Friday, July 26, 2002
I don't get it. Maybe I don't want to get it.
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THE COMPETITION" @ 07:00 AM
A few weeks ago, Jason posted on the new Palm Oslo device because of its looks. Yesterday, Palm Infocenter (PIC) posted on some specs they had obtained - things like audio capabilities, 320 X 320 screen, bluetooth, 175MHz TI processor, etc. And what does the PIC audience do? They blast the device! "Too thick." "Too complex." "Another Zaurus."
And this is the problem Palm has right now. You have Pocket PCs nibbling away market share quarter after quarter, and they are doing it with power, not pricing. In fact, they are doing it in spite of the pricing differences. Then you have users like our very own Foo Fighter that are largely device agnostic and just want something cool, powerful and under $500, something the Oslo fulfills. And on the other end of the spectrum you have those that want a small package regardless of functionality, or a particular functionality regardless of what power user features are abandoned.
Microsoft has a very targeted focus on who it thinks will buy a Pocket PC. Enterprises and power users. Plain and simple. Want only PIM? Well, maybe the Pocket PC isn't for you. And MS seems happy with that. Palm, on the other hand, seems to be going after everyone with OS5 and beyond. The only thing they have to differentiate the different levels of users though is pricing. There won't be a scaled down simple OS5 on sub $150 devices, and there won't be multitasking on any device at any price. I don't envy Palm's marketing department as they try to guide Palm and PalmSource through this. If you aren't careful in a situation like this as you try to change the direction of a company, the risk of ticking everyone off is far higher than pleasing even 75% of your current base, something the current gripes at PIC seem to back up.
So, back to my original thought. I don't get why the Oslo is being blasted at PIC by Palm's core users. If it weren't for the limitations of OS5, Oslo is a device I'd be interested in playing with and perhaps even buying. If that is "not getting it" then I don't want to get it. Do you get it?
And this is the problem Palm has right now. You have Pocket PCs nibbling away market share quarter after quarter, and they are doing it with power, not pricing. In fact, they are doing it in spite of the pricing differences. Then you have users like our very own Foo Fighter that are largely device agnostic and just want something cool, powerful and under $500, something the Oslo fulfills. And on the other end of the spectrum you have those that want a small package regardless of functionality, or a particular functionality regardless of what power user features are abandoned.
Microsoft has a very targeted focus on who it thinks will buy a Pocket PC. Enterprises and power users. Plain and simple. Want only PIM? Well, maybe the Pocket PC isn't for you. And MS seems happy with that. Palm, on the other hand, seems to be going after everyone with OS5 and beyond. The only thing they have to differentiate the different levels of users though is pricing. There won't be a scaled down simple OS5 on sub $150 devices, and there won't be multitasking on any device at any price. I don't envy Palm's marketing department as they try to guide Palm and PalmSource through this. If you aren't careful in a situation like this as you try to change the direction of a company, the risk of ticking everyone off is far higher than pleasing even 75% of your current base, something the current gripes at PIC seem to back up.
So, back to my original thought. I don't get why the Oslo is being blasted at PIC by Palm's core users. If it weren't for the limitations of OS5, Oslo is a device I'd be interested in playing with and perhaps even buying. If that is "not getting it" then I don't want to get it. Do you get it?
