UXbyDesign.org

RIP, Palm Pre

Posted on 16. Nov, 2010 by Bradley Hebdon in Features

In a fitting turn of events, my Palm Pre decided to “bite the bullet”. Why fitting? Because while Palm’s spirit might continue to exist on an HP tablet, its brand and hardware find themselves 6 feet under. Yes, Palm for most part is dead and so is my love-hate relationship with my Pre. But the real travesty here, is the wasted potential of what the Pre brought to the mobile market. Arguably a better designed operating system than Apple’s IOS, it thrilled users and developers alike with it’s HTML-based webOS and delightful user interface.

So what went wrong with the Pre? In my opinion three things:
1) Initially being exclusive to Sprint, the carrier probably acted as an adoption barrier.
2) The advertising campaign and brand seemed to focus on Zen and the feminine — probably too niche for intended wide spread appeal.
3) Poor quality hardware. Whether it be the plastic or the feel of the keyboard, webOS and the industrial design were clearly on different planets.
4) Entry into the marketplace was too late. Apple and Android had already established a loyal customer base, leaving only crumbs beneath the table for Palm to scavenge.

If Palm had acted a few years earlier when they had the momentum of their earlier devices, they might have been where the iPhone is today. Live long and prosper webOS, albeit in another body.

Anyway, that’s all for the history books. It’s onto newer, bigger and hungrier things: enter the HTC Evo!

Related posts:

1. Designing the Palm Pre: An interview with Michelle Koh
2. Palm Pre Video Capture Test
3. Palm Pre arrives June 6 for $200
4. Palm Pre: on the heals of the iPhone

Tags: Evo, HP, HTC, Mobile, Operating System, Palm, Pre, Sprint, Tablet, WebOS