GSlusher

Google's Android vs. Apple: History Repeats Itself

Lest someone think I was repeating John-Galt's points, his message was posted while I was writing mine.

Google's Android vs. Apple: History Repeats Itself

Re: Apple's "closed" OS & platform
There's a lot of hype about "open" systems, but, lest we forget, Windows is NOT "open," yet 90+% of computers run it. What happens with some "open" systems can best be demonstrated by the older Palm devices. There was no control, no certification, no checking. The result was that some applications routinely crashed the system. A friend had a Treo (don't know which, but it wasn't a Windows Mobile version). He installed a game and, within a day, the Treo started crashing DURING CALLS--and the game was NOT running. I had a game on my Palm TX that would turn the TX back ON if I turned it off while the game is showing. The TX looks like it turns off, but, 5-10 seconds later, it turns back on. It caused the battery to run down dozens of times before I noticed the behavior. (I keep the TX in a metal case and would shut the case after turning it off.) I contacted Palm, who told me it wasn't their problem. I finally contacted the developer, who told me to go p*ss up a rope. He wasn't supporting the game any more.

That's the beauty of an "open" system: you can get hosed and even pay for the privilege, and no one will accept responsibility.

Palm: Is the End Near?

Unfortunately, the Pre cannot do the most-used form of "multi-tasking": accessing data while making a phone call. With Sprint and Verizon's systems, you can do one or the other, but not both at the same time. It's a basic limitation of their technology. This could well be the death of the Pre.


On Oct 01 12:20 AM Aryamehr wrote:

>Its Multifunctioning and Synergy functions are innovations still >lacking from the latest iteration of the iPhone
> innovation, it is something any carrier can add to their phones.

Research In Motion: A Smart Call, Long Term

The author doesn't say whether he's using GAAP or non-GAAP earnings for Apple. That could be because he doesn't know that there is a difference. If that is so, his analysis is useless. This is not "new" nor hidden, nor even very complicated.

E-Reader Wars Heating Up: Apple May Have Edge with Younger Generations

From the article: "Despite the company’s refusal to release sales numbers, Amazon’s Kindle appears to be the sales leader in the U.S."

That's as blatant a non-sequitur as I've read recently. "We have absolutely NO data, but we'll make a wild-assed guess, anyway."

Palm: 823,000 Smartphones Shipped, But Outlook Not Clear

At least this author didn't make the oh-so-common error of comparing predictions of Pre sales to the numbers reported by Palm, which included ALL their smartphones, including Treos and Centros.

Has Palm Peaked? Analyst Says Yes, Traders Disagree

Minor problem with that: the iPod wasn't available prior to "the Millenium," whether you take that as Jan 1, 2000, or Jan 1, 2001. The first iPod wasn't available until October 2001.


On Aug 16 05:50 PM Ricard wrote:

> Palm had an enormous amount of brand capital going into the millennium.
> Its Palm Pilots were ubiquitous, like using Kleenex to blow your
> nose, or more to the point, like using an iPod to listen to music.
> Whereas Kleenex and Apple were able to leverage this ubiquity to
> massive profits, Palm has stuttered and IMHO has fallen from grace.
>
>
> Now it is generally a has-been brand, trumped by Apple and Blackberry.
> One look at its financials is all you would need to either stay away
> from this stock, or sell short on upward momentum.

Why Apple Isn't Making iTunes Available for the Palm Pre

Palm should have written its own software to access the iTunes Library. "Spoofing"--pretending that the Pre is an iPod--implies that they are lazy, incompetent, greedy or unethical--or all of the above.

Dear Palm CEO: Here's What It Would Take to Get Me to Switch

A question: does one have to have internet access to use Pre apps? Would one be able to use them in situations where the phone radio must be turned off?

Palm Pre Apps Are Tracking Way Behind Apple

Yet another sneering comment about "fart" applications, which are a tiny, tiny, tiny portion of the iPhone applications. (If there were, indeed, 140--which there are not, that would be 0.3% of the roughly 50,000 applications.) Instead, focus on:

- Games - lots of games
- Specialty applications (e.g., for physicians)
- Business
- Location-based (not just turn-by-turn)
- Entertainment (e.g., streaming music)

and on and on.

More to the point, while the comparison in the article may or may not be "fair," life--especially business--isn't about being "fair." Palm and the Pre have to compete with the iPhone and Blackberry as they are now, not what they were a year ago. Palm IS at a severe disadvantage.

Disclosure: I've owned Palm OS devices since early 2000, starting with the Handspring Visor Deluxe. I use my Palm T|X every day, often including WiFi for email, though I haven't bought an application for it in at least a year, probably longer. (FWIW, there are many stupid applications for the Palm OS, as well, plus several that caused my T|X to crash.)

> Besides, how much better is it having 140 fart apps vs. even
> needing one? Sure, I need to use that every day.

It's All About the Apple Ecosystem

Interesting article. One thing that strikes me is that there seems to be no other company that does all of what Apple does:

- OS
- Computer hardware, "personal" and server
- Entertainment devices, portable (iPods) and home (Apple TV)
- Phones
- Content

Even the behemoth Microsoft only does three of those (plus a significant line of peripherals).

Apple also seems to be able to attract other companies to make accessories for their portable devices. I was in a Best Buy store a few weeks ago. Discounting "generic" accessories (e.g., cases that can hold many phones), the great majority of accessories in both the phone and MP3 player sections were for iPhones and iPods.

It's All About the Apple Ecosystem

Interesting article. One thing that strikes me is that there seems to be no other company that does all of what Apple does:

- OS
- Computer hardware, "personal" and server
- Entertainment devices, portable (iPods) and home (Apple TV)
- Phones
- Content

Even the behemoth Microsoft only does three of those (plus a significant line of peripherals).

Apple also seems to be able to attract other companies to make accessories for their portable devices. I was in a Best Buy store a few weeks ago. Discounting "generic" accessories (e.g., cases that can hold many phones), the great majority of accessories in both the phone and MP3 player sections were for iPhones and iPods.

Can the Pre Save Palm?

It should be noted that multitasking can dramatically reduce battery life, as well. You might have to recharge your Pre during the day, as a lot of early Treo users did (or keep 2 extra batteries at hand, adding to the cost, weight, and toxic waste disposal problem).

Palm vs. Apple vs. RIM: The Mobile OS Wars Heat Up

If you're going to write professionally, please learn the correct use of "it's" versus "its." "It's" is not the possessive form of "it," but a contraction of "it is" or "it has."

Palm Pre Expected to Be Cheaper to Operate than the iPhone

Eric should have revealed the IM part of the equation. There are many people who use approximately ZERO IM's per month. Perhaps Sprint should wake up and add a no-text (or limited text) option.