Comments on: Palm’s Foleo: Back From the Dead?

By: RupanIII

RupanIII — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:23:30 +0000

I’d love to see a Foleo Tablet.
Even better, i’d be totally happy if it came IN a Foleo. Nobody has said it but these Tablet’s are going to need something aside from Gorilla Glass to keep them from getting damaged.
WebOS would rule on a tablet.
Even the JooJoo is still looking good.
I’d rather see a company with a known track record do this.
I’m still hoping Google’s next device is a Tablet with ChromeOS or Android because i’m a prowd new Android owner (Moment), but, i’d have gladly gone with WebOS if they had a bigger keyboard for my fat thumbs.

By: Stilgar

Stilgar — Mon, 04 May 2009 10:41:43 +0000

I was one of those people who made fun of the Foleo, and then after they canned it the EEE PC came out and suddenly everyone’s buying netbooks. They shouldn’t have listened to Engadget. Oh well, I’m excited for the Palm Pre. Not so excited that the Pre requires an “everything” plan from Sprint. I’m hoping Palm will sell Pres directly to consumers so I can keep my SERO contract with Sprint.

By: Tom B

Tom B — Sun, 03 May 2009 22:04:43 +0000

James: I respect your opinion on UI widgets, but if javascript were the cat’s meow, we wouldn’t need all those other languages, like C, I would think.

As for splitting hardware and software, I think they took the wrong lesson from history. Some people believe PC’s became more prevalent because there was one software vendor, but dozens of HARDWARE vendors duking it out over price. In fact, PC’s became widely used IN SPITE of this. PC’s became widespread because IBM = business, and IBM gave DOS their seal of approval. The problem with too many hardware vendors is that a company like MSFT can’t do a good job even when they make the hardware (look at the XBox). How can they succeed with zillions of slightly varying configurations?

By: James

James — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:54:26 +0000

@Tom B:
Wow, where to begin.

webOS is not about web widgets; they’re general UI widgets that you happen to program for with languages traditionally used for web development. Not the same thing.

Also, while the hardware/software split was a bad move in retrospect (and no, Handspring wasn’t one of the resulting companies, although it was part of the impetus), it made sense at the time with a number of different Palm OS licensees. Do you really think that pushing a software platform is a brain-damaged concept? That’s the key to longevity (and I’ll claim is one of the reasons why Palm OS isn’t completely dead yet). The plan simply backfired when the PDA market imploded and the licensees pulled out.

By: ZNF ‘Round The Web

ZNF ‘Round The Web — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:33:23 +0000

[...] Palm’s Foleo: Back From the Dead? Agree with DTNick – Palm shot themselves in the foot. They understood the form factor, they didn’t understand the market. I played with a pair of Foleos at two different tech press events. Really liked the small size and super sprightly OS. The apps were minimal and minimalistic, but they seemed to have more powerful stuff in the pipeline. Thought it would have made a great mobile blogging tool. Then they blew it all up. I tried to get one that hadn’t been destroyed through some back channels, but never succeeded. [...]

By: Palm Foleo coming back as a netbook? @ All Time Hit Gizmos

Palm Foleo coming back as a netbook? @ All Time Hit Gizmos — Sun, 03 May 2009 11:53:40 +0000

[...] Source [...]

By: The Palm Foleo Lives? | Cool New Gadgets

The Palm Foleo Lives? | Cool New Gadgets — Sat, 02 May 2009 10:47:23 +0000

[...] Tip – Harry McCracken’s Technologizer Introducing Foolish Gadgets since not all gadgets have been cold [ The Palm Foleo Lives? copyright [...]

By: The Palm Foleo Lives? | GadgetFreaks

The Palm Foleo Lives? | GadgetFreaks — Sat, 02 May 2009 09:12:48 +0000

[...] Tip – Harry McCracken’s Technologizer Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.[ The Palm Foleo Lives? copyright by [...]

By: joecab

joecab — Sat, 02 May 2009 04:05:55 +0000

This Foleo is almost nothing like the first one. It’s like trying to compare the original Napster to today’s version.

By: Out of the Box: Commentary on Consumer Technology

Out of the Box: Commentary on Consumer Technology — Sat, 02 May 2009 03:54:10 +0000

[...] Technologizer notes that the Foleo may be reincarnated running webOS, Palm’s new operating system. Like harry McCracken, I was sympathetic to the idea of Foleo when it was announced and before the netbook craze hit full-force. However, the requirement to have a cell phone tethered to what was otherwise a funcitonal client resulted in a split personality. In contrast, Celio Corp,’s REDFLY takes a better approach by turning the “laptop” into a thin client, and completely relying on the snartphone’s operating system and connectivity, but the applications are not there yet for it to be a consumer product.) [...]