In this case, Palm is doing its best to provide what many customers want…and as long as what they are doing isn’t illegal (evidently not), then I see no problem with the two companies playing the back-and-forth game.

The only potentially bad thing is the customer who is along for the ride!
Or maybe if you really want to use your phone for lots of music (from itunes), then buy an iphone or use a different service that doesn’t lock you in.

One of the things I liked best about the webOS approach to contacts and calendar is that it didn’t depend on a desktop app. The phone does the work in conjuction with the many online services it integrates with. A pc is unnecessary. If Palm is looking for a way to sync media, I’d suggest finding a similar route. Use online music services or, if they must write software, write an iTunes server-based app and allow wireless syncing.

Not the behavior one would expect from a legitimate company, and certainly has turned me off from purchasing the Pre. As a verizon customer I was hoping to pick one up in the future if and when they became available. I have instead started wondering when Palm will enter chapter 11.

I think that Palm is playing a media game here and is betting that their bullying tactics will get them a lot of play time in the press, and, hopefully, people will look into buying a Pre. It’s mostly about marketing, creating a buzz, and an image that Palm will do what it takes to get the job done, even if it means frustrating and inconveniencing their users!

Will it work, I doubt it!

You get a Palm Pre, and it doesn’t come with a CD or DVD. It just works “in the cloud”. Apps are installed that way, updates come that way, backups work that way, etc.

Of course, it’s kind of cheating to piggyback off iTunes, but they can still say that webOS devices don’t need to ship with desktop software.

Not saying this is a good or bad thing, but I suspect that’s what’s behind all of this

Palm is also disengenous when they “champion the users” for more open standards when there own SDK says otherwise.  I believe it up to blogs like yours Harry to really come down against the tatics that Palm is exercising.  Also if they were interested in working with iTunes, were are the letters requesting to work or license the use of iTunes with Apple?  All I hear from Palm is talk but little action in support of their arguments.  What about the known XML created by Apple’s iTunes to address exactly what Palm needs to snyc users music, why aren’t they using this and why is the media not hounding them to use this? 

At the end I am left with a bitter taste of the guerella tatics of a desperate company Palm has become. I guess it’s ironic that the company that laughed off Apple introduction into the smart phone market will be the company that finally sends them out of that very market. 

The iTunes store is a great place to shop IF you have an iPod/iPhone, that is. Great selection and decent pricing, at least for the old stuff I tend to buy. I carry a Nokia smart phone with ample space but still no music at all on it, because of the hassle to sync. I refuse to catalog my music with the Nokia crapware, so instead I carry multiple devices.

Of course, the play seems effective from Apple’s side as I am much more inclined to get an iPhone over the Palm Pre for my next refresh, in part due to the iTunes integration.