Pro Foleo

Who the heck is Torturous Trevor the Technoholic, and how did he get himself a Foleo?

Okay, so that was two questions.

In other news, the ship continues to sink. Palm has confirmed earlier reports that it will be a long, long time before Palm OS II arrives.

Oh, and reader David S. points out that Culligan would like to someday, maybe, perhaps, possibly build a Foleo-type device, albeit possibly, maybe, perhaps in another form-factor. Link.

Gulp.

Ed Hardy at Brighthand says that Palm should drop all plans for a Linux-based Palm OS II, and should instead shift the company's focus to Windows Mobile devices.

Palm already makes several smartphones that don't have the problems I mentioned earlier: the Treo 700w/wx, the Treo 750, and the soon-to-be-released Treo 500. But they don't run the Palm OS; they run Windows Mobile. And that's the direction Palm has to go.

The company should give up on spending a year or so on Palm OS II, and go with something that works now. 

Setting aside the whole Micro$oft evil empire thingy, it's really difficult to argue with Hardy's logic. 2009 is a long ways down the road to bring out the new Palm OS.

As for the Foleo, Hardy writes

And this move wouldn't even have to mean the end of the Foleo II. HTC has demonstrated how well Windows Mobile adapts to laptop-like devices.

One nice thing about a Windows Mobile-based Foleo is that there would be no problem with software. And WinMob is certainly a better OS for mobile devices than Vista is.

Hmm…

There's nothing much new in this Guardian article titled "Can Palm find a way to survive?" Well, nothing new except for this line:

Palm this week told the Guardian "it will be 12 to 18 months" before a Linux Palm appears.

Previous remarks from Palm suggested that the new OS would appear on a device in 2008. Now it seems it could be well into 2009.

Colligan says the smartphones come first. Fans of the Foleo seem to have a long wait ahead.

It's hard to believe that another company won't get there first. A truly mobile laptop is coming.

It’s only a matter of time before an innovative company such as Apple comes out with a low-cost, super-light, instant-on machine that will wow tech-heads, leaving Palm in the position it is in right now—playing catch-up in a technology category it pioneered.

(From "In Defense of the Palm Foleo" by Glenn Derene)

UPDATE: Michael G suggests that The Guardian may be misquoting Colligan.

So now we get a new Treo, some new (partial) owners, and a bunch of new job postings over at Palm. Engineering and marketing, them be the categories. (Nothing Foleo-specific, other than yesterday's listing.)

Still no Foleos on Ebay yet. Yes, I know you've been checking, too. 

Anyhow, it sounds like a company with changes ahead. Wonder when we'll see the new OS. Hasn't it been promised since like 1954?

In Cane's take-two, Mike points out a wonderful Jeff Hawkins quote found in Piloting Palm by Andrea Butter and David Pogue:

"You can't be swayed by public opinion about a product that people haven't had a chance to use."

If only that were still true.

Mike Cane writes about a Palm job posting for a Foleo Application Engineer:

So, Palm is still working on it. And does the pop3 and imap requirements mean this email app for the Foleo will work via WiFi rather than requiring syncing email via a Treo or other phone?

Looking at the Palm jobs site, I could not find the listing that Mike is referring to. (Perhaps he saw it at Yahoo or something?) However, Palm does have one listing posted on Sept. 11 for a Foleo Sync Software Engineer:

The position is for a software engineer who would be responsible for developing and maintaining software that runs on Palms Treo and Foleo products, and be responsible for synchronization between the two products.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Develop a strong understanding of how the Foleo and Treo products interact with each other towards the goal of supporting the existing software and expanding it to support new functionality in future versions of the product.
• Troubleshoot problems reported by testers, internal beta users and external reports by examining logs. Design improvements on existing architecture with a focus on making gains in performance and reliability.
• Work with other developers and testers to ensure that our test strategy is comprehensive and the design/code allow for effective testing of the code with test applications/tools.

It's possible the two listings refer to the same job. At any rate, it does seem that Palm is at least considering more work on the Foleo project.

Or maybe Palm's HR department didn't get Colligan's memo…

The ever-cantankerous-but-probably-a-decent-guy-in-real-life Mike Cane has published part one of "The Palm Foleo Disaster." There are many, many words there, discussing Palm's mistakes in marketing the Foleo and their decision to kowtow to the geekblogs.

In response to Engadget's big, bad open-letter, particularly the section calling for Palm to "stop wasting money on the Foleo - we know this isn't going anywhere," Cane writes:

There are many people on the Internet — aside from the Linux fringe — who are earnest in their desire to buy the Foleo. Potential customers — the market for products — suddenly don’t matter? Jeff Hawkins was pleased by the personal reactions he received to the Foleo from executives at the D Conference! …

You mean to tell me that people who buy the Foleo won’t start proselytizing it? That they won’t show it to family, friends, coworkers, even total strangers? That people seeing it being used won’t ever ask about it? No blogs will spring up around it? Firsthand reports of real-world usage won’t fly around the Internet? It might sell, in other words, but then die because its happy owners will all keep it a secret?

Great points here, I think. Almost every Foleo hands-on report I read was positive, with some people even saying they had changed their mind after seeing the device.

I continue to believe that there was and still is a significant market for an instant-on device that does a few things well, without the heat, weight, and kludginess of a fully-bloated laptop. And that full keyboard is a must!

Clearly Mr. Colligan’s "two platform" explanation for the Foleo cancellation is only part of the story. But it is a great-sounding part of the story. It really does make sense for a company in Palm's position to focus on one platform. Spreading around time and resources to maintain two operating systems would only drag down the quality of both.

That said, the two platform line cannot possibly be the sole motivation behind Colligan’s “difficult decision” to kill off the Foleo. That’s the kind of thing that you work through earlier in the process, not when you’re ready to ship the product out the door. The Internet consensus is that geekblog feedback convinced Colligan that the Foleo would flop. (Ignore for a moment that there was growing support in the PDA/smartphone media, as well as in other markets.)

Treocentral forum member Andre Kibbe (Gameboy70), who a couple months ago wrote that great hands-on Foleo preview, has some interesting theories:

…as negative reactions from the press mounted, Elevation, with its controlling interest in Palm, probably killed the Foleo singlehandedly. It makes more sense to me that a new investor would dispassionately kill a $10 million project (not unlike laying off the WiFi team) than Hawkins, or even Colligan, suddenly having a change of heart.

Then this:

It's possible, though unlikely, that Colligan's mention of cancelling the Foleo "in its current configuration" may be a way to buy half a year to "reconfigure" the software — the 2.6 kernel, direct email access, a PIM, an improved browser — for a flash ROM update on the existing hardware.

While I would love to see a revamped Foleo arrive early in 2008, I fear that the Foleo name has become poison to the Palm world. And if Elevation really did "encourage" Colligan to kill the project, it's unlikely that a second Foleo will ever be green-lighted. This really may be the end of the road.

I still want one.

Interesting comment from Duncan, on the Palm blog, in response to Colligan's first-degree murder of the Palm Foleo:

I've had my pre-production Foleo for about a month now, and it's become a very integral part of my day. My job is going to become much more difficult without it now that I have to send it back. I understand there were very good reasons for why the product line was pulled, but that doesn't mean that I don't still want one, nor everyone else who does.

It gets under my skin a little how many people are so perfectly happy to bash the product and say that "nobody wanted one" when they've never used one before to have a frame of experience to draw from, and I daily encounter people who want one and want to know when it's to be released. There was, and still is, quite a bit of demand for this device.

My advice to Duncan is this: Don't send it back. Send Palm a check instead. After all the hype and marketing and controversy, those who loved the concept of the Foleo and were lucky enough to get one should absolutely keep it. Use it. Adore it. Don't let this masterpiece of industrial design end up in the ground.

Keeping your Foleo is the moral thing to do.

Thanks everyone for the nice emails and comments. One message I want to share with you all comes from David, who I think expresses the desire of many readers of this site:

Dear Palm,

There are undoubtedly many in the market who are rejoicing that Palm has decided to focus its efforts on developing a well-rounded operating platform and improving the Treo smartphone. I, for one, applaud Mr. Colligan's commitment to the long-term view and his courage to make a tough decision that he feels is in the best interest of the company.

That said, Palm has managed to rustle up a fairly sizeable market for the Foleo, in which many are pinning for a Foleo even after the decision to cancel the program.  Several of us would gladly hand over our dollars for a ‘beta’ version without support from Palm, and regardless of any of the quirks in the software discovered under stress testing.

While I’m not certain that Palm actually produced a sizeable number of Foleo’s in anticipation of its release, I would implore Palm to consider allowing those in the market who supported the Foleo concept in its current state the opportunity to obtain one of the devices.

Respectfully,
The Foleo Community

I don't know either if Palm produced a significant number of these devices. Ben Combee has mentioned that there are not too many out there, and those devices that do exist will be used and adored by the lucky buggers who snagged 'em.

But… if you're still willing to pay full price for a Foleo that may just end up in a landfill, please leave a comment. I'm not sure it'll do much good, but it can't hurt.

My personal offer still stands. I'll pay the 599, and I don't want the rebate or any future support. Just the Foleo.

Heck, I don't even need a manual.

Or a box.

Okay, $649. Final offer.

By the way, did I mention that today is my birthday? Yup, that's right. I have proof if anyone wants it. Just not gonna splash my ID all over the Internet.

Starbucks gave me a little piece of cake with my morning coffee. My wife organized a nice dinner at a Mongolian barbecue place. (Awesome food.) So things were going good. Then I find out that Palm cancels the single most exciting computer device that I've seen in the last several years. Instant-on, lightweight, great battery life…. does 100% of what I use a mobile computer for. (Mostly writing.) But it is not meant to be.

I will not buy a laptop. Laptops are not true mobile devices. They are portable desktops… slow, heavy, hot, bloated, way too expensive. When I need Windows, I use it on machines that can handle it, machines I can take apart and customize, machines that stay up and running for months at a time. (Gotta have instant-on at home, too.)

I think Palm should still sell me a Foleo. They can even keep the rebate. Just a way to make up for the crummiest birthday present ever.

I understand there would be no support. I'm used to it, though. I use several devices that are obsolete or never had a big impact on the market.

I feel bad for guys like Ben Combee. He is disappointed, but he has a good attitude about it. Ben, we appreciate all the work you put in to the Foleo. That video of you at LinuxWorld shows that you really do understand what needs to happen with mobile computers.

Another guy who understands is John Markoff at the New York Times. Read this article.

The future of all mobile computing is lightweight, diskless, instant-on devices with snappy mobile-only operating systems. We already have them in our pockets. The Foleo was an attempt to put that speed and convenience in a form-factor that has a real keyboard and display.

I look forward to whatever happens with the Foleo II. But other companies will certainly come to fill this market. True mobile computing is coming. Palm may have missed their chance.