Hype, is never used in a positive connotation. Hype is used by people who know that their product lacks real substance and cannot hold the fort on its own. We’ve seen companies use the “hype” to keep people interested, usually the ones who have a lot to lose. Palm is one such company, literally putting the company on the line with this one device — the Pre.⌘

Palm didn’t actually need “hype” to sell the Pre. It is a solid product. Rubinstien brought much required aesthetic taste to the Pre, in a market that clearly failed to understand what it was that made the iPhone tick. Palm got it. Almost. Even then, I’m not hopeful that it’s going to do too well. Not in its current iteration, at least. Of course, there are people who have sworn against touching an iPhone even if their life depended on it, hiding behind the excuse of “better functionality” from other phones which are “more open”. They are the ones who’re going to lap up the Pre. There are thousands of reasons not to do something. There is only one reason to do it.⌘

Genius of the iPhone

The point Palm has understood, is the UI. It is the UI of the software that matters. Not how many apps you can run at one time, not trivial features. It’s the intuitiveness of the controls, the look and feel of the software, the feedback from actions and events. It isn’t what happens at the back. It’s what the person can see on the screen. UI is not something that can be bolted on. It’s something that drives the features. Even so, it is only probably 60% of the whole experience.⌘

I came to realise this about a month back, after using my Nokia 5800 for 2 months. The reason the iPhone has held the fort, is because of the App Store. The sheer beauty and utility of the applications written for iPhone OS X is staggering, compared to what is currently out there. I haven’t used a Blackberry, so I can’t say anything about it, but Symbian is terrible with applications, which is surprising because it has the majority share and is so open¹. Everyday, there is news of a new iPhone app that allows us to do X. With the promises of iPhone 3.0, these apps will only become more useful. It’s up for discussion as to why the App Store is thriving even though it’s the most closed and opaque marketplace ever, regardless of which, developers are making money — and in the process, so is Apple.⌘

Palm on the other hand, is having a developer meltdown of sorts. From Walt Mossberg’s review of the Pre:⌘

The Pre’s biggest disadvantage is its app store, the App Catalog. At launch, it has only about a dozen apps, compared with over 40,000 for the iPhone, and thousands each for the G1 and the modern BlackBerry models. Even worse, the Pre App Catalog isn’t finished. It’s immature, it’s labeled a beta, and Palm has yet to release the tools for making Pre apps available to more than a small group of developers.

That seems healthy. So while the Pre is making headway in some regards, it’s falling way short in the others. My argument pro-iPhone is a simple one — iPhone apps have much more utility and staying power than apps for any other phone out there, even if they run one at a time². They work well, look even better, and don’t cost a fortune. What more do you need?⌘

While WebOS (the Pre’s OS) holds promise, taking away the learning curve might invite absolutely useless applications (a la iFart) that have a negative effect on perceived efficiency of an OS if left unchecked in favour of “openness”. If Palm decides to have Apple-esque strictness in approving apps to maintain quality, they’re going to risk irking the developer community even more. If they don’t, they’ll lose face to consumers who’ll see their iPhone toting counterparts getting more out of their device. Palm has a tough task ahead. Getting the Pre out is only quarter of the fight.⌘

It’s the little things

When Apple decided to make a smartphone, they did something very clever. They decided to make a device that regular phone consumers thought was too complicated for them, in a way that even a kid could use it. They changed the demographics of the smartphone user. This one thing rippled through the phone industry with companies suddenly realising that their target audience had changed. It’s like asking a company that has always written enterprise software, to write a Web 2.0 service. It’s going to suck.⌘

Which brings me back to my initial point. iPhone’s success has been majorly because of its UI. While the Pre does this well, it doesn’t do it well enough. Pre does for UI what, say, Symbian did for software. Functional, powerful, but not usable. I remember watching Pre’s demo at CES, and trying my best to remember what each gesture was supposed to do. Over time, one might probably get used to it. But that’s not what “intuitive” means, does it? People like simplicity — which is what Apple achieved. Palm, in its attempt at outdoing the iPhone at functionality, went one step too far.⌘

It’s probably idle nitpicking on my part, but small things like these add up to the full experience. Something that Pre has to get as close to perfect as possible if it has any chance at surviving till the next iteration. Already making its first mistake, I believe Palm shouldn’t be launching the Pre just two days before a new iPhone is revealed. Apple is the undisputed king of launches, and it’ll suck all the glory away from Pre the moment Schiller takes the stage. William Hurley is of the same opinion:⌘

Timing is another strike against the Palm comeback. The Pre is scheduled for release just before Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2009. Someone at Palm must have thought this was a good idea, but it isn’t. One week after the Pre’s release, the press will be dominated by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. If, as expected, Jobs returns, that will steal Palm’s thunder. If he doesn’t, that will only steal Palm’s thunder more.

Also making its debut right before WWDC, is the N97, which arrives with pretty high expectations of its own. Palm definitely couldn’t have chosen a worse time.⌘

But, I still have faith in merit, and I hope people see the Pre for what it is, and buy it for the phone, not the hype. Some things like Synergy and being able to run multiple apps at once (even if it lacks a lot of apps) is very nice. I don’t care much for the slide out keyboard, since my Nokia has made me fairly competent at touch typing with an on-screen one. Competition is good, and competition is definitely the reason iPhone 3.0 has progressed so rapidly (not that Apple is one to sit on its posterior the second time around as well). This month is going to be very interesting as far as mobile devices are concerned. Let’s see if Palm achieves whatever they planned to.⌘