The Palm Pilot Story Video

LOOK & LISTEN to those smug b@sturds! What were they cooking up already back then? The next question is telling too...listen how they think there will continue to be keyboard-free versions of the Treo! Don't you wish someone had had the savvy to ask them if they were planning on abandoning the glorious Graffiti they spend so much time championing in this talk!?!

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He is "Chief Technical Officer" of PALM. No one has ever said what a "Chief Technical Officer" does at PALM, as far as I can remember over the history of the "new PALM".

> ...Does he even show up for work anymore...

Back during the (late) Handspring days he was already purported to be working one day a week for Handspring - I would seriously doubt he's working MORE than he did then now - he has both his Brain Institute and Yet Another Private Company to run.

> ...or does he just stop by to pick up his checks now and again?...

I don't remember seeing ANYTHING about a compensation package for him with the "new PALM", as such it is totally unclear (to me, at least) if he even HAS a paycheck. Maybe someday I (or someone more intimately interested in such things) will do a thorough study of late Handspring/early New Palm SEC filings to see if such a beast is mentioned.

In about two years, at his current PALM-stock sell-out rate, Hawkins will be out of his (current) PALM position entirely.

It's smart to diversify his holdings. I'd be selling like a madman too. It looks like he's on a set automatic schedule. I'd put that shiit in cash and bonds. why take a risk? You only have to get rich ONCE.

From the timeline at http://www.handhirn.de/en/history.php

* Released a landscape screen handheld
* Released a $100 price point handheld
* Released handhelds with integrated digital cameras
* Released two successful OS 5.x smartphones
* Released handhelds with integrated Wi-Fi
* Released handhelds with non-volatile memory for application data
* Released a handheld with an integrated hard drive
* Released a smartphone with a non Palm OS operating system

And the number one Palm achievement since 2002

* Palm is still in business in 2006

Yeah, they have accomplished so little in four years.

2. Yes, but this could be done by many, many, MANY other firms--especially the Chinese & Koreans--if they so desired. The lack of any significant competition in the $100 market is due to the rapidly consolidating handheld market as well as M$'s high licensing fees. But it *COULD* be done by dozens and dozens of firms if they felt a need to have product at that pricepoint.

3. By any measure, this "accolade" is a huge stretch. Everything Palm's released with an integrated digicam has been, at best, barely mediocre and, at worst, nearly useless. Sony had a SUPERB quality "real" camera with 2mp with a REAL flash on the NZ90 back in '03 and I still would not call that revolutionary by any means. When <$100 cellphones have better quality cameras w/ flash than the "flagship" Treo 650 or 700, that's not an encouraging sign for Palm. This is a prime example of Palm doing something half-hearted just to say "we have a camera too".

4. By far the single-and only-undisputable "achievement" on your list, reylons. For further musings on the Treo's significance, see comments #8.

5.Again, Palm was YEARS late to the integrated wi-fi party. Look how it took to get integrated BT & wi-fi on a single model. This is just keeping up (barely) with the rest of the market, not setting standards.

6. NVFS, while an intriguing concept, has had NUMEROUS pitfalls that IMO still outweigh its advantages. Palm's units take a performance hit, have compatability problems with non-optimized and/or legacy apps and now have issues with security/privacy with data not being completely erased from devices when they are sold/lost/RMA'd.

7. See above. The ONE advantage the LD's HD offered (kinda large storage space for cheap $) has now been utterly and completely rendered useless by the plummeting flash RAM prices. Even a year ago, the LD's HD was a debatable inclusion. Palm's crippled "HD as memory" architecture was the nail in the LD's coffin. HDs in portable devices now ONLY make sense if they are at least 20gb in size. Storage space in the single digits is now achievable via flash and is superior in every way to a mechanical HD.

8. A WinMob Treo is an ACHIEVEMENT? Are you a Palm OS fan or merely a Palm Inc. fan? I didn't ask for Palm's nutshell history since 2002 nor did I insinuate the company had done NOTHING in that time frame. I am speaking of ACHIEVEMENTS--that is to say, "memorable and noteworthy successes that elevate the bar for mobile computing". Like it or not, the Treo 600 was Palm's final such product. And let's all remember who actually designed it (Handspring). Palm merely snatched up the crown jewel off of a dying company's otherwise empty treasure chest and has done PITIFULLY little to improve or otherwise advance the Treo since 2003.

Now, it's entirely possible I'll be eating these words in 3-6 months' time. I HOPE I am forced to, especially with the Treo comments. However, I am just reporting on Palm's shipping/previously shipped devices and their dubious track record over the past four years. Even the staunchest Palm apologist or fanboy has to admit that Palm has had more legal/business/marketing manveuverings over the past few years than they've actually been able to devote time/$ to serious R&D & quality control. Again, let's hope I have to eat those words. I am just offering a fair, and reasonably critical assesment of Palm's doings from the perspective of a "frustrated long-time user/fan of the OS".

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Hawkins has made great innovations; Graffiti, the original PalmOS, the PalmPilot, the expandable Visor, the Treo. However, he has moved on to other things, as is his right. He has his money.

Here we are now, with a 20 million PDA a year market when you include Blackberries, Palm and WinMob pure PDAs, Sidekicks, Treos, and high-end Symbian cellphones. The sky is the limit, and teck gadgets have never been so popular. (ipods, gameboys, etc.) Innovation in this market should be massive.

However, innovation is almost dead at Palm. They just sorta slowly add to the old PalmPilot, mostly doing a two-step-forward, one-step-back routine.

Handspring Visor, Palm V, Treo 180, Treo 90, Treo 600, Treo 650...
MTT

All segment divisions are approximate. I skipped through maybe ~25 mins during the middle of the talk as it covers ground familar to anyone who's read "Piloting Palm".

First 1/3: Struggles bringing the Pilot to market. Past woes with the Zoomer etc. How they made POS fast despite the slow cpu, how they learned from the failings of their predecessors, their pat experience at Apple, GriD, Radius. Advantages and intuitiveness of Graffiti. The fabled block of wood, tap counter etc.

Second 1/3rd: Lack of $, surprising interest from USR but not so much from the VC crowd who were Netscape-mad at the time (1994/1995), starting Handspring amidst difficulties from 3com, the Visors leading to the gestation period of the Treo.

Final segment: They are fielding questions from people in the audience. They try to evade answering the direct question about Linux having a future in their product line. Also Jeff & Ed elaborate on why they feel the keyboard is better for the Treos but Graffiti is still better for regular PDAs.

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The most entertaining bits from a historical standpoint are maybe the first 20-25 mins. Then the final segment, from 1:15 onwards, as I mentioned in my earlier post, is the most entertaining for its bitter irony (denying Linux with a grin)/ominous foreshadowing.

There was precious little flag-waving at this time about the upcoming OS5 or commenting on Handspring's future plans. It was more, as you'd expect considering the venue, a historical retrospective at the past decade. It's basically akin to a running commentary or companion piece by the "big three" to the PP book. Gekko, have you read Piloting Palm?

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"In another room, a few executives watched Carl Yankowski's interview on CNBC, taping it for playback at the employee meeting that was to commence in minutes. After CNBC announcers gushed over "the most talked-about IPO," the camera cut to Carl Yankowski in the Nasdaq studio. Usually a compelling public speaker, Yankowski seemed out of his element. When asked about larger screens for palmtops, he answered stiffly, "We are well positioned whichever way the market goes." As the interview came to a close, the reporter said, "I've got to ask you about your suit." Yankowski smiled. He was wearing a very special suit, he let on, designed to satisfy the public's high expectations from Palm's IPO. The shiny pinstripes woven into the otherwise standard wool suit were made from threads of pure gold. CNBC cut back to the studio anchor. "Was that for real?" he asked the correspondent. The Palm managers assembled around the TV set looked at each other. "We're not showing this video," one of the executives decreed. Then they walked out to start the employee meeting." - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471089656/

2. I wonder if he still has THE suit

3. I wonder if it still fits

That's still the best "Palmdom" story of all time.

"We are well positioned whichever way the market goes" could be Palm's classic mantra, right up there with "32mb is good enough for anyone's needs".

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and i hope that history shows that Benhamou is the one who single-handedly f**ked the whole thing up. who hired Yankowski? Benhamou. who hired Nagel? Benhamou. and we are feeling the ripple effects of those disasterous decisions today.

http://www.3com.com/corpinfo/en_US/investor/resources/executivebios/benhamou.html

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Foo - I agree, well said!

Nostalgia is for LOSERS.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

PalmOS went up in smoke? Yes and no.

Yes, PalmOS was killed by a combination of neglect, greed and scheming, but is it not still useful?

I could take out one of my TRGpro (from 1999!) and get as much use out of it in 2006 as I did when it first came out. Tons of Palm Vx, Visors, etc are STILL in daily use because of one thing: they just plain WORK. Sometimes a device doesn't have to be cutting edge to be useful, and I think PalmOS devices are a prime example.

Yes, PalmOS devices are disappearing, but as long as there is eBay to recycle reliable CLIEs, Palms, Samsungs, Visors, etc, there will be a strong community of users. I believe a lot of power users also purchased backup units over the past year or so as an insurance policy in case Palm/PalmSource imploded and they'll be sticking around for the long haul. If Apple Newtons are still in use 10 years after they were discontinued, why shouldn't my TH55 still be helpful in 2010?

Technology is nice, but let's not forget that these devices also exist because of superb functionality. My Samsung i500 might not have a hi res screen, but it does allow me to carry most of the data I need and works as a VERY high quality phone - all in a package the size of a small cellphone. The death of PalmOS doesn't suddenly make this 3 year old PalmOS 4 smartphone any less effective a business tool.

Having used PalmOS devices since the very beginning, I've long since arrived at a stable configuration comprised of the best apps culled from the past 6 or 7 years. In fact, if I had to use my devices without adding a single new app over the next 5 - 10 years, I probably wouldn't mind. I expect that 1 pound microlaptops running Real Windows will complement PalmOS 3, 4 and 5 devices quite well. PalmOS' failure to evolve into a more advanced, full featured, potentially more autonomous platform can be compensated for and is NOT a dealbreaker.

**************************************************************************

TVoR needs to flesh this out a bit into a formal Palm Apologist editorial for Ryan...

TVoR

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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
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The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

No the PalmOS didn't actually go up in smoke, but it still failed us. Much of the brilliance of the original was its masterful optimizations of the limits of handheld technology.

Well hardware has moved on. We are now carting around more RAM, storage space, and MHZ of processor speed then desktop computers had 12 years ago. Somehow the PalmOS hasn't quite ramped like that.

I don't think we are out of line to expect more.

Handspring Visor, Palm V, Treo 180, Treo 90, Treo 600, Treo 650...
MTT

Speaking of conflagrations, isn't interesting how many WinCE/PPC/WinMob/whatever licensees have left the handheld business?

WinMob/PPC/WinCE has had many more licensees and, justifiably, lost many more as well (Everex, anyone? JVC? ). Palm OS only has had a handful of licensees actually ship product with a smaller handful having hardware that never materialized (LG) or quickly withdrew from the market (Alphasmart).

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"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose." - Bill Gates

"Death can come swiftly to a market leader. By the time you have lost the positive-feedback cycle it's often too late to change what you've been doing, and all of the elements of a negative spiral come into play." - Bill Gates, "The Road Ahead", Chapter 3

"In this business, by the time you realize you're in trouble, it's too late to save yourself. Unless you're running scared all the time, you're gone." - Bill Gates

Correction: PALM failed us. If it wasn't for Handera, Handspring, Sony, Garmin, Tapwave and Samsung, the "best" PalmOS you would have ever seen would be a monochrome 320 x 320 screened, 64 MB, non-expandable Palm XV running PalmOS 3.999.

Well hardware has moved on. We are now carting around more RAM, storage space, and MHZ of processor speed then desktop computers had 12 years ago. Somehow the PalmOS hasn't quite ramped like that.

I don't think we are out of line to expect more.

I demanded more from my PDAs, so that's why I ended up with the TRGpro, UX50, TH55, VZ90, etc. These models shipped with the best hardware and built-in software that TRIED to push the PalmOS envelope. Sony, HandEra and Handspring attempted to drag PalmOS kicking and screaming to the next level, with varying degrees of success. The fact that licensees were responsible for pretty much most of the significant PalmOS innovations over the years clearly illustrates what went wrong with PalmOS. Can you imagine Microsoft shipping Windows 95 unchanged year after year to Dell, HP, IBM, etc and telling them to modify the OS themselves if thet wanted to support features like USB, more RAM, bigger hard drives, DVD, broadband Internet, etc? Insane? Well that's basically what Palm/PalmSource has done over the years.

If you're a true fan of PalmOS, do yourself a favor and pick up an OLED-screened CLIE VZ90. Put it away. Bring it out when your current device breaks. And marvel at what could have been.

It shouldn't have ended this way. PalmOS had so much potential - it should have ended up powering "normal" cellphones everywhere, MP3 players, internet tablets, micro laptops, personal video players, alarm clocks, digital photo displayer, etc, etc. The problem is that Palm/US Robotics/3Com were mesmerized by early profits, got greedy and lacked leadership competent enough to plan for the future. There's a good reason why it was Handspring - and NOT Palm - that came up with the Treo 600...

Yes, I also don't feel that "we are out of line to expect more", but the sale to Access has ended all possibility that we'll ever see an advanced version of PalmOS. None of this will matter in a few years though, since as processing power increase, it will be a lot easier for other OSes to fill the void and offer features that PalmOS could never have attempted. Whatever happens in the future won't change a couple of things though:
1) the original Pilot was a brilliant design
2) if your current device does everything you currently need from a PDA, you should appreciate it for what is does for you today.

My bunker is locked and loaded with CLIEs and canned peas. Where do you want to go today, Bubba?™

Copyright, 2006
TVoR, Inc.

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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

I could easily produce >11 WM OEM's shipping products in the last years. Can you do the same for POS?

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Alphasmart*, Aceeca, Fossil*, Garmin, GSPda, Handspring*, Kyocera*, Palm, PiTech/Qool Labs, Samsung*, Sony*, Symbol

LG and Lenovo are still vaporware/no-shows AFAIK.

All of the others aside from Palm & possibly Garmin are shipping/selling

*=no longer in production/EOL

Anyone feel free to chime in with arguments/corrections etc.

I tried to match Surur's list of 11+ WinMob licensees but I got to 8 or 9 and gave up (there are far more licensees than I can think of off-hand--remember, Idon't follow the M$ market that closely).

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VoR-that was quite a good post. Please more of that and less porn in your posts.

Gekko and Foo-regarding your "who cares" comments. Its trite but always true that those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. The Palm team learned from the history of the Zoomer and the Newton. They adapted and made a buck or two from knowing what went before. FWIW, perhaps someone getting ready to do "the next big thing" will see this and pick up something.

I think its a great thing that the Computer History Museum is doing, preserving oral history from the folks that were there at the time.

What I think that we are all forgetting is that the PDA market is changing and maturing much as the computer and cell phone market is doing. Palm has never been a pioneer and that why they are still around rather than face down with an arrow in their corporate carcass. Will the OS problem do them in? Maybe. We will have to see.

"Many men stumble across the truth, but most manage to pick themselves up
and continue as if nothing had happened."
- Winston Churchill

years=year. I meant the last 12 months.

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Dinosaur hardware/software is for cavemen. Technology moves on and the world moves on. If you want to keep up and fully communicate and interact in real time with the rest of the world and their various content/data/devices/peripherals, you have to stay current. An hardware/software that's years old will only get you so far. Sure it will do basic PIM and play some games, but the world moves at a fast pace. You can either be frozen in the past, or move/change with the times. If you want to be a player, stay current. Nostalgia is for LOSERS.

May You Live in Interesting Times

Speaking of conflagrations, isn't interesting how many WinCE/PPC/WinMob/whatever licensees have left the handheld business?

If you're looking at this hoping to support a Palm Apologist position, you're barking up the wrong tree, biotch.

Looking at the number of total licensees, active licensees, new devices coming to market, total sales, momentum, revenue, and recently departed licensees, PalmOS is getting massacres by Windows Mobile.

Where are AlphaSmart, Fossil, Kyocera, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, Sony, Tapwave right now? PalmSource's current website list of licensees reads like a figment of Dr Opinion's imagination:

Aceeca
AlphaSmart
Fossil, Inc.
Garmin
GSPDA
Kyocera Wireless Corp.
Lenovo
LG Electronics, Inc.
Palm, Inc.
PiTech
Samsung
Sony
Symbol Technologies

http://www.palmsource.com/about/licensee.html

At least someone finally got the intern that maintains PalmSource's website to finally remove the embarassing references to Tapwave recently...

With Access having bought and promptly marginalized PalmOS (and with no further development to occur with PalmOS) unless a licensee has an interest in NetFrontLinux, PalmOS has officially become EOL and will be dropped by any remaining PDA-centric licensees like a hot potato.

Varients of the Samsung i550 were released in China, Mexico and a few other countries, but I expect Samsung is about to throw in the towel as well.

Palm's attempts at $$$ corporate intrigue $$$ with their idiotic "split" into palm0ne and PalmSource, the Cobalt Catastrophe and Sony's departure will be remembered as the 3 events that ultimately doomed PalmOS to its current "Living Dead OS" status.

TVoR

------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

Interesting, but not unless you compare that with the fact that ALL PalmOS licensees have left or died, save for Palm. And to makes things a bit more clear; only a handful of MS licensees have departed, while most succeeded. Two left (Everex and Philips) way back in the early days (1999) because the predecessor to Windows Mobile (WinCE) was a steaming pile of dung. Only two vendors left since the inception of Pocket PC, namely Casio and Toshiba, a result of waining popularity of PDAs, and shrinking market. I believe an Toshiba-Australian's VP was even quoted as saying, in his words, "PDAs are dead".

And despite the loss of Toshiba and Casio, Windows Mobile licensees have increasing each year. Microsoft is up to 47-50 now. Compare that with...what? One major PalmOS licensee? And another who only develops vertical devices (Symbol).

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Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com

I, for one, think palm has many good days ahead of it. I get the sense that palm (or rather Ed Colligan) is preparing to either do something or release something big.

Oh, I think we're in no danger of Palm failing to learn from its past. PalmOS has wavered little from its original mark. The real trick is maintaining the same seamless user experience while broadening platform functionality and making the operating system more robust. A feat that PalmSource failed to pull off (Cobalt). That's where real talent pays off, unfortunately PalmSource didn't have that going for them either. They did however have plenty of hubris. Actually both companies did. It's comforting to know that, despite the split, both companies retained their full share of arrogance.

Pity that PalmSource didn't learn from history either when choosing David Nagel as CEO (Copland anyone?) They might have saved themselves...literally.

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Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com

Uh..I think you're a bit confused. Palm does not develop the Palm OS, which is the property of PalmSource.

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Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com

Relax. Some major international airports are expected to install abaci (to replace traditional fingers and toes computation) in 2007.

TVoR

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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823