Comments on: Jon Rubinstein Appointed CEO of Palm

Ruby CEOPalm, Inc. today announced that its board of directors has appointed Jon Rubinstein to lead the company as Chairman and CEO upon the departure of Ed Colligan, who is stepping down after sixteen years of leadership at the company. Rubinstein, who joined Palm as Executive Chairman in October 2007 to help bring innovation back to the company, assumes his role as CEO on June 12. Colligan plans to take some time off, then join Elevation Partners.

"I am very excited about taking on this expanded role at Palm," said Rubinstein. "Ed and I have worked very hard together the past two years, and I'm grateful to him for everything he's done to help set the company up for success. With Palm webOS we have ten-plus years of innovation ahead of us, and the Palm Pre is already one of the year's hottest new products. Due in no small part to Ed's courageous leadership, we're in great shape to get Palm back to continuous growth, and we plan to keep the trajectory going upward."

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Wow

trophyofgrace @ 6/10/2009 4:21:26 PM # Q
Amazing Colligan couldn't get a new OS out in over 4 years, while Rubenstein got out a new OS and an incredibly compelling device in under 2.

I still didn't see this coming. Did anyone else?
Current PDA: Treo 600. Lineage: Too long to list...

RE: Wow
twrock @ 6/10/2009 4:45:42 PM # Q
Nope, didn't see it coming at all.

It was Ed that went looking for EP and sold them on the "idea" in for first place. If it turns out that his legacy is that he figured out a way to take a dying company and turn around it's fortunes, I guess he's looking pretty good after all. It'll be interesting to see the conclusions after a few years of what his leadership successes or failures were.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: Wow
SeldomVisitor @ 6/10/2009 4:46:38 PM # Q
Rubinstein is a hardware guy; he's not responsible for the OS.

[IMHO, we're directly seeing the result of a very poor launch]

RE: Wow
Ryan @ 6/10/2009 6:11:56 PM # Q
I was really beginning to wonder why Colligan was completely absent from all of the launch hoopla. No interviews, sightings, etc for months, this certainly explains that.
RE: Wow
CFreymarc @ 6/15/2009 12:19:28 PM # Q
Bye bye Ed, we won't miss you. Enjoy the $10,000 speaker fees for the next few years.
Reply to this comment

'Stepping down' my ass

SeldomVisitor @ 6/10/2009 4:45:38 PM # Q
Nuff said.

RE: 'Stepping down' my ass
jca666us @ 6/10/2009 5:24:10 PM # Q
OK; how is this a poor launch???

This is the first time Palm has released a compelling innovative device in a pretty long while.


RE: 'Stepping down' my ass
SeldomVisitor @ 6/10/2009 5:46:58 PM # Q
The Pre has to sell, not tens of thousands of units, but MILLIONS of units. There are reports RIGHT NOW of Pres sitting unsold on shelves (yes, and plenty of reports of Pres not available at all).

That's not good enough to save Palm.

And so the CEO "steps down" a couple days after the company gets the REAL information back from their sales venues.


RE: 'Stepping down' my ass
jca666us @ 6/10/2009 6:44:49 PM # Q
iphone apologist that I am :) - there's no denying the Pre is a compelling device.

50,000 sold is significant - while nowhere near iphone sales numbers. With enough positive feedback from users, AND steady h/w and s/w improvements from Palm - the sales will climb - and in a few years I'd wager an installed base well into the millions.

Calling this launch a failure is absurd - I think the only thing holding the launch back was only having 50k units available.

They should have held it back until the end of June and put it out there with 100k - 150k available.

I would hesitate calling you an idiot - I'll let others (freak?) do it for me.

RE: 'Stepping down' my ass
mikecane @ 6/10/2009 6:50:50 PM # Q
Everyone is forgetting Palm sold TWO MILLION CENTROS. That's an installed base that might want to upgrade - at least on Sprint.

For whatever we might think of the Pre, it could be, like the Centro, we aren't the target market (or we are - I've yet to have my full-out molestation of a Pre). I think it will sell. It's too early to call it a flop. There is also the economic climate to consider too.

And dig this: people who want the new iPhone 3GS are mighty pissed that they'll have to pay *lots* to upgrade to one under their current contract. That could impact Apple's bottom line this year.

RE: 'Stepping down' my ass
hkklife @ 6/10/2009 7:21:15 PM # Q
With Colligan out goes the last shred of the "old" Palm. Welcome, folks, to the new Palm 2.0, essentially an Apple wannabe in every way, shape, & form.

I'm not the least bit surprised that Colligan's out, btw. I'm just surprised that Ruby is now the CEO-will this distract him from being the "hardware guy" role? Are Palm going to ride/flog the Pre formfactor to death ala the Centro & T|E?

By PALM STANDARDS, the launch is a smashing success. The only things making this a "poor" launch are inadequate units available in the channel, only an undersized 8gb version available, and the usual argument of the pros & cons of yet another Palm device debuting on Sprint. Now, I expect Pre sales to nosedive after its first month or two on the market are over, but in the first week, I'd say it's as successful as Palm could realistically hope for.
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: 'Stepping down' my ass
hkklife @ 6/10/2009 7:22:01 PM # Q
Mike;

Of course people will be pissed about having to pay "lots" to upgrade to the 3GS.....but EVERY OTHER SUBSIDIZED phone on the market (smart & dumbphones alike) work on that same principle. What happened in the iPhone launch in '07 (unsubsidized + mandatory contract) to the '08 iPhone 3G arrival was unprecedented. Every bit of pain & scorn unleashed on Apple is ENTIRELY their own doing. That's what they get for cozying up too closely with AT&T. Had Apple listened to my plea 2 years ago to unleash a ton of reasonably-priced, GSM carrier-agnostic, unlocked iPhones onto the market, it'd have turned the US wireless industry on its ear. Instead we have the same ol' s**t of carrier exclusives, crippled/locked handsets, interminable delays due to "testing" and overpriced data plans. Bah!

P.S. What I want to know in all of this is......where the *F* are Access (and Lefty) with a proper modernized successor to Garnet with the CLASSIC Palm OS PIM apps that we've known to love? We must learn a valuable lesson from Gekko's pain!!
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: 'Stepping down' my ass
jca666us @ 6/10/2009 7:23:27 PM # Q
Perhaps - but there are a good 13 million people that are eligible to upgrade to the 3gs...I'm one of them :)
RE: 'Stepping down' my ass
gmayhak @ 6/10/2009 8:24:41 PM # Q
"RE: 'Stepping down' my ass
jca666us @ 6/10/2009 5:24:10 PM
OK; how is this a poor launch???
This is the first time Palm has released a compelling innovative device in a pretty long while."

Reading the posts from new Pre owners (http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pre/) I'd say it was a flop & many will be returned. No bars, No Battery life (you nailed it Kris;), Dead pixels, Crappy sliders, Getting HOT as it sucks up the battery, Toy quality plastic, a little mirror on the back for picking stuff out of your nose? Palm's gone (as far as I'm concerned, RIP).
I'm amazed that people can have such personal gripes against a company that they refuse to see that Apple is where the latest technology is happening.

Gary
Tech Center Labs

RE: 'Stepping down' my ass
jca666us @ 6/10/2009 9:57:13 PM # Q
>Reading the posts from new Pre owners (http://forums.precentral.net/palm-
>pre/) I'd say it was a flop & many will be returned.

Every new product launch has issues - admittedly the Pre has quite a few more issues then even the last two iphone launches have had (it is a more complex device), but there have been issues with the iphone too.

What will make or break Palm is how they respond to them. If they're responsive, offer replacement devices and work to resolve the issues, then things should be fine. If they bury their head in the sand - then they're in trouble.

>No bars, No Battery life (you nailed it Kris;), Dead pixels, Crappy sliders,
>Getting HOT as it sucks up the battery, Toy quality plastic, a little mirror on
>the back for picking stuff out of your nose?

Let's see - the original iphone had issues with getting overly warm, there was the return issue with cracked screens, a buggy os update that went out, etc.

Considering how far Palm has fallen in recent years, it's amazing that the Pre is as good as it is. If Palm can survive, things will only get better for the platform.

>Palm's gone (as far as I'm concerned, RIP).

Maybe - maybe not. I think if Palm can prosper, they will get Apple to be more competitive in the future - then we all win.

>I'm amazed that people can have such personal gripes against a company
>that they refuse to see that Apple is where the latest technology is
>happening.

Apple has a better handle on usability and industrial design then Palm does - and they had a great idea with the iphone. That can be seen by the sheer number of imitators to hit the market and the obvious inspiration Palm has taken from the iphone. However Palm has likely been itching for an os that would enable them to throw a ton of features into their phones - they finally have that with webos.

RE: 'Stepping down' my ass
anika200 @ 6/11/2009 11:19:02 AM # Q
"Are Palm going to ride/flog the Pre formfactor to death ala the Centro & T|E?"

Did you mean ala the ipod or the iphone? Either way I like those odds. :)

Reply to this comment

Farewell, Ed Colligan

mikecane @ 6/10/2009 5:25:42 PM # Q
RE: Farewell, Ed Colligan
rcartwright @ 6/10/2009 5:57:10 PM # Q
Mike, seek medical attention at once. For you to be that nice to Ed reeks of a serious condition.

Seriously, that was pretty insightful. My theory was Rubenstein was keeping Ed on as camoflauge to lull the competition into complacency. Ed being a no show at D just confirmed my thought he was no longer useful to Joel and so he was a dead CEO walking
"Many men stumble across the truth, but most manage to pick themselves up
and continue as if nothing had happened."
- Winston Churchill

RE: Farewell, Ed Colligan
Ryan @ 6/10/2009 6:02:01 PM # Q
Mike, you have to toss this one in there somewhere...

http://www.palminfocenter.com/ss.asp?f=colligan-and-co-centro.jpg

RE: Farewell, Ed Colligan
mikecane @ 6/10/2009 6:46:44 PM # Q
Nah, I didn't want to be cruel to Colligan. Look, he was smart enough to see that he wasn't smart enough. That's the necessary first step to getting smarter. I hope the Pre will help save Palm and that Palm can give Apple a run for its money. Someday the real story of what happened at Palm will come out (hm, will Colligan write a book?) and maybe then we'll find out that he was more a victim of circumstance than anything else. Or not.
RE: Farewell, Ed Colligan
freakout @ 6/10/2009 10:26:39 PM # Q
Given that Colligan's moving on to another role with Elevation, it doesn't seem like he's been forced out. After all, the bloke's been running Palm in its various incarnations for a looooooooong time. Much like when Dubinsky stepped down from the board, he's probably just ready to move on to new things.

So long Ed, and thanks for all the Treos...

RE: Farewell, Ed Colligan
SeldomVisitor @ 6/11/2009 3:29:10 AM # Q
Oh puhleeze...Colligan is "going to take some time off, then join Elevation Partners"...watch as that second part fades into memory.

Reply to this comment

Ruby

Gekko @ 6/10/2009 6:49:41 PM # Q

"Yeah. This is Ruby. Well... No, we had a problem...and, uh, we tried to do everything we could. Well, you know what I mean, he's gone. And we couldn't do nothing about it. That's it. Uh, he's gone...he's gone. And that's it."

4:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgKWKvVfqMQ

RE: Ruby
mikecane @ 6/11/2009 6:26:58 AM # Q
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That is the best YouTube clip you have ever referenced.

Reply to this comment

This is gonna be bloody!

jca666us @ 6/10/2009 11:10:31 PM # Q
Palm announced that their earnings call (Q4 FY2009) will be taking place on Thursday, June 25 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern (1:30 p.m. Pacific). It will be hosted by Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer, and Doug Jeffries, chief financial officer.
RE: This is gonna be bloody!
twrock @ 6/11/2009 3:01:28 AM # Q
jca666us wrote:
It will be hosted by Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer, and Doug Jeffries, chief financial officer.

Hmm, maybe Ed's feeling pretty good about being "elevated" at this point.


Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

Reply to this comment

Ed Out Ruby In

alandrew @ 6/11/2009 12:21:13 AM # Q
This is a process of change in a good way.

What Ruby did for Apple was the practice for Palm !
We can only expect good things to happen.

As for weak Pre sales, I am not sure that Pre is the anchor of Pakms survival but rather Web OS, they talking about the next 10 years and if we are already foaming at the mouth wth Pre and its fantasticness ....we can only truly enjoy all that Palm is going to bring fwd in the future, EOS is looking like a Berry killer ! which is great and you know a 16gb and 32gb device options are on the way !

We are on a strong road to where we should be, Palm is for those in the know ! The rest of the world we soon wake up ! Marketing takes time !

WE ARE BACK !
Treo600>>Treo680>>Centro>>Pre

Reply to this comment

The difference between Ed and Ruby

freakout @ 6/11/2009 2:55:31 AM # Q
Lifted from Cane's blog and emphasis mine: http://mikecane.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/palm-wants-us-to-wait-another-two-years/

Palm, Inc, the maker of the Treo smart phone, will continue to focus on ease of use and reliability rather than design, Palm CEO Ed Colligan said in an interview at the 3GSM telecommunications trade show here.

"We think that will be a greater driver of purchases in the future," he told MarketWatch in the interview. "We don't want to follow design fads."

That was early 2007. Now is a different story.

Palm on Facebook:

http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/7124/palm-addresses-pre-design-challenges-on-facebook/

‘Design' was the highest goal on the Palm Pre project.

Interesting.

RE: The difference between Ed and Ruby
mikecane @ 6/11/2009 6:28:58 AM # Q
Yeah, the "design fads" made my eyes pop yesterday when I was digging up all my past posts. I'd forgotten all about that one!
RE: The difference between Ed and Ruby
anika200 @ 6/11/2009 11:58:22 AM # Q
See this is how the old men get separated from the boys. Design fads are what its really all about. Design is in the hardware the software and all around. The pure function of a device is long dead and we should all say, good riddance. I am sure Ed will go on to do many more great things or not, which is ok too.
RE: The difference between Ed and Ruby
mikecane @ 6/11/2009 2:40:41 PM # Q
There is design for the sake of eye candy and then there is the harder design: which is to make the complex easily graspable, with the illusion of simplicity.

Palm pioneered the illusion of simplicity, so it's particularly shocking, that Colligan quote.

Reply to this comment

Dell to buy Palm?

mikecane @ 6/11/2009 11:39:57 AM # Q
Dell hoarding $10 billion, rumored to be making big acquisition (maybe Palm?)
http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/06/dell-hoarding-10-billion-rumor.html

I'm very skeptical of this. I can't see Palm selling when they still have cards to play: the EOS, getting the Pre on other carriers, and whatever that codename zepfloyd is A Dell acquisition would be a huge distraction and also come well before a big possible uptick in value (economy willing).

RE: Dell to buy Palm?
anika200 @ 6/11/2009 12:07:10 PM # Q
Holly cow, how long till it looks good to sell? We already have one guy who is in for $450 million and then all the stock holders. They would have to sell for like 5 billion. Hmmm, maybe someone will bite.
RE: Dell to buy Palm?
SeldomVisitor @ 6/11/2009 12:08:40 PM # Q
> ...They would have to sell for like 5 billion...

Yup.

Short the stock of any company that does that.

RE: Dell to buy Palm?
anika200 @ 6/11/2009 12:09:05 PM # Q
Holly Cow, $10 billion!! Sell Sell Sell.
Reply to this comment

Ed the PDA-Killer Colligan resigns

VampireLestat @ 6/12/2009 2:47:16 PM # Q
Good ridance.
One crippling problem resolved, but now the other is that the Palm Pre needs to be available as a GSM unlocked phone, under 500$.
RE: Ed the PDA-Killer Colligan resigns
BaalthazaaR @ 6/12/2009 2:55:13 PM # Q
Wow that got Lestat out of his crypt now didn't it :-)
RE: Ed the PDA-Killer Colligan resigns
SeldomVisitor @ 6/13/2009 3:35:33 AM # Q
When senior executives resign companies make a big splash by sending out a PR-fluff saying they're resigning, often saying things like this:

== "Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today announced that Douglas C. Jeffries,
== previously chief accounting officer at eBay, will join Palm, Inc. in January
== 2009 as the Company's Chief Financial Officer. Andy Brown will transition
== out of the CFO role and stay with the company through January..."

This PR-Fluff was made in mid-December.

Contrast that with the surprise "He's gone!" announcement about Colligan.

Resigns?

Think "Shotgun Wedding"...


Reply to this comment

Palm already 'lost' to Apple

rpa @ 6/13/2009 7:01:56 PM # Q
To all the regular Palm fans who visit this site (I am one), calling the Pre an iPhone killer or the salvation of Palm is naive. Apple already has a dominant role in the consumer market and has a great product. With their latest $99 deal for an iPhone, why would anyone buy a Pre for $199?

IMO, Palm's decline started with G2 and continued with the Life Drive (w/o a phone radio!) and Fooleo products while failing to innovate with their successful Treo line. The best thing that can happen to Palm now is to take the exposure the Pre if offering and sell the company to someone with the distribution channels to roll out a few million units quickly (Dell?).
rpa
Palm Pilot >> Palm Vx >> Tungsten E >> GSM Centro

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
jca666us @ 6/13/2009 10:22:52 PM # Q
Why would someone pay $100 more for a Pre?

1. Superior hardware compare to the $99 iphone 3g
2. Multitasking web apps
3. Better PIM apps

Why someone would buy an iphone over a Pre

1. Superior hardware to the Pre
2. More stable OS
3. Greater number of apps. and better quality apps
4. Better multimedia support
5. Voice Control
6. Better itunes support

I refuse to mention the keyboards - it's a draw - Pre's tiny hardware keyboard is a piece of junk (imho) while the iphone's virtual keyboard may not be for everyone.

Someone may buy Palm, but I think webos has unleashed Palm - and will enable them to (finally) experiment with different form factors (tablet). They will need further cash infusions (Dell?) to bail them out though - we'll see what their latest earnings report indicates.

BTW, Palm is far from dead - as long as fanatics like freak are out there, willing to buy any piece of junk with a palm logo on it.

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
SeldomVisitor @ 6/14/2009 3:57:56 AM # Q
I personally think the "hardware keyboard" is one of the biggest marketing "false needs" yet.

I have YET to see ANYONE using ANY type of keyboard on a phone without looking at the phone. =100%= of the keyboard users - 100% - have looked at the phone while using it.

As such, the "touch typing" crapola is a strange thing to tout.

I would bet the new CEO has a hard-keyboardless phone already cooking.


RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
jca666us @ 6/14/2009 7:25:39 AM # Q
if palm has an even bigger "iphone wannabe" in the works, they might want to make the screen slightly larger. typing on an iphone sized screen is usable - anything smaller you'll lose accuracy.

palm, not everyone has pixie sized fingers.

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
mikecane @ 6/14/2009 8:45:32 AM # Q
>>>With their latest $99 deal for an iPhone, why would anyone buy a Pre for $199?

Because they're on Sprint, like Sprint, and there have been lots of new complaints about AT&T's service?

Because they've judged their needs for themselves and the Pre fits those needs?

Lots of reasons why. I'm not going to waste time listing more.

And Palm is in a far better position than Nokia - which will continue its death spiral.

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
jca666us @ 6/14/2009 11:34:57 AM # M Q
Sprint is as bad as AT&T - if that's an advantage for the Pre, then Palm is DOOMED!!!!!! :)

Hopefully in a few years the Pre and the iPhone won't be stuck on just Sprint (and AT&T) respectively in the US - when they're available for all carriers then those carriers will be forced to be competitive by improving their service.

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
rpa @ 6/14/2009 3:14:46 PM # Q
"And Palm is in a far better position than Nokia - which will continue its death spiral."

Are you serious?? Even with the global downturn, Nokia had sales of E9.3 billion in Q1 2009.
rpa
Palm Pilot >> Palm Vx >> Tungsten E >> GSM Centro

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
mikecane @ 6/14/2009 3:56:16 PM # Q
Yeah - sales of WHAT? NOT Pre-like phones. DUMB phones.

And their smart phones are hampered by Symbian, which is like code that's the aftermath of a nuclear bombing.

Death Spiral continues without interruption.

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
SeldomVisitor @ 6/15/2009 3:21:48 AM # Q
When dumb phones take on all the cool features of smart phones, you know, things like GPS, browsing, email, messaging, etc etc etc does it matter anymore if it's dumb and cannot run a fart application?

Check out some new dumb phones...by Nokia:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/nokias-e72-and-5530-xpressmusic-in-the-s60-powered-flesh/

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
rpa @ 6/15/2009 4:56:14 AM # Q
Yeah, check out this "dumb phone" from Nokia:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/166663/nokia_expands_xpressmusic_line_with_cheap_touch_phone.html

Nokia sold 2.6 million of the 5800 model ALONE in Q1 of 2009. Many companies would kill for a death spiral like this. You really need to get out more.
rpa
Palm Pilot >> Palm Vx >> Tungsten E >> GSM Centro

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
mikecane @ 6/15/2009 5:48:44 AM # Q
Come back when Nokia's numbers continue to dwindle. Past few quarters have shown the death spiral is happening.
RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
SeldomVisitor @ 6/15/2009 9:00:26 AM # Q
RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
mikecane @ 6/15/2009 9:46:10 AM # Q
The DiVX supports makes me drool. AVI/DiVX playback should be standard in every damned smartphone (glares at Apple and Palm).
RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
SeldomVisitor @ 6/15/2009 10:19:05 AM # Q
> ...AVI/DiVX playback should be standard in every damned smartphone ...

Exsqueeze me!

That is a dumb phone, not a smartphone.

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
mikecane @ 6/15/2009 10:26:44 AM # Q
If it can do AVI/DiVX, it's not so damned dumb.

Where are all those people here, by the way, who called the iPhone a "feature phone," eh?

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
SeldomVisitor @ 6/15/2009 10:34:38 AM # Q
> If it can do AVI/DiVX, it's not so damned dumb...

Oh, okay.

http://www.palminfocenter.com/comments/9830/#152531

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
mikecane @ 6/15/2009 10:55:13 AM # Q
Please, stop bringing up Nokia. I just got done reading a long post by a Finn who used to work for Nokia. His mind worked as screwily as the Symbian UI. The Finns are going nowhere but into their Death Spiral, period.

Point all you want to the billions of craphones they sell. BFD! That's like Commodore back in the 80s pointing to all their VICs and C=64s and thinking that's how the world would *always* be.

RE: Palm already 'lost' to Apple
SeldomVisitor @ 6/15/2009 11:22:57 AM # Q
Amiga Rulz!

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