Comments on: Palm Sticks to Foleo Summer Release Date

At least the Fooleo has a fullsizse SD slot that's even been confirmed to handle SDHC cards (and it should, in theory, work with 8GB+ card capacities as well).

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

We're all aware of what became the defacto operating system standard [Windows] at the time. As a result there was no market whatsoever for hardware that didn't work within the framework of that operating system. As a defacto operating system did take over, all other operating system markets and competition failed one after the other and the hardware manufacturers found themselves marketing for an ever shrinking range of software rather than the other way around.

Hardware has since become subservient to the operating system. It started around 1994 and is just as true today 13 years later. Worse yet, all the hardware manufacturers slowly bought each other out, further shrinking the hardware choices. So now the hardware manufacturers just make faster and bigger versions of everything that has been done before. We're still plugging in faster CPUs, more RAM, bigger hard drives, faster graphics cards and sound cards just to service the operating system. Hardware driven innovation cannot be afforded by the market any more. There is no money in it. There will be no market for it. Computers are boring.

And later on:

So Linux was created to service the home desktop personal computer, and the PC is here to stay. For those who were looking for some excitement and enjoyment in using their computer, the defacto operating system just doesn't cut it. We want to tinker, we want control, we want power over everything. Or alternatively we believe in some sort of freedom or some combination of the above. So we use Linux. That is certainly how I got involved in Linux; I wanted something to use on the home desktop PC.

However, the desktop PC is crap. It's rubbish. The experience is so bloated and slowed down in all the things that matter to us. We all own computers today that were considered supercomputers 10 years ago. 10 years ago we owned supercomputers of 20 years ago.. and so on. So why on earth is everything so slow? If they're exponentially faster why does it take longer than ever for our computers to start, for the applications to start and so on? Sure, when they get down to the pure number crunching they're amazing (just encode a video and be amazed). But in everything else they must be unbelievably slower than ever.

Computers of today may be 1,000 times faster than they were a decade ago, yet the things that matter are slower.

The standard argument people give me in response is 'but they do such more these days it isn't a fair comparison'. Well, they're 10 times slower despite being 1000 times faster, so they must be doing 10,000 times as many things. Clearly the 10,000 times more things they're doing are all in the wrong place.

It's a long, detailed interview, read the rest here: http://apcmag.com/node/6735/

Instant-on is a great feature that is sorely undervalued by many. If the Foleo can match it with snappy software, on a crappy low-speed ARM and hardly and RAM, that really is an impressive achievement, and bodes well for any future handheld OS. (that's assuming, of course, Palm are going to use some version of the Foleo OS on handhelds next year)

It's overpriced for the meagre hardware it runs on, I agree. But it's innovative in a way that most hardware-driven upgrades are not. I think it deserves more respect than it's been getting. (Although Palm's... um... confused... marketing definitely doesn't help...)

Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680

becomes

(based on the hands-on vids we've seen)

More coffee.

It depends - I'd hope that the OS can handle more innovative hardware designs say, for example, 512 meg., higher resolution displays, etc. etc.

If it can't, then we're not much better (aside from multitasking) than Garnet.

>(that's assuming, of course, Palm are going to use some version of the Foleo OS on handhelds next year)

I agree with that assumption, but the OS needs legs - and it needs to be intelligently extensible...no more Garnet-like hacking.

>It's overpriced for the meagre hardware it runs on, I agree.

It's overpriced because Palm didn't do any market research to see how much people would actually pay for this.

>But it's innovative in a way that most hardware-driven upgrades are not.

From a software perspective it's somewhat innovative for Palm, but that innovation is tempered by the fact that it's been long overdue.

BTW, the crappy hardware and boring form factor are stale.

This is not an exciting product.

>I think it deserves more respect than it's been getting. (Although Palm's... um... confused... marketing
>definitely doesn't help...)

Foleo got plenty of respect from people until they saw what it actually was. Now it's being seen as a sign of Palm's mismanagement.

If it can't, then we're not much better (aside from multitasking) than Garnet.

It's Linux. A stripped-down, optimised-for-low-power-hardware-Linux, but Linux nonetheless.

I agree with that assumption, but the OS needs legs - and it needs to be intelligently extensible...no more Garnet-like hacking.

It's Linux.

From a software perspective it's somewhat innovative for Palm, but that innovation is tempered by the fact that it's been long overdue.

From every computer maker. Not just Palm.

BTW, the crappy hardware and boring form factor are stale.

You're so right. Who'd be interested in a compact, lightweight, low-power, high-res, well-built, easy-to-use, wireless laptop? Palm are insane! The company's headed straight into the gurgler, I tells ya... :-/

Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680

At first glance, the Foleo is fairly sexy...The Foleo's build quality was surprising for a sample unit. The keyboard had a decent feel, and the case had that rubberized soft-touch coating which gave it a slightly organic feel.

http://arstechnica.com/journals/linux.ars/2007/08/10/palm-foleo--a-quick-look

Not a stress test, sure, but they're not the only ones to make such observations. From Brighthand:

Andrew Baxter from NotebookReview.com was with me, and he was pleased with the Foleo's keyboard, which is impressive as he's very demanding about such things. He said the key spacing and travel were both good...The overall build quality of the Foleo is solid, at least on the prototype I used. The casing is plastic, but that doesn't make it flimsy.

http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13139

From a Treocentral poster (probably the infamous TVoR under a new name). Came with some nice photos too:

First impression: Build quality appears to be MUCH greater than anything I've ever seen with a Palm logo on it. But it was a little bigger and definitely significantly heavier than what I had hoped/expected. The device surface has a more satiny rubberized (oxymoron?) coating than Palm's excellent Treo hard case or the new Treos. The ribbed ("for her pleasure"?) surface on the top surface of the Foleo is reminiscent of the ribbing on my ThinkPad's extended battery and contributed to making the Foleo very easy to handle.

http://discussion.treocentral.com/showpost.php?p=1312792&postcount=16

There's plenty of other such comments floating around the net.

But "instant-on" is instant-on only for specially-designed programs. Over on TreoCentral Ben Combee has mentioned the need to re-write programs to enable instant-on; this suggests the "vast amount of free Linux software" out here will simply disallow "instant-on" or, upon sleeping and instant-on-ing, break (he didn't say what the actual problem was, just that there was a problem).

I think PALM had better get expectations into the realistic range soon or they may have a very-much-UNneeded PR problem on their hands.

-- http://discussion.treocentral.com//showpost.php?p=1338629&postcount=253

Instead fools who buy foleo will likely be subjected to palm's "award winning" quality control.
We should start making bets to see how buggy this thing is when its released.

Does anyone think this will possibly be released in September???

PalmSource promised Cobalt by "end of the year". It was indeed "delivered" by end of the year.

Note the title of the article these are comments for.

Nuff said.

SV, that made my stomach hurt. Having the Foleo result like that is akin to saying it will hit the release date, but the instant on feature does not work b/c Palm decided to leave off the power button. :-o

Pat Horne

Wonder if (1) he reads PiC and (2) he was seeing how syncing was going and (3) what the phone was?

We're still of the opinion that Palm should just abandon the whole Foleo concept and work on making the Treo competitive again, but despite our pleas, the company appears to be proceeding towards launch -- manufacturing delays or not.

You mean, they didn't cancel the entire product line and throw the last three years of hard work into the dumpster? My GOD! They're insane! Engadget wrote an editorial, it must be a terrible idea!!!

Yes, others think so, too:

== "...Well I finally got some hands-on time with a Foleo yesterday...
==
== ...as impressed as I was with the hardware I was also disappointed
== with the included software. Palm is insane for having thought about
== releasing this with what amounts to beta software..."

-- http://discussion.treocentral.com//showpost.php?p=1338551&postcount=158

Should we perform the intervention now or wait until the day when one of him disagrees with the other and sparks a runaway chain-reaction "biotch-slapping"?

Never a dull moment in Palm fandom.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog

Or for THAT matter, it certainly isn't clear to THIS reader if TVoR is =a= "who" or a "them".

But, in any case, THIS statement stands!

== "...Yes, others think so, too..."

Giggle.

Palm could literally offer a box filled with human fecal matter for $599 with $100 rebate and Beersie would try to convince everyone what a great deal it was. no shame.

Anyway, I seem to recall that you're the one who is going on about that Centro phone, not me. Personally, I've been waiting for a clamshell Treo for years, not some dinky candybar with yet another exposed keyboard and screen that I have to keep covered and clipped to my belt. I know a lot of folks are crazy about the Treo, and it's not a bad smartphone--I love Palm OS--but it's not at all what I'd be designing if I were Palm, and most definitely not what I'd design for myself. If it weren't for the fact that I can only activate one phone per account on Sprint (I need to use a bunch of handsets with different OSes for testing) I'd still be on my five-yr-old Samsung i500 with Palm OS 4.1.

Or maybe even my pimped out anodized gold aircraft aluminum Visor Platinum with the Sprint Digital Link and Vaja alligator skin case. Now *that* would turns some heads today! Sure it's a little impractical, but damn! That thing has character!

...and WiFi, too :-o

I will say this: I do have hopes (not entirely based on wishful thinking) that we'll see some interesting new things coming out of Palm in the coming few years. :-)

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog

*snort!*

The first wishful thinking is that Palm will last a few more years.

how does Mrs. Beersie like her fooleo?

http://tinyurl.com/2pdl98

http://profoleo.com/

http://foleofanatics.com/

http://foleocentral.blogspot.com/

So now there are three!

http://tinyurl.com/22vnb9

(Hey, if you can dish it out... :P )

http://www.engadget.com/photos/hands-on-with-samsungs-sgh-i620-wm6-slider/375474/

(And Mike, even if I did, there'd still be you. Tell you what: you go first, and I'll gladly form a committee to review the general idea of your plan in relation to a broader socio-economic context with a view to producing a final report sometime in 2010, with the power to make legislatively binding recommendations that will be acted upon in a sensible, timely fashion to be completed no later than 2364. Your input will certainly be heard, or at least raised and dismissed.)

-- http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/09/03/kens.mythical.roadkill.affl

http://tinyurl.com/2oxzek

Too easy.

(Anecdote: I once had a co-worker who did this in emails. It drove everybody insane. So one morning, in a carefully planned stealth operation, I took a knife to the Caps key and removed it from her keyboard. Depressingly, once discovered, she simply got a new keyboard from IT, instead of the freaking point. And then proceeded to send everybody an email that might have been an encouraging pep talk, were it not for the fact that EVERY second WORD was IN caps - with a supposedly amusing anecdote about her 'MYSTERIOUSLY' disappearing keys. I nearly threw up on my desk. The End.)

I expected the second; he's a retard, after all.

But you, Beers. Obviously you are taking yourself too seriously these days. Is that what having a Foleo does to someone?

Shame on you!!

Mike - why do you blog?