Palm CEO dismisses Apple's iPhone

Yeah, OK, I have a Treo 650 and I can tell you, it's pretty decent, but there are SO many obvious ways that the thing could be improved. Like Ed said, it's "decent", however that's where Apple really excels. They look at a product and say "these are the obvious problems that this thing has" then, they come up with truly innovative ways to solve those issues. That's how Apple sold so many iPods and I'm willing that will be the same way that they sell the iPhone.

Personally, the thing that I don't think that Palm gets is that so far, there isn't a phone on the market that represents a truly great product (as far as I am concerned). There are some that look nice, but that's usually about where it ends. That being the case I certainly think that there's a big opportunity for a really excellent product.

A potential direct competitor isn't suggesting it's existing customers purchase an iPhone? The madness!

... shouldn't people know better than this by now?

No, it's not a foregone conclusion that Apple is going to have a successful product -- but it is certainly not prudent to assume that they can't possibly come up with anything new in the area.

I fear that this gentleman is going to have to eat his words in a year or so.

I had expected him to say, "Here comes Apple. Time to back it in and head home I guess."

That's proof that the iPhone exists! It say 'forthcoming'! Its around the corner, at a xmas store near you (nah, that would make too much sense, selling it for the holiday season, best to wait until after everyone has spent all their money and looking for ways to pay off their debt and bring it out then).

another comments thread killed by testudo

I couldn't agree more! The companies that were selling MP3 players (Creative, for example) thought that they had "figured out" what people wanted... and we both know how that turned out.

IMHO, Apple will decimate the mobile phone space very quickly, *IF* they come out with a "smart phone" that really kicks butt...

For instance, imagine a phone with these features:

Great reception, great sound quality

Sync contacts (Outlook & AB)

AIM integration, with Contact Presence monitoring

Bluetooth enabled for wireless synching

Synching with iTunes (with 1000 or more songs!)

and a really beautiful design that doesn't scratch when you look at it wrong.

Any other features that I'm missing here?

What features should the iPhone have?

The poor guy, so badly in denial... although, he's right! "PC guys are not going to just figure this out."

Just one slight mistake: Apple aren't "PC guys".

I have to say that Ed couldn't be more wrong. I'm pretty happy with my Treo 600, but then again they haven't done much to subsequent Treos to really make them stand out. If Apple doesn't come up with a good smartphone competitor, I'll probably get a 680. But if they do, Palm had better watch out.

You got that right, I have a Treo 650 as well and it lacks polish and thats where Apple excels they look at the finer details. They use their products every day so they notice little tiny things that would make it that much better which add up to something big in the end. I hope this guy EATs his own words! it will be a sweet sweet day when i can ditch my Treo 650 and have a pure Apple solution! speaking of which paint on the buttons of my Treo is wearing off!