Poor Palm, they had to go and announce their new handheld platform during the media blitzkrieg that heralds the Book Cover Archive. Well, I’m sure someone will think to read Gizmodo today.
So apparently it’s a “web OS.” This is a fancy way of saying that the operating system is simply a web browser, and (with the exception of some piddly stuff like making “phone calls,” which I guess some folks still do) any apps written for it will be DHTML widgets and doodads. Apple tried to pull the same thing on developers back when the iPhone was first announced (pre-SDK and App Store era), and nobody really went for it — which is a shame. I keep finding that most of the non-game apps I download could have been perfectly realized as iPhone-optimized web pages.
So this is a smart move by Palm. They’ve been wasting untold millions of dollars on a fruitless quest for a “real” successor to the Palm OS; the Pre bypasses the whole mess, and instantly opens the platform to countless developers. RIM is facing a similar problem, and it could be their way out too. It also gives Palm an easy future that doesn’t rely on Microsoft.
The Slashdot and Engizmadget crowds will laugh at it, but since when did anyone care what they think? If Palm can nail the quality and price, they might actually survive this decade.
btw anyone who titles their articles and reviews of this thing “grand pre” owes me mad royalties bitches $$$
