Comments on: Ed Colligan to Ring Opening Bell Tomorrow

Ed Colligan, president and CEO of Palm, Inc., will preside over the NASDAQ stock market opening bell to celebrate the company's 10-year anniversary of shipping the Pilot connected organizer.

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Don't be late.

T_W @ 3/28/2006 2:41:38 PM #

Man I hope the alarm on his Windows Mobile Treo actually goes off this time.

He may be late otherwise.

RE: Don't be late.

Simony @ 3/28/2006 7:58:01 PM #

I'd prefer to see Mr Colligan spending time in the office rather than wasting time flying to NY. On the other hand, maybe he will take the opportunity to visit NY based carriers - that would be a smart move in terms of firming up relationships. (Hopefully, he won't be wearing a golden threaded suit.)

RE: Don't be late.

hkklife @ 3/28/2006 8:24:16 PM #

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://tinyurl.com/zgqzq

(Special thanks to Gekko & Amazon)

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

10th anniversary? Ed Colligan killed Palm OS and handhelds...

VampireLestat @ 3/28/2006 10:13:49 PM #

Ed Colligan has always been, is and always will be a Handspring Treo guy.

When he got on to Palm, I knew he meant bad news for handheld users.

He adopted WM.
He is responsible for sabotaging handheld sales by putting all his attention, Palm resources and time on Treo development and sales.

Ed Colligan:
"We are canabilizing our own handheld sales by promoting the Treo. This is a transition to Treos."
"We are becoming a smartphone company."

He never believed in handhelds. His claim that the LifeDrive was his favorite device and his statement that Palm is dedicated to supporting the handheld market were both bareface lies.

His big thing is stating that Palm makes decisions driven by sales is a fallacy. Colligan contributed to facilitating Treo sales and he did not commit to bringing consumers a decent and fully featured handheld.

The T3 had more options than the T5. The T5 had more options than the TX. The TX is pretty good, but how come it isnt as complete as the Treo in features? Its not complicated, Ed is a Treo guy and there is no future at Palm for handheld users, or even Palm OS now. There are new rumours that Palm will no longer be releasing any new handhelds. I wouldnt be surprised. I suspected that when Colligan announced a boatload of new Treo releases in 2006.

Lets watch for other companies offering Palm OS or even WM handheld hardware in a slim design like the TX, but fully featured (like the Treo).

RE: 10th anniversary? Ed Colligan killed Palm OS and handhelds...

VampireLestat @ 3/28/2006 10:38:33 PM #

All that to say that seeing him being allowed to ring the bell just burns me.

RE: 10th anniversary? Ed Colligan killed Palm OS and handhelds...

hkklife @ 3/28/2006 10:38:50 PM #

The unconnected PDA market has begun a slow tailspin. HP is gone after existing stocks are liquidated. Dell is liable to exit any day now. There's a perfect opportunity for Palm to wrap up the market for "conventional" PDAs, especially with continued (semi) strong showings like the TX & Z22 that place an emphasis on value.

I predict Palm's got at LEAST one final POS PDA up their sleeves. Even without spending a $ on R&D for new tech and facing the limitations of the decrepit FrankenGarnet, Palm could still pull off one or two TX/TE/Zire refreshes over the next year or two. There's still a retail market for a $50-$70 greyscale "digital diary" that Palm could seize with a Zire 21 type device.

I for one don't think Palm can/needs to sink a ton of $ into the traditional PDA market. But for them to abandon it outright after 10 years of success and with strong margins on the TX & T|E2 would be simply ludicrous. Of course, foolish marketing decisions are nothing new to Palm...

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

RE: 10th anniversary? Ed Colligan killed Palm OS and handhelds...

Simony @ 3/29/2006 4:34:56 AM #

Yeh, Palm seems to have found the right formula with the TE/TE2/TX - reasonable feature set and a knockout price. If sales continue at roughly current levels, there doesn't seem to be reason why they can't keep producing units like this.

Don't know what the future holds for the LifeDrive. Maybe, just maybe, they'll try to morph this into something like a handheld which can be plugged into a docking station at home ie for use with a full-sized screen & keyboard. Just imagine Palm apps running on a desktop screen! It could never compete with PC specs but, aside from games and video editing, most home PC usage doesn't seem to require particularly powerful hardware. This is off-the-wall speculation, of course.

Ed on CNBC

Ryan @ 3/29/2006 11:11:10 AM #

Just emailed to me - Ed Colligan, is scheduled to appear on CNBC's "Closing Bell" today between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm EST.

RE: Ed on CNBC

Ryan @ 3/29/2006 2:34:35 PM #

just saw a commercial for this, they are doing a Treo vs BlackBerry story and Ed is going to be on it. Show is on at 4 eastern, 1pm pacific.

RE: Ed on CNBC

Ryan @ 3/29/2006 5:02:08 PM #

here's the recap.

Pretty good interview. His segment came on 45 mins into the show. He was asked about patents, said they needed reform b/c there is a lot of potential for abuse, he also admitted the BlackBerry case opened some doors for Palm in the enterprise.

They showed off the Pilot 1000, then the Palm V and then the Treo 700w. The host asked him about the mobile industry, thoughts on competing with other devices including apple and his thoughts on smartphone growth potential. He stated that Palm is putting a computer in the mobile phone.

RE: Ed on CNBC

Scott R @ 3/29/2006 8:24:08 PM #

"They showed off the Pilot 1000, then the Palm V and then the Treo 700w."

So was the implication Palm OS = past and WM = present/future?

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RE: Ed on CNBC

Ryan @ 3/29/2006 11:38:46 PM #

He did mention how Palm now offer both Palm OS and Windows Mobile choices, They didn't focus on the OS when he held up the 700w, but for all I know it could have been a certain other treo 700 but they never turned it on.

RE: Ed on CNBC

VampireLestat @ 3/30/2006 12:40:18 AM #

Of course ED is promoting the 700w.

Isnt it clear by now?

Palm Inc will soon migrate to solely WM devices.

Palm Inc tried to buy PalmSource, they failed. Because of that, and because making a new OS on their own is too costly, they will take the easy inexpensive road and go all WM. Even it means giving up on the best OS ever developed for mobile usage.

RE: Ed on CNBC

Simony @ 3/31/2006 9:55:14 PM #

> Palm Inc will soon migrate to solely WM devices

Well, if they can do something to make it stop crashing and if they can load the standard PIMs, would that be so bad?

RE: Ed on CNBC

joad @ 4/2/2006 1:36:30 AM #

That's a *BIG* "if." Putting Windoze Mobile on the devices instead of fixing the datamangler problem seems to be going in the wrong direction.

RE: Ed on CNBC

stonemirror @ 4/2/2006 11:55:10 AM #

Palm Inc will soon migrate to solely WM devices.

What kind of odds are you offering on this?

RE: Ed on CNBC

PenguinPowered @ 4/2/2006 7:12:01 PM #

I'll give 7 to 5 against

May You Live in Interesting Times

Pics of the Palm Nasdaq opening

Ryan @ 3/30/2006 2:20:42 PM #

Are here:

http://www.nasdaq.com/reference/200603/market_open_032906.stm

If you look at the high-res pic of Ed signing that board, you can see he is still using his 700w.

RE: Pics of the Palm Nasdaq opening

joad @ 4/2/2006 1:35:00 AM #

...I guess if he's stuck with a 700w he's being punished enough?

RE: Pics of the Palm Nasdaq opening

Ryan @ 4/2/2006 12:03:54 PM #

I think the phrase, eat your own dogfood is appropriate.

RE: Pics of the Palm Nasdaq opening

Libra @ 4/2/2006 3:50:17 PM #

If I were a betting person, my $ would say Ed's 700w is history the day the VZW exclusive expires. Does anyone really know what he uses off-camera?

Investigate new possibilities...

How about Palm spends more time improving their product instead?

The_Voice_of_Reason @ 4/2/2006 5:07:51 PM #

If I were a betting person, my $ would say Ed's 700w is history the day the VZW exclusive expires. Does anyone really know what he uses off-camera?

Samsung i500. PalmOS 4 SAMSUNG i500. Ooops!

P.S. Does anyone else find that photo of Colligan with that orange "Palm" logo vaguely... DISTURBING? I don't think I'd trust him alone with small children...