’s ware and design decisions were , its concern conclusion - making was always problematic .
It all started when the founders of Palm leaven money for the first merchandise launch by betray the company to modem giant U.S. Robotics in 1995 . The beginner gained the cash they demand , but lost full control of both the company and the product — forever .
One class after U.S. Robotics was acquire by 3Com in June 1997 , the founders leave the company in disgust and launched Handspring , which eventually developed the first proficient aggregate - market smartphone , the Treo . 3Com made Palm an independent , publicly trade in company in March 2000 . In January 2002 , Palm disastrously twirl out its software package class as an independent company called PalmSource . Then , in August 2003 , the company merged with Handspring and renamed itself PalmOne . In April 2005 , the company , now called PalmOne , spent US$ 30 million to buy the “ Palm ” stylemark from PalmSource , and changed its name back to Palm . In December 2006 , Palm bear $ 44 million for memory access to the Palm OS source code it used to own , so it could make its own software again .
See the trend ?
Palm merges with another company only later to be spun off . The companionship ignores the founders ’ counseling , only to later take their startup and take up their direction . Palm whirl out the software section only later to buy back the rights to it . laurel wreath give up the Palm trademark only to later buy it back .
How many time has Palm distrait , divide and plundered the caller with spinoffs , acquisition and mismanagement ?
Palm ’s prescribed timeline provides another thought of what drop dead incorrect .
From 1995 to 2000 , many of the timeline milestones utilise the word “ rotation ” and feature multiple design awards for innovation . The fellowship was an unstoppable , conception - crazy company focused like a optical maser radio beam on ware enormousness .
The news in 2000 was all about the speedy ontogenesis in developers , from 31,000 early in the year to more than 100,000 by September .
After that , the “ milestones ” are bland corporate blather about partnerships , young markets and bore novel mathematical product launches . The “ revolutions ” and design awards move from Palm ’s history page to those of other companies .
It ’s an simplism , but as control over Palm was transpose from the visionary to the suits , the products became more generic and uninspired .
Which was o.k. — for a while .
Why Palm is destine
Unless Palm find its way , it may slouch into obscurity or cease to exist altogether in the come age .
Currently , Palm is a profitable company with lots of customers , partners and investors . The party seems to be doing OK , and Wall Street is n’t worried . Quercus marilandica
The trouble is that the reality has changed radically in just the past twelvemonth . It ’s hard to believe , but it was only a class ago that the smartphone purchasing conclusion was as easy as paper or plastic — BlackBerry or Treo ?
But as more player jump into the smartphone French telephone market , margin shrink and exploiter outlook prove . And everyone seems to be innovate except for the great groundbreaker — Palm .
During the preceding twelvemonth , all the major players launch “ Treo Killer ” devices , include Research in Motion with both its BlackBerry Pearl and the Pearl ’s full - keyboard cousin , the BlackBerry 8800 . Samsung ’s goes directly after the Treo market . The Motorola Q is hot . Nokia , Hewlett - Packard , Sony , Samsung and others are all gunning for Treo with brand - new , full - featured smartphone gadgets .
And then , last month , iPhone changed everything . Jobs ’ Macworld keynote was like a nuclear bomb in the human race of smartphone enthusiast . The “ key influencers ” who gave Treos visibility and cachet a class ago — Hollywood type , gadget freaks and utterly everyone who ’s anyone in Silicon Valley — have stopped spill the beans about Treos and are just waiting for the iPhone to follow out , at which clock time they will unceremonially floor their Treos and espouse the young innovation loss leader .
Meanwhile , it see like Palm is n’t even seek to innovate . Colligan said in an interview recently that the company is focused on ease of use , rather than intention , and that the company does n’t require to “ keep an eye on innovation fads . ” In other Word , Palm is not only miscarry to set movement , it ’s not even following them any longer .
Reason for hope
Despite my doom - and - sombreness scenario , there is reason to hope that Hawkins may save the company yet again .
rumour suggest that Jeff Hawkins is toiling away in some confidential lab to build a radical gimmick that will leapfrog Palm forwards of the coterie . If the hearsay are true , Palm has a chance to survive . If false , Palm is probably toast .
The $ 64,000 motion is : Has Palm lost its mojo ? In other countersign , does Palm still cerebrate like Apple — that the product is everything — or is the company think more like HP , where partnerships , branding shell game and self-aggrandizing enterprise spate are most important ?
HP fails in the smartphone market in part because of an commit delusion , plebeian at most self-aggrandising and old Silicon Valley companies , that enterprises buy smartphones based on security , back - end infrastructure keep and integration with endeavour systems in world-wide .
Yes , those things are important . But in the smartphone market , cool is Rex , even at the biggest company . RIM does a outstanding task support business goal . But brim is number one because masses “ make out ” their BlackBerrys . Palm is issue two ( but dropping tight ) because citizenry “ love ” ( or used to love ) their Treos .
A gizmo that fire an emotional response from emptor can emerge only from visionary design , and can not be produced with a design - by - commission corporate culture .
Palm has plentifulness of Johnny Cash and reasonable prospects for growth . My advice is to throw every cent at Hawkins and let him build the equipment of his dreams without interference . Everything the company now has start with Hawkins ’ design vision .
give its chronicle , however , I think it ’s likely that Palm will squander Hawkins ’ brain yet again with another disastrous stunt , such as sell the companionship .
The software business , PalmSource , sold out to Japan ’s Access Systems in a $ 324 million heap . The company changed the name of the operating system of rules to the Garnet OS . That ware is now headed for obscurity and irrelevance .
Will Palm surveil PalmSource down the route to oblivion ? We ’ll see .
If the company can remain true to its founding imagination , remain main and out - innovate everyone else like it used to , you may disregard everything I ’ve write here . But if Palm stay on its current flight , the troupe is history .
Mike Elgan is a technology writer and former editor of Windows Magazine . He can be reach at mike.elgan@elgan.com or his blog : http://therawfeed.com .
