Memo to marketing: Read at your own risk

Maybe it was the recent profile of one of Palm's marketing mavens that sparked it, but it seems like suddenly everybody's getting in on the marketing act. The comments here on the Palm blog and over on Facebook and Twitter have been bursting with ideas and feedback from an army of armchair marketeers.

The Pre's appearance on Jimmy Fallon's late-night show prompted some fans to plot how to coax Stephen Colbert to invite the Pre onto his show (e.g., re-name the Pre "The Colbert Phone" -- not sure the marketing department will go for that). Suggestions for ads featuring Palm execs cutting loose caught our attention. And another fan -- inspired by the Pre's Touchstone inductive charger -- offered some...unique...insight on new market opportunities: "Can I charge my toothbrush with the Touchstone? Can I charge the Pre with my toothbrush charger? If so, this would finally make it worthwhile to install a sink next to my desk."

If you haven't been following palm_inc on Twitter, you've missed out on the great "what is the correct plural for Pre?" debate. Suggested answers included Pres, Pries, Prius, Preese, Pre and the ever-popular collective noun "an advance of Pre." (The correct answer is that the correct singular is "Palm Pre phone" so the correct plural is "Pre phones." Whatevs.) Shouts-out to RichardR, LilTmac2003, Tim M., Samuel K., vswish and BriZimm.

As always, we welcome your two cents here, there and everywhere.

Zeenat S.
Edelman for Palm

Comments

[Michael]

Hello,

Will the Palm Pre be able to view and edit Microsoft Word and Excel documents?

[Chingon]

Hello again, PLEASE!!! Give us Pre, NOW!!!
I'm growing impatient!!! Any date? or Price yet???
http://www.cellphone-reviews.co.uk/2009/03/palm-pre-fans-getting-tired-of-waiting.html
A lot of us are really getting too impatient. And more phones from other manufacturers are coming soon too, so, PLEASE, give us something to hang on to!!!
I also hope Sprint prices the Pre on the $99-$149 price range, otherwise, it will fail to get a LOT of people to jump ship, or even people from within to buy the Pre!

[Alex H. at Edelman for Palm]

Michael -- we haven't discussed this yet, but with the ease of development in webOS, it seems reasonable to expect that kind of functionality from our robust developer community. Stay tuned.

[Alex H. at Edelman for Palm]

Chingon -- as we've said all along, the Pre will be available in the first half of the year. Stay tuned.

[RC]

someone on yahoo message board just said the release date was leaked and is now set for April 13th...is that possible or is it just a rumor. I am waiting on replacing my Blackberry until I can get a PRE. FYI, my BB is on Sprint and I think Sprint is a good carrier. It would make sense to launch prior to IPHONE update in June im my opinion.

[Alex H. at Edelman for Palm]

RC -- just a rumor. First half of this year.

[RC]

thanks....although now a Citi analyst is predicting end of May...either way, the day is not too far away. My wife can't wait to upgrade from her Boost Mobile phone. And I can't wait to ditch my BB which seems antiquated. OS is going to be a game changer and as a shareholder I can't wait to go along for the ride.

[samantha]

WHY WHY WHY did Palm offer the Pro to Sprint and Alltel??? After AT&T arguably the two worst carriers. I LOVE PALM - but I'm a Verizon customer. When can I get a PRO (without having to pay $550 for a device with less memory)? The Centro is for kids. Now I'm stuck with a crappy Blackberry...
Sad in MIchigan

[Lee]

Global voice translator. Do want. Available from the Pre App Store on release date? o.O

[John]

I'm with Samantha. I've been using Palm products forever, and switched to Verizon some years back so I could get a Treo. Now my 700w is falling to pieces. I'd love to replace it with a Pro (or, maybe, a Pre), but there's a limit to how long I can wait. Frustrating? Very.