Comments for The Smoke Clears on Palm Pre's First Weekend in the Wild

The Smoke Clears on Palm Pre's First Weekend in the Wild

2009-06-07T22:46:53Z

Official sales figures are not out yet, but if its sold-out status at virtually every Sprint and Best Buy retailer is any indication, then the much anticipated debut of the Palm Pre (and the new webOS) is a smashing success. Bloomberg.com is reporting that Palm may sell as many as 150,000 Pre phones this weekend and that number is likely to rise in the coming weeks as waiting lists are filling up fast.

]]> Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless operator, owns exclusive rights to the Pre through at least the end of the year, but Verizon and AT&T have also expressed interest in carrying the phone. I tried to purchase one of these contenders to the iPhone throne this weekend but I was unsuccessful and relegated to a waiting list. Local Sprint retail stores, even those with an allotment of 60 units, sold out in just an hour or two. The Best Buy stores in the city where I tried to buy one in (Portland, Or.) had only two each, and those were sold minutes after their doors opened.

Friday, before it was officially released, I did get a chance to play with the Pre a little bit and tested one again on Saturday at a local Sprint retail store. My initial impression is that it is pretty cool indeed. First of all, it looks sleek and feels really good in my hand. The touch screen display is large and the Qwerty keyboard is adequate, if not a little small. The user interface is instinctive and both the browser (full HTML browser based on the WebKit application framework) and the webOS are lightning fast. It comes with most everything you would expect from a $299 smartphone ($199 after rebate), including a camera with flash. And of course, it is perfectly capable as a telephone also. The only obvious reason the Palm Pre is not an iPhone killer just yet is its lack of available apps.

Fortunately, our own Sarah Perez has really done her homework on the new Palm Pre and its new webOS and you can find that post here. Be sure to also read posts from Bloomberg.com and Gizmodo and watch a video review on YouTube for even more information. We knew it wouldn't take long for someone to want to tear this thing apart to see what makes it tick (it's the nature of the geek, right?), so for all of you morbid tear-apart-the-toaster types, there's this.

Comment from Portland Web Design on 2009-06-07

2009-06-08T01:21:53Z

I saw one of these at Frys today a guy was demo-ing it. It is pretty sweet. As cool as the iphone or blackberry storm, maybe.

I guess it is a great phone for the anti-iPhone crew.

Comment from Michael Burns on 2009-06-07

2009-06-08T02:05:06Z

The concept of the Pre being an iPhone killer is nothing more than a pathetic sound byte to be frank. I'm a lifelong Mac head, but did not buy an iPhone. In fairness, I used to work for Sprint, as do many of my good friends. I suffered the traumatic quirks of the Moto Q while waiting out my contract. (I could have easily bought that out, by the way.) I heard about the Pre and the timing was right. I need a physical keyboard. That's all. The iPhone didn't do it for me.

Getting back to my point, no "phone" (c'mon, it's a freaking phone, people!) is going to devastate the marketing engine behind a competing product. Direct competitors are all over the web and are going to learn the plusses and deltas between their products and make adjustments in their next round of firmware updates or app catalogs.

Hard core Mac users are going to stick with the iPhone and PC freaks or those open to experimenting may opt for the Pre. The fact is this: The introduction of one device on the market ... when nearly every adult in our country has at least one cell phone ... will not "kill," crush or otherwise destroy those who remain loyal to a favored brand. The market reality dictates that they will coexist.

Sprint scored big here. Someone else will trump them in nine months, and that vendor will be trumped a few months later. It's accelerated technology-versus-demand. That's all.

Comment from Doug Coleman on 2009-06-07

2009-06-08T02:36:29Z

Thanks for your comments Michael, you raise some good points. I agree that no one device will "kill" another. The iPhone people are still going to like the touch screen and other features, while any number of other devices will become popular and even more will not. I was simply referring to some people's expectations against its closest competetor, but "iPhone killer" may have been an unfortunate choice of words. While the Pre is pretty much just a fancy mobile phone, people who want "just a phone" are not going to be interested in a device like the Pre and so I was not necessarily speaking to them.

I might actually wait until the Pre becomes available on AT&T (I have no deep loyalty there, I just like its service and am still under contract). I'm kind of a gadget freak (and a PC user) and I'm currently using a BlackBerry Bold 9000. I'm not a big touch screen fan, I like a physical keyboard like you do. Thanks again for your comments.

Comment from Michael Burns on 2009-06-07

2009-06-08T02:48:31Z

Doug,

Thanks. Didn't mean to appear to lash out. Yours was just the latest of "iPhone Killer" headlines I've seen over the last few months on blogs and established news sites. The concept is a misnomer. That's all.

If VZW has a Pre for you when your contract ends, I'd say go for it. I like the Pre. I like it a lot. It takes some getting used to, but doesn't everything these days?

peace

Comment from Engago team on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T07:19:13Z

There is only a small segment of the population interested in the most feature phone.
If the VCR was already too complex for 65% of the population, any smart phone will be too complex too: a DVD player is much simpler to use thus more popular.

Most people just want to call and sms (texting) and have a nice ring-tone.

Comment from 花蓮民宿 on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T08:02:22Z

The introduction of one device on the market ... when nearly every adult in our country has at least one cell phone ...
will not "kill," crush or otherwise destroy those who remain loyal to a favored brand. The market reality dictates that they will coexist.

Comment from Reality Bite on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T10:37:36Z

Multiplying through the number of stores with the Pre at launch by an average estimate of number of Pres at each store gives about 50,000 Pres, plus or minus ten thousand or two.

Comment from Dans on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T11:05:31Z

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Comment from Govind on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T13:14:55Z

Awesome - I wonder when it will hit the asian markets. Cant wait for this phone.

Comment from Jeanetta on 2009-06-08

2009-06-09T06:05:02Z

phone looks awesome, but I really don't understand you wanting the tiny, physical keys. I had a Treo Pro and after getting used to it, I became quite quick at typing. But honestly, nothing comes close to the speed & accuracy of tap-typing on my iPhone. I mean, you can use the lightest touch to get a letter on the iPhone, you can't tell me that physically pushing/clicking a key down can be that quick?

Comment from Mike on 2009-06-11

2009-06-12T05:28:20Z

The Pre is dead but people don’t know it yet.

Before the announcement of the Pre, Palm had a share price of less than two dollars. Bono (from U2) had to inject 450 million dollars to keep Palm afloat. Developers aren’t going to invest in a platform that has the smallest installed base in a barely afloat company married to the weakest of the cell phone companies (Sprint has the fewest subscribers).

Developers are focusing on Blackberry (Curve is the #1 smartphone), Android (18 Android phones out this year!), Windows Mobile (on tens of millions of phones), iPhone (on 40 million units including iTouch). Not to mention Palm has almost no money. Developers will take a wait and see approach before investing in the Pre, they already have 4 other platforms to support which are far more established (ie: they can make a LOT more money right away in) than the Pre platform (read about 100,000 owners).

Secondly, Pre is late to the game. Nobody will buy a laptop without programs. Consumers aren’t going to buy a smartphone that has no apps. Last count Pre had 18 WebOS apps. A smartphone without apps is basically a dumb feature phone with internet.

Ok lastly Palm a barely afloat company is going up against Google (Android), RIM (Blackberry), Microsoft (Windows mobile) and Apple (iPhone). Those last four companies have vastly more cash on hand to market their product. The only reason why the Pre is getting all this attention with their disappointing sales figures is that the media is trying to increase readership (iPhone 3G sold over 1 million units in its first 3 days, Palm hasn’t officially released their numbers. Why? Its obviously disappointingly low).

Its Economics 101.

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2009-08-27T06:45:02Z

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Comment from Bodum on 2009-11-18

2009-11-18T11:40:36Z

Mac users are going to stick with the iPhone and PC freaks or those open to experimenting may opt for the Pre