RIP FOLEO

September 4th, 2007

Today Palm CEO Ed Colligan cancelled the Foleo.

Jeff Hawkins and I still believe that the market category defined by Foleo has enormous potential. When we do Foleo II it will be based on our new platform, and we think it will deliver on the promise of this new category. We're not going to speculate now on timing for a next Foleo, we just know we need to get our core platform and smartphones done first.

What a huge disappointment. I had my credit card ready, and so did a bunch of other folks. Where will we go now?

10 Responses to “RIP FOLEO”

  1. Muse Says:

    This seriously sucks. What other instant-on devices are out there?

  2. West Says:

    Sorry, folks.

  3. Vance Says:

    The day of the instant-on laptop is coming, folks. Can you imagine walking into a coffee shop ten years from now and waiting 3 minutes for your laptop to whir to life so you can type up an email? Not gonna happen.

    Diskless, instant-on, lightweight devices ARE the future of computing. It’s a shame that the Foleo stumbled so much. I wonder who will fill this gap next.

  4. West Says:

    My Treo fills that need pretty well, already.

    I’ve got multiple e-mail accounts on it, already, and will probably add another three soon (if only because I’m getting tired of going through the trouble of signing into and checking multiple accounts elsewhere).

  5. Vance Says:

    Yes, but I really do need a full keyboard and larger display. The Foleo was seriously perfect for my mobile needs.

  6. West Says:

    Well, I hope you can get your hands on one of the existing first-gen models.

    While I’m wishing, I hope I get my hands on one, too. I just wanna feel that sweet finish I’ve read about.

  7. triciawriting Says:

    Happy Birthday, anyway, Vance. :)

    Yeah, I agree - they have to have some of these just sitting around…

  8. Simon Says:

    Well you could always go out and get a vaio tx (oldgen) / tz (newgen, with SSD drive). It’ll run linux just fine, but it’s 4-6 times more expensive than a foleo. Instant on not quite either but it has the full keyboard at least and all the connectivity. I agree though a cut down OS is a must on these devices, one size fits all crappy windows will never do it.

  9. West Says:

    Simon, the old TX’s can be had at nicely-discounted prices, so it needn’t be 4-6 times more expensive than a Foleo.

    That’s how I got mine.

  10. Stuart Guthrie Says:

    Has anyone heard any more news on the Foleo? I was so disappointed when it was cancelled. This product has so much potential. Fingers crossed it’s soon.

    Stu :-)

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