Thanks Engadget

Dear Peter, Ryan and Joshua:

Thank you for the very thoughtful post about Palm. I really appreciate the fact that you guys and others care enough to take the time to write such a comprehensive list of actions. I forwarded it to our entire executive staff and many others at Palm have read it. Although I can’t say I agree with every point, many are right on. We are attacking almost every challenge you noted, so stay tuned. Let’s remember that it is very early in the evolution of the smartphone and there is enormous opportunity for us to innovate. We have only just begun to fight!

Thank you for taking the time to write. I really do take your comments to heart and I know the team at Palm is totally committed to delivering the best mobile computing solutions in the world.

-Ed Colligan

Comments

[Geoffrey]

I personally would have preferred a more personal, thought out response ( I have heard enough CEO 'rally the troops' speeches to spot one when I see it) but hopefully they will take the letter to heart and not be left behind. I hope to have something new to look at from Palm when my contract with ATT and my new Iphone is up (650 on ebay as we speak)
till then,
Geoffrey

[Lane]

Talk is cheap, we've heard enough, not let's start doing!!! Talkers and Do-ers

[CK Lim]

I wish that Palm will be able to fight back soon enough as the WM6 is coming out with more stable OS and functionality. But I still love Palm since I has been using it for years and years. I really wish that Palm could think of something more innovative not only in terms of features but also design. Guess the ID will need to change and probably can outsouces to other design house like HTC or Asus for those innovative idea given to them and rush for market as soon as possible before more Palm user has left with dissapointment.

[kevin]

hey palm, i think it was amazing to see that you responded to the engadget post. it really reinforced the fact that i love palm. i had my first palm back when i was 14, a m100. used to play games over infrared with my other friend at school. then it evolved onto the treo 600. my latest phone from you guys was my nice 680. i loved it. the games, the screen, the video camera, the texting, and the phone abilities. its just a great tech phone. as a tech, i loved it, it was loud, worked well, and reliable. i speak in the past thence as my phone was recently stolen over the last weekend. its sad, as a student i cant afford to buy another one. but when i can, you bet it will be another palm. your company has a great opportunity to grow, and really become the best smart phone company in the world. and imo, you already are.

kev.

[Andrew]

It is really refreshing to see the CEO of a company respond to - and not deny - an open letter such as this. I don't see this happening at pretty much anywhere else, and it is a bold statement about Palm's dedication to its customers. Bravo, you just won a new customer.

[Eric]

Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it!

[Francis Lou]

I can't leave Palm. Hope you guys can give us something sexy soon.

[Dennis Yee]

I've been a Palm owner since the Palm Pilot Professional days. I've owned the Treo 300, 600, and two 650s. I'm still using a 650 with the Treo Headset. Needless to say, a majority of my tenure with Sprint PCS has been with a Treo handset. But I'm sorry to say that unless something dramatically changes, I will most likely purchase an iPhone once my contract with Sprint is fulfilled.

This is not to say that I'm unhappy with Sprint, or Palm (Handspring). I love both and am fiercely loyal. But the reality is that Apple set the bar with the iPhone. And thats sad considering your company blazed the trail for them.

Give me a Treo that has better resolution. Give me a Treo that bluetooths better (ad2p please). Give me a Treo that uses a STANDARD AUDIO JACK and is located where it's NOT BLOCKING THE SYNC PORT. Give me a Treo that has at least a 1 GB of RAM. Give me WiFi. Give me a real browser. Give me a native video player (rather than having to go open source). Give me all things that a modern phone 2 years ago should have had.

Shame on you guys for essentially sitting on your laurels and not innovating. Apple should not have been able to establish themselves as a player in the smartphone market in such a short period of time.

But there's still time. There's 12 months left in my contract. That's 12 months to contemplate the next phone that I will choose to replace my 650. I hope that it will be a Palm branded phone - but would be willing to settle for an iPhone. So please make something for all of us geeks to drool over. Don't let me down as a loyal customer.

[tk421]

Hopefully this is a sign that Palm is listening. It feels really great to read a response like that.

Palm has been the true pioneer in pen computing and touch screens. Surely they can figure out how to make a beautiful TX with a cell radio. I will NEVER by a Treo for two simple reasons: no wifi, and I ned a nice large 320x480 screen.

Palms are the best productivity devices out there. The iPhone is great as a lifestyle/entertainment device, but without third party software, it can never hope to become a true productivity tool. Windows Mobile is a mess, it cannot make me more productive.

Please, please give us a TX with cell radio next year! It won't please everyone, but it will give you lots and lots of clients.

If Palm goes down, it will be like the end of th Hellenistic era, the Fall or Rome, the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, like the sinking of the Atlantis. Truth is, there is no other platform than PalmOS that is dedicated to PIM and personal productivity. I wish I could say I have a way out if Palm can't give us another device like the TX, but unfortunately, I don't see it now.

[Darrin]

How about NOT making another smartphone. Can you make another TX with big screen and have it run your Palm OS2/Linux. Dont forget to add voice recording this time. Not everyone wants a cell phone plan just to get your new device.

[Leonard Low]

Excellent stuff Ed - that Engadget post was right on the money. I *used* to be a big Palm fan, but I've since gone over to Windows Mobile and Symbian devices... I'm looking forward to Palm coming out with something that rethinks mobile productivity in future.

[Deane]

I have been a Palm user since the US Robotics Palm Pilot and have owned a variety of devices. I bought the 700P Treo when it was announced with the promise of Blackberry mail "available soon" and I'm still waiting. The 700p has been a huge disappointment and the next Palm will have to really be a proven WOW to get me into it. At this point, the ONLY thing keeping me on the Palm platform is DateBk6. I think Palm is a company that once had great promise but has just been mismanaged into the ground. Colligan says MANY (but not all) of the points were right on and that they are attacking ALMOST every challenge. I've seen too many "almost there" and "many but not all" deliveries from Palm and one short letter in response to a pretty sharp jab does not offer conclusive evidence of "listening to your customers." Palm, show us the product - and not five years from now.

[Richard]

Although it is a good sign that you have responded to this letter I still fear that Palm's reaction to the current marketplace is pretty slack.

I was a LOYAL Treo user. I now have an iPhone. I still miss my Treo. But, I could not justify to myself getting another one when all signs for the last years have pointed to a lack of innovation on Palm's part. Even so if you just made some true improvements I might buy one.

You say that the smartphone is just beginning. I would agree there is bright future ahead for smartphones but that does not mean that there has not been a lot of advancement. Unfortunately Palm is plain behind. You have spent the last several years fragmenting your product line (Windows and Palm OS). You have spent the last years circling around the problem of a drastic improvement to your base OS. You have spent the last years stagnating while other companies have been working hard to catch up and exceed your market share in a market YOU created.

The other thing you have done is slowly alienate your core users loyalty though both a lack of innovation and a lack of thanks to those who were so faithful to your product.

In more business parlance you kept thinking about devices and forgot about the software and services behind them. Why was there never a discount upgrade program. Why was there never any sort of useful services (portal, email, etc...) dedicated to those who owned the devices. Why do your dedicated palm stores not really offer anything to people who already own the device except more to buy. What about services, or repairs or just plain user community.

If the response is well we cannot give that away free I counter with names like Google and Apple, who have built tremendous brand loyalty by through a fantastic mix of enticement and enhancement.

And one user was right; your devices just are not plain sexy any more. This is both from a design standpoint. Which has really not been updated in any substantial way for years. And, from a technical standpoint: how can you STILL not have WiFi in every model. Even some cell phones have that now.

The most egregious example is Palms continuous mis-management of your OS platform. It think it is pretty clear that the S in Smartphone is for software. You had the leading core platform. While other companies such as Sun, Apple, and even Microsoft have been able to bring out everything from multiple revs of Enterprise Operating Systems down to embedded device and smartphone OS Revs. Where was Palm?

From this I ask : 'Where is the Urgency?'. You are loosing users, and failing to deeply innovate in a highly competitive market? And, where is the shame. You, Palm, created this market to a good degree.

You need to offer more than pledges of "its coming". You need to get hard hitting and start getting your users excited. You need to start bringing out concept designs and production models that get customers excited. Most of all you need to get back to your roots and become and original company again.

Simply, I challenge you: get something out there that makes me want to come back to Palm!

[Test test]

I agree with the comments that was in the engadget article.. and i just have to remind people that you have innovate or die. Wordperfect anyone? anyone?

['so stay tuned' doesn't say much]

ok. appreciate the response to engadget's article... but please throw us a bone.

Your response did not say/hint/promise anything. How about some who what when where why and hows?

If it didn't have your name on it, it could've just been received as a typical canned response with no substance.

[Blake]

"Let’s remember that it is very early in the evolution of the smartphone and there is enormous opportunity for us to innovate."

that was 2 years ago pops. its like professional photographers who are now getting on the digital bandwagon. its too late! stop kidding yourself about being on the bring of something great. That has already happend, its called the iphone, over a million people have one and are loving the hell out of them. its not a concept, its not a prototype or someting that is "in its earyl evolution". common, please be real. i appreciate that you are aknowlaging the boys over at engadget but to even start to defend yourself is a crime. palm please get better, i miss the old palm. i hope its not to late.

blake

[Frankie Chung]

My first Palm product was a PalmPilot (for US Robotics), that was almost 10 yr ago. Now I am using Treo 650 and it is 3 yrs old now. I like it because I can really change the way it works with third party software. You simply cannot have one design that fit for all user. So pls come up with a new phone with fast processor, bigger memory and slimmer outlook. Third parties will take care of the rest.

[Gus]

As you say, it may be early in the evolution of the smartphone, but it's getting late for Palm. The platform is years behind its competitors, who are continuing to innovate while Palm is "attacking" the drawing board.

The Engadget critique lists 18 areas for improvement and you think almost all them are worthy of fixing. Why didn't you work on some of these last year, or the year before, or the year before? I wonder if the culture and leadership of the company is equipped for the challenges ahead. What definition of "failure to innovate" would not describe this situation?

[Scott Lawton]

Engadget's list may be a great long-term plan, but someone very sharp (and brave) has to go through and prioritize ruthlessly. Try to do a very few things spectacularly well in order to show the world that Palm is still in the game. You have to do something noteworthy to buy time to fix years of neglect.

My hot button: a slider. When I want to use the PHONE, I don't want the whole Qwerty keyboard. It's an ugly distraction. Roughly: give me a Chocolate with sliding Qwerty (plus the very FEWEST items from Engadget's list that will hit other hot buttons WITHOUT delaying the phone).

[Bill Taroli]

To those comments that laude Palm for "listening to customers," remember that this quick response came to a rather harsh (and quite accurate, IMO) article posted by a major mobile device news outlet... NOT to customer feedback. I would hope that Palm would demonstrate they actually value CUSTOMER feedback and factor that into products and operations. Note my use of "hope." I don't actually feel this happens now -- as evidenced by recent product annoucements. Customers have been spewing volumes about these same issues in forums, even before the official product announcements were posted! But it takes just one silly article, basically regurgitating all the customer sentiment, and whamo! We have a very public reply from Palm's CEO.

I'm glad to hear things are making it through. I'm just a little miffed that Palm only seems to take real note when it's a news or media outlet making these statements and not actual customers.

[John]

Hi Ed - thanks from New Zealand for your prompt positive responce.

Please remember the many Palm fans who do not want a Treo (unless there was a 480x320 touch screen)

I regularly run my upgraded 1.2A T3 battery down reading eBooks or working with my database software so I would always require a separate Phone (or a quick change second battery and space to charge it at the same time)

I have several upgraded T3's and don't plan to buy another Palm unless it is better than the TX - compact (not much bigger than the 480x320 screen) with Better Battery + Microphone + Hold switch like an ipod nano + usb charge/sync port + Lanyard Loop + Bluetooth support for the latest phones such as the V9.

That Foleo is a very worrying change in effort that does not give me confidence that my next handheld device will be Palm...

My money is waiting for the slim Palm Tungsten2_T9 to compliment the Motorola Razr2_V9

[Andre Seet]

I think it's really good that Ed has responded. It does show that Palm may *finally* be listening.

I write as a concerned Palm customer. I remember a time when I used to look forward to every new Palm release. It was the only serious alternative to Windows PDA/phones (which I hate because the software, like the Windows OS itself, is just SO CLUNKY).

Nowadays, I still look at every new Palm release but my reaction to every new device has been one of apathy. They're little more than dressed-up versions of previous devices with minor tweaks in an *attempt* to keep up with the times.

And that's the thing that hurts the most. I *so* want a nice Palm that works as it should, one that moves with the times. I really have no interest in Windows mobile devices and yet nowadays, I find myself more and more tempted, being disillusioned by Palm's efforts.

Please, Palm. Do something. I don't think the comments from Engadget are harsh. I think they're spot on.

Good luck and best wishes.

[JAmerican]

I'll wait until you actually make a change before I applaud you. Engadget hit it nail right on the head. Lets just hope you don't interpret their open letter wrong and start releasing devices with little or no improvement.

[Daniel]

It's nice that Ed responded to the article, but after years of disappointments and what appears to be a market share in free-fall, I think he needs to respond with something stronger than "Stay Tuned". Ed, you are losing customers NOW, your competitors are eating your lunch NOW, and once people switch to a new platform (Blackberry, iPhone, Microsoft) it will be FAR more expensive to win them back. We HEAR your promises, but what we SEE are disappointments like the Foleo and the Centro.

Give your customers something to hold on to, some reason not to switch to your competition in the next few months. Steve Jobs pre-announced the iPhone and had the world ready to burst six months before it was released; people held off buying a phone so they could get an iPhone. Tell me something NOW that gets me excited enough to wait on Palm, otherwise I will switch to RIM and never look back.

[Richard]

Dear Palm,

After reading the engadget article and your letter, I had a few ideas that I wanted to pitch to you.

My ideas revolve around to things that engadget recommends the next Treo have: Wi-fi technology, and open standards.

Being "wireless" is becoming an industry standard. So my suggestion (and personal wish) for the Treo is that it become the most wireless machine on the market. This can be accomplished in many ways.

First, ship the Treo with bluetooth earphones/speaker set *in the box*. Hopefully the next Treo will have MP3 functionality (and a large enough hard disk to store a reasonably sized MP3 library), and those earphones will be more useful than just for talking on the phone.

Second, ship the Treo with a wireless 1/8th inch audio adapter (which will universally fit into any audio input). The Treo should be able to wirelessly communicate with this 1/8th inch adapter to feed an audio signal. Make the Treo be a wireless MP3 player *out of the box*. This is something that no one has done, not even Apple, but would be an excellent feature for media-loving consumers.

Third, allow Treo users to wirelessly link to the PC to perform Hotsync. A wireless link to the PC will also allow for the fourth suggestion.

The fourth suggestion is to develop an adapter that connects to a television akin to Apple's AppleTV. This adapter, like Apple's AppleTV, should have a hard drive so that it can play movies and view photos without significant lag time due to wireless data transfer. Now here is the kicker - the Treo should be able to *wirelessly link to the PC* and act as a "TV Remote," commanding it to beam movies, pictures, or audio.

As long as you have open standards, wireless functionality can become a HUGE part of this hypothetical new Treo. A manufacturer of a CD player can design accompanying Treo software that allows you to wirelessly control the CD player. Even a manufacturer of an alarm system or a simple lamp can design Treo-based programs that allow users to wirelessly turn devices in their home on/off, etc. All this is possible as long as a person has a wireless router in their home.

I don't think the Treo needs a whole lot of processing power to do the above tasks. In fact, although the industry is moving towards mobile internet browsing, which can be processor heavy, I don't think it's very enjoyable on a handheld. So I believe that it's best to keep this hypothetical Treo thin and light, and go easy on the excess (GPS, fast processor, etc). Things that ARE useful, however, are:

1. Large hard drive. People not only want to store relevant data - such as music or documents - but also may want to use this device as a backup drive.

2. All standard palm software, including contacts, calendars, and most importantly, an easily accessible search functionality.

3. Ability to edit Office documents, mainly Word and Excel. Ability to wirelessly upload a Powerpoint file to a television, via a PC, would also be pretty cool.

4. Option for Stylus or Keyboard. One of my favorite things about my old Palm was the stylus. If you could get it a little more sensitive to handwriting, I believe it would make the Treo much more intuitive to use.

5. And of course, cell phone functionality, with open standards. That means also allowing Skype to develop a Treo client for when a user is connected to Wi-fi. You'd never see an iPhone with that!

6. A really great email program. This is ten, even a hundred more times important than browser functionality. These days, all important communication is done through email or telephone. Make sure those two options are easily available in the Treo.

Just imagine the possibilities. The Treo could become the next universal "remote," giving you control over all the electronic devices in your household. It could also be a great personal MP3 player, and a great communications device.

I hope that I might see this idea implemented in the future.

Best,
Richard