And this year's "things we say that come back to bite us right in the ass" award goes to Palm CEO Ed Colligan, who was interviewed back in November '06 during a Churchil Club event by the New York Time's John Markoff about his thoughts on Apple's secret development of a mobile phone device. Colligan proudly boasted...
"PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in."
Oh, Ed. I feel your pain. If only I hadn't consumed that last Gin and tonic at the company Christmas party I might not have told my boss he looked sexy in that suit he was wearing. He still gives me nervous looks as we pass each other.
On a serious note, it remains to be seen just how "right" Apple may have gotten it. But Apple's vision of mobile software certainly forces the moguls of mediocrity Triumvirate of telephony (RIM, Palm, and Nokia) to rethink product strategies and begin taking software development more seriously. That is especially true of Palm whose orphaned Operating System, the beleaguered PalmOS Garnet, has languished.
This is your wake up call, boys! Pick up the phone before the market hangs up on you.
Reader comments
Why Is This Man Smiling?
If Colligan were smart he would pull his head out of his ass and start innovating. Don't worry about whether or Apple will get it right or not, Ed. Just concentrate on what you are going to respond with.
iPhone looks cool. I really like multi-touch, Safari support, and overall usability improvements.
However:
* Seems too expensive to me.
* According to latest news, you cannot write software for it.
"The OS: It isn't OS X proper, as you'd expect. And like an iPod, it won't be an open system that people can develop for. Remember, this is both an iPod and a Phone." Link
All the new gadgets are expensive, but... It is not a smartphone if you can't develop applications for it. I am really disapointed. Seems like Apple reinveted the "phone", not the "smartphone".
I beleive that what said Ed Cooligan about iPhone a month ago was take out of context.
Here is post from Micheal Mace about ithttp://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/2006/12/understanding-palm-what-ed-colligan.html
And one interesting quote by Ed Cooligan :
"We're not in the handset business, we're in the mobile computing business....Voice is a killer app of the future of mobile computing. That's how we look at the world."
I spend a lot of time reading blogs and I have to say I'm impressed with your posts. It's refreshing to find a blog that has valuable content such as yours. I'll be a regular reader from now on, you can count on it.
Thanks,
Dennis