Pro Foleo

You have to read this thread over at MacRumors. It's from 2001, when Apple first introduced the iPod. The comments are chillingly similiar to what the gadget kiddies were saying when Palm introduced the Foleo.

Good thing Apple doesn't listen to this kind of stuff.

(Thanks, Mike!)

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.

I suppose readers of this site might be checking Ebay for any stray Foleos that aren't making their way to the landfill via Palm. Please make sure you follow all the common-sense Ebay guidelines, like reading the text of the auction. (That one probably won't get any bites, but sometimes the wording can be trickier. Be careful.)

Probably not many legitmate devices will make it to auction. Many of the pre-production units have to be sent back to Palm, and the lucky folks who do get to keep their Foleos won't be letting them go. Apparently the device really grows on you.

But I do wonder how much a loose Foleo would go for on Ebay. More than $1500? $2000?

I still wish Palm would consider a fire sale of the units they have sitting around. After lifting the hopes of this niche market–while everyone else mocked us for defending the device–the least Palm could do is allow us to spend the money we had already commited to giving them. They owe us that much.

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.

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?

Nothing terribly new here, just a nice reminder that the Linux community is eager to get their hands on the Foleo.

Palm is definitely where the mobile Linux action is. Its Foleo “mobile companion” is everything you could want in a sub-sub-notebook clamshell: An efficient Intel Xscale 32-bit ARM CPU, five hours of battery life, a 1024 x 600 display, support for an external display, storage expansion through SD and Compact Flash memory cards as well as USB, Palm, and Windows Mobile sync, wi-fi, and an Ubuntu Linux development environment.

You can hack Foleo and flash your code directly to the Foleo’s non-volatile memory. You do so at your own risk but also, likely, to your delight.

I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what the Linux coders come up with. If the Zaurus is any indication of how much support mobile Linux can get, Foleo could have quite a nice cult following.

Packard Bell just announced its new EasyNote XS (left), a 7-inch laptop based on Via's Nanobook Ultra Mobile Device reference device. The EasyNote XS is essentially a regular Windows laptop in a very small (and kind of odd-looking) form factor. The machine offers:

…built-in Wi-Fi, a VGA webcam, 4-in-1 memory card reader, two USB ports and stereo speakers. There's up to 1024MB of RAM and 30GB hard drive. It runs the same full version of Windows XP Home Edition as a desktop PC does. The ultra-low power consumption of VIA Ultra Mobile Platform claims to give the XS extra-long battery life–more than 3 hours with Wi-Fi on.

While a lot of folks have said that the Nanobook design will "kill off" the Foleo once and for all, I don't really see how this is any different than any other UMPC out there, except this one has a keyboard. (And the price may be better, too.) But otherwise the EasyNote seems like it'll be plagued by the same things everyone hates about a regular laptop–bloat, boot time and bad battery life, to name a few.

The EasyNote XS will certainly do more stuff than a Foleo, but with it's low-power CPU and tiny display, it doesn't seem like it will do any of those extra things very well. Photo editing? Games? No thanks.

I suspect most people will use these Nanobooks for e-mail, Internet and working on office documents. Sounds like another machine I know about.