Rene Madsen,
I have read this article about Quartz thoroughly at least 3 times to see if there was something I was missing, but I still came away with my original conclusion that the only way Quartz had a slim chance of emulating, or for that matter "killing the Palm," would be if Palm, Inc. sat complacently sucking their thumbs for at least two years watching the competition in awe. We all know that 3Com is one of the original founding members of Bluetooth and are currently in alliance with SunW to develop a Java based application for the Palm. Actually Palm is way ahead of Symbian and that is why two of its founding members, Nokia and Motorola, have already entered into licensing agreements with Palm and become partners with Palm, Inc..
Now lets touch upon Europe, I lived in Europe for over 20 years and would be bold enough to call myself an expert on European culture and current affairs. In economic terms Europe still has plenty of room to catch up with the USA, that is in economic terms, and is far from having any uniform standard, albeit they have made great strides in the last decade. If I was given the option controlling either market, that is the European or US, I would unequivocally choose the US over Europe. In the US we have a much higher per capita GDP and lower sales taxes not to mention easier and more efficient distribution channels. Nevertheless, I do think Symbian does have an interesting product but I have yet to read anything extraordinary about its' Quartz that the Palm has not already emulated in their labs.
Last but not least, the fact that the Telcos might offer the Quartz for free like they do cell phones is nothing to be fazed about. Palm already has a cell phone prototype for future Palms and if the Telcos do decide to give away Quartz for free they will also have the choice of giving cell phone enabled Palms for free. Remember nothing is for free, the telcos end up paying for the devices in lieu of the consumer.
In the last two years most pundits assumed that by now MSFT would have toppled the PalmOS with its' Windows CE and affluence, but as you have seen Palm, with the help of its parent 3Com have put up an impressive defense of their domain. Not only have they continued to lead in market dominance but they have taken market share away from the giant MSFT. MSFT's cohorts and armies have been defeated decisively, just look at their casualties, Everex, Sharp and Phillips, all have jumped ship and are no longer using Windows CE.
All the hyperbole surrounding Palm and its' future death are only caused by ENVY. Listen carefully! Palm is way ahead of Symbian and Windows CE, they are and have been taking the appropriate steps necessary to maintain their avant garde leadership. In the next couple of weeks after the quiet period is over you will begin to see Palm, Inc. release numerous press releases concerning its' future plans and alliances.
Palm rules and will continue to rule until they become complacent, and that is nowhere to be seen in the horizon. |
