Comments on: Tech Ticker Interview with Elevation's Roger McNamee
In a video posted Friday, Sarah Lacy of Yahoo's Tech Ticker has interviewed Elevation Partners' Roger McNamee on the reasons for Elevation's original investment in Palm and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the new Pre vs the likes of iPhone and Blackberry.
Apart from incredibly long, lustrous hair that would make Fabio cry himself to sleep, Roger also sports a Batman-style utility belt on which he carries every major smartphone on the market – including, amusingly, a broken first-gen iPhone with a dud battery. "If you're an investor in Palm, it's really handy to have with you a competitor's product that's a complete turkey," he jokes.
Hit the jump for the embedded video along with some of the best quotes transcripted, including a more detailed explanation of webOS's innovative "thinking ahead" design.
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RE: And in this video, he says ...
Well, there is the sense that it's theoretically possible to port between any two Turing complete languages, if you don't care about memory size, performance or power, or how long it might take to do this theoretical port... but that's in the same league as "assume a spherical cow"...
RE: And in this video, he says ...
That one makes all the difference.
All computer programs are not equal.
=========
There's a book - what is it called? "Flatland", I think I remember - yes, that's it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland
RE: And in this video, he says ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzCj7-3S1Mc
Sky Map works on my T-Mobile G1 even though its a little slow. If they can port a computationally intensive application like this one which requires them to constantly update the screen in real time using GPS and network data which is actually useful for stargazing and astronomy, then the foggy mirror shouldn't be too tough.
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/
RE: And in this video, he says ...
What does 'The Cloud' REALLY mean?
So sez Ars Technica, telling people to read this very long Q&A:
http://arstechnica.com/guides/other/hp-cloud-computing-interview.ars/1
All of you can jump on this ahead of me. It's too long for me to read on my monitor. I've dumped it into my LifeDrive to read tomorrow morning.
RE: What does 'The Cloud' REALLY mean?
the cloud is great in theory but i don't like the latency, hassle, speed, cost, security, sync, interface, etc. issues.
RE: What does 'The Cloud' REALLY mean?
Oh, that certainly set of a synaptic trigger in the ol' noggin!
I used to consult for a large international company. That company had employees, important employees, banging against databases served from Virginia. For the employees in, say, New York City this didn't present much of a problem - the use paradigm of "Change a field, send off the change, process the change resulting in more changes, send back the results" didn't have impact - their connection was so fast it was as if they were sitting next to the database servers. But the folks in Singapore had a fit; as each person over there tried out a change there were multiple back and forths between Singapore and Virginia as the spreadsheet-like calculations wended their way back and forth across half-second-latency connections; these important people would sit their fuming each for an eternity as they tried things out.
You don't want important people sitting there fuming.
The "solution" was to take essentially all the functionality off the person's workstation and place it on a server local to the database servers with only I/O handled "locally". Thus a change would get sent over to Virginia, massive database manipulations between the Virginia databases and the Virginia "application" would take place at local-to-Virginia speeds, then the resulting screen "deltas" (X-Windows stuff) would be sent back to Singapore.
It was a solution that worked for a single database server location.
It will be interesting to see how "the cloud" - where multiple database server locations and even possibly interesting critical-section-type or race-condition-type conflicts may exist will work in real life.
RE: What does 'The Cloud' REALLY mean?
The Nightmare of Cloud is already here: just try accessing Fictionwise or using its search engine!!
Pre on sale March 15th?!
Don't blame me. I just searched Twitter!
RE: Pre on sale March 15th?!
More Patent Trouble?
Firm seeks to bar Nokia, RIM, Palm from importing devices into U.S.
ITC will investigate the complaint by Saxon Innovations that handheld devices from major vendors violate its patents
At issue are three patents that Saxon purchased in July 2007, a patent for keypad monitor with keypad activity-based activation; a patent for an apparatus and method for disabling interrupt marks in processors or the like; and a patent for a device and method for interprocessor communication by using mailboxes owned by processor devices. Saxon, with five employees, purchased about 180 U.S. patents formerly owned by Advanced Micro Devices or Legerity in 2007, according to its ITC complaint.
The keypad monitor patent was granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in August 1993 to AMD. The interrupt marks patent was granted in June 1996, and the mailbox patent was granted in March 1997, both to AMD.
RE: More Patent Trouble?
Now pay me.
Patents *do* expire, you know. How old are these? The Patent Office could invalidate these if they have moss growing on them.
RE: More Patent Trouble?
"twrock is infamous around these parts" (from my profile over at Brighthand due to my negative 62 rep points rating)
That Hawkins Quote!
http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=7999
Begins to make sense now, with the Pre.
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
You MUST still be hungover from last night. Can't even do English.
And no, it DOESN'T "sounds" the iPhone. The iPhone doesn't aggregate your contacts, the iPhone doesn't do any automagic to Teh Clowd.
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
hawkins doesnt mention or imply cloud. in fact, it sounds like a pretty rich and robust LOCAL device.
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
but - this makes me wonder - did hawkins have ANYTHING to do with the Pre/WebOS? my guess is NO. after the fooleo disaster, they put him out to pasture.
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
Oh god ... the Pre-Foleo?!
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
I seem to remember some guy named Steve had a uniquely high-speed internet connection in his house so he could experiment with what such a world would be like.
10, 15 years ago?
Alas, can't find a link for it, unfortunately.
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/07/worlds-fastest-.html
Man, what I could do with THAT!
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
I don't think he'd be to blame for Foleo. If it had come out a year earlier it might have been something special, but Palm's idea that it could develop two brand-new operating systems at the same time was nuts and made Foleo late to the party. Heck, maybe we'd have seen Pre and webOS six months ago if they hadn't split their resources the way they did.
Two of his ideas for Foleo have made the transition to webOS anyways - no need to save, multiple-device sync (which is essentially what the cloud-sync is). I still reckon the Foleo is going to get revisited in the days ahead - albeit with the hardware and software it should have debuted with in the first place.
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 -> Treo 650 -> Treo 680 -> Centro
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
Oh wow. I hadn't thought of that!
That might have had a July into ... going up against the opening of the iPhone App Store!
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/iphone-app-store-now-open/
And the first day of sale for the iPhone 3G!
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/no-iday-2008-here/
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/iday-2008-2-still-lines/
Really, it was better for Palm to intro it when they did, at CES. They got ALL the press.
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
Really, it was better for Palm to intro it when they did, at CES. They got ALL the press.
And how did McNamee put it? Something about being lucky that Jobs wasn't at Macworld and Apple didn't have anything interesting to announce.
"twrock is infamous around these parts" (from my profile over at Brighthand due to my negative 62 rep points rating)
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
The "Pre" has some interesting features and looks pretty, but I'm wondering how much of the baby they are throwing away with the bathwater by trying to mimic the iPhone. No removable flash, pitifully low permanent flash, no stylus, etc. There's a reason that Frankengarnet devices are STILL selling years past their perceived obsolescence, and it ain't because we feel charitable toward Palm....
Palm "Preh": as in "eh, where's the microSD and Garnet emulator?"
RE: That Hawkins Quote!
Yeah, like Blazer puts Safari to shame.
Next!
Waiting for Dvorak to be Stupid again...
http://theappleblog.com/2007/04/04/dvorak-iphone-battery-dead-after-40-minutes/
Don't bother clicking through to the original Marketwatch story. It's 404ed.
RE: Waiting for Dvorak to be Stupid again...
Even PALM was smart enough to get a replaceable battery into the Treo 6xx series as soon as they took control over it.
Palm "Preh": as in "eh, where's the microSD and Garnet emulator?"
RE: Waiting for Dvorak to be Stupid again...
I'm not sure anyone anywhere is really happy with the battery life of anything. We all want MOAR!
RE: Waiting for Dvorak to be Stupid again...
I was left with a phone that had its 3G radio disabled and a battery life that still only lasted half as long as the first. I was ready to return it and go back to my original iPhone with cracked screen.
Update 2.1 didn't help, and neither did 2.1.1. Finally, about six weeks after I first bought it, software update 2.2 completely cured everything. Battery life was back up to my two day standard, and 3G reception was suddenly phenomenal everywhere (with one dropped call in the last six months). So I was in the same boat as those guys you talked to. Fortunately, it has changed very much since then. Who knew a software update could do so much?
The sad truth is that a very tiny minority of cell phone users actually have secondary batteries. That probably prompted Apple to create a non-user-replaceable battery.
-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G
RE: Waiting for Dvorak to be Stupid again...
RE: Waiting for Dvorak to be Stupid again...
It's not just about secondary batteries. It's about being able to replace a dud without having to pay $85.95 for the privelidge of sending your phone away for a week and having all your data erased. Or upgrading it, as I did with my Treo 680 when Seidio released a larger-capacity battery.
Sure, only a minority of users might call upon it. But that doesn't mean you say "**** 'em".
RE: Waiting for Dvorak to be Stupid again...
RE: Waiting for Dvorak to be Stupid again...
It's a "standard" 800w (and Centro, though there's a Centro specific version with an Athena connector) portable charger that charges "standard" 800w/Pre/Centro batteries.
I imagine this same Charger will rebranded/repackaged for the Pre and sold as such, probably with a higher pricetag.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?
RE: Waiting for Dvorak to be Stupid again...
Palm Pre Launcher screensnaps
I didn't know there was a *second* screen on the CES demo models.
See what you can make out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecane02/
Source video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjQ4v2QEZUI
Palm Pre Size Photos and other Pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vagabondproject/3183718967
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vagabondproject/3184570910/
Palm Pre next to a bunch of others:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vagabondproject/3184551600/
Also:
Web brow[s]ing on Palm Pre looks good
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33829657@N02/3180582910/
Books for devs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15583899@N00/3180792460/
- hmmm... Eclipse and SQLite?
CES Partner list:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techpulse360/3186502261/
- you know, Amazon has an iPhone app. One coming for Pre too?
(Amazon iPhone app: http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/iphone-devs-plough-your-own-furrow/ )
And these two just SCREAMs, "Kiss ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techpulse360/3187373608/
"... my ass, Cane!"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techpulse360/3186513803/
RE: Palm Pre Size Photos and other Pics
Books for devs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15583899@N00/3180792460/
- hmmm... Eclipse and SQLite?
The SDK uses Eclipse as IDE (just like the acccess garnet dev kit) and sqllite is the db engine included in webos.
-------------
Hey Admin: Why do we have to keep two profiles?
RE: Palm Pre Size Photos and other Pics
RE: Palm Pre Size Photos and other Pics
The advantage is that it brings a relational db to a device. It works with the widely known SQL language, and does not require a specific API, as it is the case with garnet, for example. Moreover it can be accessed directly from the webkit engine (provided that the implementation of html 5 supports it), though it's likely it will also be available through the system api.
-------------
Hey Admin: Why do we have to keep two profiles?
RE: Palm Pre Size Photos and other Pics
Pre: Keyboard Launch Shortcuts CONFIRMED!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpCdQg4_QpI
And go droooool over this multiple instance of the web browser vid:
http://www.precentral.net/youtube-video-features-palm-pre-web-browser
RE: Pre: Keyboard Launch Shortcuts CONFIRMED!
RE: Pre: Keyboard Launch Shortcuts CONFIRMED!
Also, there was another video I pointed to where the demo was of the email app and it looked to be called up entirely via the keyboard, no list to choose from as with the amazon app demo.
RE: Pre: Keyboard Launch Shortcuts CONFIRMED!
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/
RE: Pre: Keyboard Launch Shortcuts CONFIRMED!
Treo and Centro have find-as-you-type built-in to the Contacts app and the Launcher, but it's not universal like the Pre. On the Centro you can also assign OS-wide keyboard shorcuts to apps (i.e. I have "K" for World Clock, "T" for PocketTunes, "W" for Web etc).
What I really hope is that they include music & media files in the search, not just apps and contacts - or at least give you the option as to what will be searched. That'd be killer. Beats the crap out of constant scolling through your media library (which even on the dinky 6GB microSD in my Centro is hundreds and hundreds of files).
New phone features 'baffle users'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7833944.stm
>>>Mr Bancroft said setting up a new phone should take only 15 minutes but many people were spending an hour or more to get the handset to do what they wanted.
>>>He added that most people wanted to do such tasks as browsing the web, reading e-mail, or sending picture messages, but the complexity of modern handsets was leaving them foxed.
I wonder how many of these phones have Nokia on them? And how many have Symbian, WinMob - and even *PalmOS* - under the hood?
shameless
palm_inc: Did you catch Palm-investor Bono on the "We Are One" inauguration music fest? He performed just before ("pre") the president-elect.
half a minute ago · Reply · View Tweet
RE: shameless
Did you put the Lexus on Craigslist yet?
RE: shameless
projecting again?
yeah - your daily activities - mending chicken wire, reading comic books, and cooking microwave pizzas is fascinating.
RE: shameless
And if you're going to keep scratching down there, ffs, go to a pharma and get some ointment!
Big Brother hiding in the Cloud
If You Commit a Felony, Don't Google It or You'll Go to Jail
By matt buchanan, 1:00 PM on Mon Jan 19 2009, 7,854 views
-
nomayo
1:20 PM
The real problem is for folks like me who use gmail or other google services that keep you logged in. In this case, my google searches are being stored and tied to my account to better serve advertising to me. The problem with that is, one subpeona to google and it'll be used to serve you to a jury.
http://i.gizmodo.com/5134441/if-you-commit-a-felony-dont-google-it-or-youll-go-to-jail
RE: Big Brother hiding in the Cloud
Civil liberties = "hippie rights" to *you*.
And FYI: Schmuck, the ENTIRE INTERNET has been filtered through the NSA for YEARS now.
CompanionLink to sync Pre via USB
"CompanionLink users will be able to sync contacts, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, calendar events, tasks, notes, and alarms and reminders between the Palm Pre and popular contact management solutions like ACT! by Sage, Google, Palm Desktop, Lotus Notes, GoldMine, and Microsoft Outlook. Complete two-way synchronization ensures that any change to data on the Palm Pre will synchronize back with the contact management database. CompanionLink lets users choose between wired (USB) sync and wireless (over-the-air) sync with their phone."
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Companionlink-Software-Inc-939116.html
http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=175796
(hat tip to Goyena)
RE: CompanionLink to sync Pre via USB
looking on companionlink's site, i see they offer their "wireless sync" for $9.95/month on their servers. maybe that's the up-sell. offer the USB sync bundle free with the pre and at little/no cost to palm - and get the chance to up-sell the subscription service to all of palm's potentially huge user base via the "upgrade now" icon. give away the razor to sell the razor blades.
http://www.companionlink.com/products/wirelesssync.html
RE: CompanionLink to sync Pre via USB
"twrock is infamous around these parts" (from my profile over at Brighthand due to my negative 62 rep points rating)
RE: CompanionLink to sync Pre via USB
I wonder what Mark/Space thinks about that.
RE: CompanionLink to sync Pre via USB
And go read the hp Q&A I pointed to about The Cloud. Whether any of you like it or not, there are going to be aspects of the cloud you will *have* to use, most likely in a corporate context. I've just read it a second time and it's inspired a post I'll do at me new blog later (just probably not today; I need to witness the Inauguration!).
Go on, switch to Windows Mobile
http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=2536
Hello, MS! 1984 called and wants its scrollbars back!!
RE: Go on, switch to Windows Mobile
Garnet might not be stylish but at least it's fairly efficient and those handful of tweaks Palm made back in '06 (new camera/photo/messaging apps on the 700p, new dialer screen on 680 & Centro) at least helped dress up some of the worst bits.
I still give the aesthetic nod to the iPhone and the Pre (basically a toss-up from what I've seen of the preliminary Pre stuff so far) with Android on the G1 running a fairly close second.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?
RE: Go on, switch to Windows Mobile
OK, the only hour people would *want* out of them?
RE: Go on, switch to Windows Mobile
No, Microsoft's problems aren't that bad on the desktop. It's the mobile line (Zune, Live this'n that, WinMob etc) that needs to be dumped and/or totally overhauled.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?
Apple: 'What recession?'
For the first time in its history, Apple surpassed the $10 billion revenue mark, posting revenue of $10.17 billion and a profit of $1.61 billion, or $1.78 per diluted share. This compares to revenue of $9.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.Apple also beat Wall Street's predictions. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected revenues of $9.75 billion and $1.39 per diluted share.
... The company reported selling a record 22,727,000 iPods, a three percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter, and 4,363,000 iPhones, representing 88 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.
-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G
RE: Apple: 'What recession?'
And then the quarter AFTER the Pre has been out on sale in stores.
RE: Apple: 'What recession?'
4.5 million iPhone 3G sales isn't crazy? The Pre has to deal with about 15 million iPhones sold to date. Also, according to last quarter's results, RIM claims to have about 21 million active Blackberry users.
-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G
RE: Apple: 'What recession?'
*Germany* finally woke up to how frikkin bad things actually are. And Germany is no slouch. You can bet there are white knuckles at Apple, just like every other company - and country - out there. At some point, *everything* is going to turn to sh*t.
Palm's Pre introduction might never get past that, depending on how quickly the money lines go flat.
I *daily* have to ignore all this and function as if everything is still working properly, hence the Pre blog. It's called putting up a brave front.
RE: Apple: 'What recession?'
The Pre has to deal with about 15 million iPhones sold to date.
On top of that Palm has hitched its wagon to a falling star. If you follow recent reports, Sprint is bleeding subscribers by the THOUSANDS and is in dire straights. Hell of a way to launch a new product that your company's very survival depends on.
----
Web Designer,
Tech writer for weblogs inc. @ http://www.tuaw.com
RE: Apple: 'What recession?'
Palm=the Wal-Mart of mobile phone companies
A match made in heaven!!
Seriously, though, I've got a burning question I'd love to see answered: Why has Sprint historically been so forgiving of Palm's missteps? I mean, they've been staunch supporters of the Palm OS since the first Handspring Treos, and it's lasted all the way up through Palm assimilating Handspring, the headaches of the various FranenGarnet Treos, Palm's decision to go WM and now the Pre.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?
RE: Apple: 'What recession?'
And they shouldn't be. *I'm* not bashing the iPhone.
And I said again and again the iPhone would herald Nokia's death spiral.
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2009/01/22/nokia-cuts-09-view-after-grim-q4-report-stock-slides/
Die Nokia Die!
RE: Apple: 'What recession?'
Oh I just *had* to repeat that for someone else here. Go up your meds again, lefty!
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/apple-sells-10m-iphones-psychopath-increases-meds/
When does the ACCESS bankruptcy filing begin, btw?
Latest Comments
- I got one -Tuckermaclain
- RE: Don't we have this already? -Tuckermaclain
- RE: Palm brand will return in 2018, with devices built by TCL -richf
- RE: Palm brand will return in 2018, with devices built by TCL -dmitrygr
- Palm phone on HDblog -palmato
- Palm PVG100 -hgoldner
- RE: Like Deja Vu -PacManFoo
- Like Deja Vu -T_W
And in this video, he says ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBSdR0H27iE
>>>4:24: And architecturally, the beautiful thing is, that anything developed for either the iPhone or for the Google Android platform will port [to the Pre] very quickly - and vice versa.
Huh? What?! Objective-C/Cocoa/etc on the iPhone to HTML/CSS/JavaScript on the Pre "very quickly"?!!? WTF?