Palm Pre-meditated

Pre-amble

Oh my, Apple finally up and did it! With the release of the iTunes update today, as expected, the Palm Pre is no longer able to sync with iTunes. At the very same time they managed to unleash yet another round of free press! Not to mention a torrent of very upset Pre owners brash, and often completely unsubstantiated comments. It’s a truly bizarre thing to me that we seem to lose a part of our rational minds when things that are expected to occur actually happen. Such is the case with the Palm Pre and iTunes syncing break.

I mean honestly, what freaks me out the most when I read the comments to articles about the break in syncing the Pre with iTunes, is that Palm has somehow become “the Victim” in this scenario?! Well let’s just have a look at the plain facts in this case.

Pre-conceived

First off there is Apple, a company who has been around for a long time in the underdog category of personal computing. They finally stumbled upon a great winning formula with the iPod and it’s software companion, iTunes. There had been other mp3 players before the iPod, and certainly after. The iPod then became a huge success for it’s ease of use, as well as for its fantastic sync manager iTunes. The formula worked so well that other companies wanted a piece. So Apple developed a means for third party MP3 players to sync with iTunes, called an API (Application Programming Interface) for software/hardware developers. The API is accessible via licensing from Apple. Since then Apple has been making improvements to iTunes, iPods and now iPhones. They make these improvements via software updates available for all, should you choose to do so.

Also as a huge bonus, Apple fought the recoding industry giants to sell music without DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection. They now sell all of their music without DRM, meaning that you as the consumer can now play the music through any device that supports the AAC format. (Which the iTunes Store sells all music as these days.)

Now let’s talk a bit about Palm. Palm had a huge success in the 90’s with their Palm Pilots, and have grown to provide high quality smartphones for business people. They have also typically provided their own proprietary software for Mac and PC users to manage syncing data between Palm Pilots/smartphones and your computer. As a consultant and technician I can safely say that this is an area where Palm did not do so well. The software was usually awkward, bloated and clunky, and often did not work anyway. Yet they have typically well designed hardware.

These days, Palm is not doing so well as a business. They needed a hit bad, as their smartphone sales have dropped steadily since the onslaught of RIM’s Blackberrys and of course the iPhone. So what did they do? They hired a guy, who worked with Apple for some 15 years, to help them design an “iPhone Killer”. The Pre was the device that Palm came up with. Now, the Pre has some great features in its OS that the iPhone is glaringly missing (multi-tasking, Synergy…etc.). They touted seamless syncing with iTunes right out of the box, which would have been a good move for them had they chosen to use the API that Apple licenses. The thing that struck me, and most anyone else who noticed, as a very odd choice, is that they chose to be incredibly sneaky about it. They made the decision to put in some software that would fool iTunes into believing that the Pre was an iPod. The Pre would actually show in iTunes as an iPod?!?! Really?? Yes, really.

Un-Pre-pared

Really, I am not writing a blog about whether Apple or Palm have a better product. Nor am I writing about which company is a bigger corporate monster. What I am actually compelled to write about is the comments on articles that I read, and how off point and uninformed most of the comments are. Today I read comments about the Pre no longer being able to sync with iTunes, so these commenters are fresh on my mind.

I am certain that it was an awful feeling to realize that they could no longer sync their iTunes with their beloved Pre. Matter of fact, had I not read a stitch about the Pre and iTunes when it was released –which, considering the amount of press coverage on the topic before the pre was released, is quite an accomplishment in itself– I would have been just as pissed and may have posted comments about it today too. The difference is that I would have maybe poked around, on the very same internet I am putting posts on, just a bit for some facts first.

Which, I am sad to say, is mostly just not the case for a great majority of the posts I read this afternoon. I believe that if the majority of posters today had just done a tiny bit of fact checking before posting, they would have realized that Palm is not the victim in this case. Palm is in fact the culprit behind promising you that your Pre would sync seamlessly with iTunes. It was not Apple saying that it would sync with iTunes. You should all be flooding Palm with complaints, not posting factually incorrect comments online. Also urge them to provide you with the means to sync your Pre with your music, LEGALLY! After all, by posting such ill-Pre-pared comments, you are not helping your cause at all. You are only serving to make yourself look bad.

R.I.F. (Reading Is Fundamental)

UPDATE!

So it seems that Palm is back at it again. Today they relased webOS 1.1 software for the Pre. Which, among many bug fixes, enable “seamless syncing with iTunes” once again. Do these guys really not think that Apple is already working on braking that hack too? Do they not believe that Apple’s legal team will pounce on them?

Well, I for one, believe that Apple HAS to sue them already. They are really starting to look soft by allowing yet another hack to enable third-party unauthorized syncing with iTunes. Seriously, Palm, get it together! why not simply build your own software for syncing with computers?

This is all just a bit silly, I must say.

iFoniness

Ok, let me start this off by stating that this is a BLOG, meaning that this is article of opinion with facts. That is to say that this is not reporting in any way. Which is really what I am writing about here. This article, or post rather, is about a couple of different thoughts regarding the state of journalism in today’s ever increasing online society. Being that I am a huge Apple fan, consultant and technician I am focusing on the current barrage of rumors, ‘reports’ and comparisons surrounding the iPhone.

Obviously I am a gigantic fan of the iPhone, and an avid user of it as well. I am still using an original 4gb version of the phone, and I have been holding off upgrading until the next generation of the device is released. I seriously hope that the rumors out there about the release hitting during next week’s WWDC. I mean I REALLY want it to happen, as my screen has been cracked for nearly a year now. On a positive note about he crack, it hasn’t affected the performance or sensitivity of the phone. Which is a testament to the quality of the build!

The Hype Machines:

Now, let’s talk a bit about the rumor mill and ‘analysts’ predictions. I will first admit that I do enjoy speculating about the features, changes, and release date of desired Apple products. However since the release of ‘the Jesus phone’, things have just escalated FAR out of control. Seriously, I am half expecting to hear that the next phone will make me breakfast, cure cancer and promote world peace. As I said though, I enjoy a fair amount of the rumors, but can we give it a rest already? Nobody REALLY knows what will or will not be released except for Apple themselves, or anyone that Apple has legally bound by full NDA.

Next, and definitely far more annoying, are the analysts out there. Can you even believe that they get paid to make predictions?? I certainly cannot. I can only liken their type to that of your garden variety Palm Reader. Normally I would have no problem with what they do as analysts. The main problem I have is how their BS affects the general population, the companies who’s products they are analyzing, and the overall economy! These guys are sincerely screwing up the country in general, let alone technology.

The rumor mills and the analysts aside, what has been under my skin lately is the so called Press and the bloggers that work for them. This to me is the number one problem in our country today: The press is supposed to be comprised of people that have been educated in the art of journalism, people that are impartial and non-biased, people who’s only desire is to inform the public of actual facts without slant. To me, anything less should only be considered opinion, and should be treated as nothing more. This is so very very far from the kind of ‘reporting’ that we are all exposed to in these online times. ( Speaking of the times, a prime example of the misleading and wrongful reporting I am writing about here can be found in today’s New York Times web site here. It’s not so much the full article that I have an issue with as much as the title itself. The title is contradicted several times on the first page alone.)

Blogging… what can be said, as I am (reluctantly) one myself? My blogging is primarily about Mac tips, thoughts and opinions based on personal experience as a consultant and technician. I would in no way consider myself to be a reporter in anyway, shape or form. This is where my problem comes in with blogging, it is not reporting. Knowing that it not reporting, why is it that bloggers are picked up by major journalistic institutions? Why do blogs make the headlines of the NY times?? This practice is incredibly misleading and wrong. I am not opposed to people making a living off of blogging, matter of fact I am all for it. But let’s keep blogs in their own section of the newspapers, as newspapers would for articles about food: in a specific section of your preferred news source. If I want to read articles about technology, I will go to the technology section of my preferred source. Can we stop putting blogs in with the headlines already??

Devise-ive

What I really want to write about is the iPhone and it’s competition, which is dominating almost every technology news source I rely on. More specifically I want to write a bit about the upcoming release of the Palm Pre. I am not trying to say here that the Pre is an inadequate device at all. But the press’ hype machine is in FULL gear over this thing. Some of the major players in technology review and reporting are absolutely making themselves look ridiculous out there over this thing. For example, David Pogue’s review of the Pre is almost silly, and unfortunately not fully factual (not his fault really). I find his review of the Pre to be a bit too gushing, just as I felt his review of the original iPhone was. Almost as though he were slipped and extra grand to get the positive word out. It’s sad because I really dig his style in general.

The one common piece that all smartphones seem to share at this moment is the design factor. Almost every single phone manufacturer now has a rectangular, large touch-surface, large screened phone. Where did this design factor come into play? From a company that had no previous experience in developing phones at all, Apple. Since the iPhone was released it has completely flipped the game on a stale industry. To date, there has not been one company out there that has managed to even come close to having the strong impact on the phone industry that Apple has had. We all know that copying is the most sincere form of flattery, right? So that makes Apple one seemingly endlessly flattered company by all of the phone industry. I personally would have hoped that Apple would have spurned innovation more than it did copying.

As far as the Pre is concerned, from what I can tell it may be the closest thing to competition that the iPhone has out there. I am certain that Palm has a quality piece of software on their hands with the Pre. They have been in the phone game for quite some time and most people that use their phones love them. I think, once again, that the design of the phone itself is yet another iPhone wannabe, aside from the slide out physical keyboard that is. (what’s up with no on-screen keyboard? You have to slide out a cramped keyboard every-time you want to type anything?)

I believe that the real star of the Pre is it’s webOS. From all of the reviews out there I have read it sounds like they have a winner on their hands, for about three more days that is. No seriously though, I do like the ‘cards’ idea. ‘Cards’ give you the ability to run several apps at once and flip through them with a swipe of your finger, which enables more efficient multi-tasking. Definitely a great idea. however, sadly, they are just too late. I have read several (too many) reviews of the Pre and all of them are touting this feature as “unparalleled”. Yes, it is currently unparalleled. Again, for only three more days, which is when iPhone OS 3.0 is due on the scene.

One thing about all of the reviews that baffles me is that not one of them mentions the fact that, a few months ago, Apple had a special developer’s event where they announced iPhone OS 3.0. During this special event they talked about these “unparalleled” features (enhanced multi-tasking and smart notifications) that reviewers are saying the Pre has, plus another 98 new features the iPhone will have. Apple has addressed making multi-tasking much more efficient by allowing apps to run in the “background” from servers instead of using up all the resources of the iPhone itself. Meaning that the iPhone will have more ram and processor power available to the task at hand, thereby making the iPhone more powerful and business friendly. Finally we will even see push notifications as promised at last years WWDC.

The absolute most suspicious thing I have heard thus far about the Pre is it’s “integration” with iTunes. We have all come to find out, which should really have palm worried, that this “integration” is nothing more then a hack of iTunes code that makes iTunes see the Pre as an iPod. This is so very sketchy. Has Palm not heard of licensing??? I do believe that they will hear a lot about licensing from Apple’s legal team in the near future. They will also, doubtless, hear about changing code to block any Palm device from syncing with iTunes in the very near future. To me this is the move that may ultimately sync, oops I mean sink a company that is very close to going under as it stands. One would think that a company facing bankruptcy might have been much more careful in making certain that they were completely legit.

Finishing touch

I am not one to condemn people for using their own judgement and choosing to buy any of the other smartphones out there over the iPhone. Matter of fact I give people who go against the grain huge respect for doing so. (I mean isn’t that how Apple came to be?) I would just hope that you are making your decisions based on facts and research and not from the great Hype Machine that is ever so ingrained in our daily lives.

Congrats for making it all the way to the end of this LONG blog!