On Fri, 19 Mar 2010, Florin Iucha wrote: > On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 05:11:13PM -0500, Kristopher Browne wrote: > >> Don't forget the Palm Pre as a Linux based phone... The sdk isn't bad, >> it supports local app deployment if you want to develop for it, and if >> unlocked you can drop in a terminal, ssh, apache, etc. > > I'd love a Pre, but it's CDMA only and from a company that is on shaky > ground at the moment: > > http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/19/technology/palm_target_price_zero/index.htm I have one. The article says, "Grozovsky said Palm has attributed its sales slump to salespeople at the wireless carriers not being well enough versed about the potential benefits of new Palm phones such as the Pre and Pixi." Then goes on to dismiss that idea, but I think it is a good point. A related point is that they messed up on some design issues. For one, it's hard to figure out how to move the cursor around. There's no navigation button (scroll left, right, up, down). I don't get it. If you ask someone in the Sprint store how to do things, they don't know. This is despite the fact that they promised to do a series of training seminars for users. I don't like needing a training seminar, but I like even less needing one and not getting it, especially after being promised one. With earlier Handspring/Palm devices like the Treo 600, it used to be easy to move the cursor around. Things just worked. I didn't have to figure anything out and I never had to ask for help. On my first Pre, the power button simply died. So I went to the Sprint store with it and they told me to go to the other Sprint store. I called first to ask if they had one in stock. They told me that they didn't have one in stock, but they couldn't get one in stock until I came in. In other words, I'd probably have to make two trips. This is their policy. F**k their policy. So I went in and got lucky -- they had one in stock and they replaced it. The replacement was refurbished, not new. C'est la vie. Within a day or two I figured out that the microphone was cutting out during calls unless I squeezed the case while talking. So I brought it back, waited two days for the replacement, went back again and they replaced it with another refurb phone. This one had a working microphone and power button, but if you ask me, the power button is going and the case is screwed up, so I want to bring it back before they go out of business. So I've made 4 ten-mile trips to the Sprint store and am on my third Pre and I want to replace this one too. With every replacement I lose things. The old Treo was synced on my computer -- absolutely *everything* was synced including all configuration settings. Everything with zero exception. With the Pre, some things get lost. Staff at the Sprint store don't show the slightest concern for my data. They also will give you false information about what you will lose. Is this a training issue, or a not-giving-a-shit issue? I don't know. Yes, it's a competitive market, but the way to explain the failure of a company to compete in that market is in terms of the product and service, not in terms of the competition. I don't know whether to blame Sprint or Palm, but I do know that the next time I get a phone, it is very unlikely to be Sprint or Palm, maybe some kind of Android on Verizon will work. I'd also like a phone that works in my house without forcing me to stand next to the south window in the middle of the first floor -- hello, I'm in a major city here. Oops, I forgot to say anything good about the Pre. There are good things to say, but I've run out of time. Mike