"Palm CEO on Apple threat"

[taptic]

Wow, I was going through MacRumors Archives (I was bored and wanted to see how far back it went and what kind of things came true...) and I came across this:

--- "MercuryNews.com reports on comments by Palm's CEO Ed Colligan on the persistent rumors that Apple will be introducing a Apple phone in the near future.

Overall, Colligan was not concerned about Apple's possible entry into the smart-phone market.
"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,'' he said. "PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.''

Colligan does theorize that Apple might offer their phone with Wifi technology and distribute the phone in Apple stores rather than through the traditional wireless carriers, such as Cingular or Verizon.

Apple has been rumored to have paired with Cingular for their 2007 launch of the iPhone. Recent announcements, however, have cast some doubt on this arrangement." ---


Although that's already hilarious enough, I looked at one of the comments which was this:

"I wonder if it will be interesting to revisit this quote in a year or two ?
One can hope."

Anyway, just thought I'd share it with you all, you can yell at me now for taking up precious forum space.

 

[Theclamshell]

I enjoyed that. Thanks for the post

 

[jav6454]

Ballmer laughed at the iPhone after it was introduced. It is interesting to see that reaction now.

 

[taptic]

I enjoyed that. Thanks for the post

Glad to see it wasn't just me that was humored

 

[SkyBell]

If you found that entertaining, perhaps you haven't yet been introduced to the infamous "Thread 500"?

 

[roadbloc]

It is quite easy to presume things. Many people have fallen into the trap of saying something that made sense at the time, but a few years later you're eating your words. Happens to the best of us.

 

[MacCruiskeen]

If you found that entertaining, perhaps you haven't yet been introduced to the infamous "Thread 500"?

Yeah, and we know the answers to these questions now, too:

"hey - heres an idea Apple - rather than enter the world of gimmicks and toys, why dont you spend a little more time sorting out your pathetically expensive and crap server line up?
or are you really aiming to become a glorified consumer gimmicks firm? "

 

[velocityg4]

If you found that entertaining, perhaps you haven't yet been introduced to the infamous "Thread 500"?

Makes me wish Macrumors was around since the 80's. It would have been interesting reading the complaints and comments.
- People complaining about the Mac and how the GUI is a waste of time and the Apple II will be forever.
- Everyone getting bent out of shape over NuBus getting replaced with PCI.
- Long complaint threads about having to use USB with the removal of ADB and Serial ports.
- Constant rumor updates on Copland and Gershwin. Others saying Apple should just use Be OS and make the GUI a bit more friendly.
- Naysayers thinking all you need is a floppy drive and a hard drive is a waste of money.
- Members hoping for a 68050 and being shellshocked by the release of PowerPC.

 

[FlatlinerG]

Made me think of this:

But yes, definitely fun reading up on stuff like this knowing that it eventually became a huge success.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Phones were really designed bad. I am surprised anyone would think Apple would fail at creating a better phone. Phones in 2000 thru 2007 were just like the DOS prompt in the 1980s before the iPhone.

 

[mobilehaathi]

To be fair, CEOs posture all the time, whether or not they believe what they're saying.

 

[MacCruiskeen]

Makes me wish Macrumors was around since the 80's. It would have been interesting reading the complaints and comments.
- People complaining about the Mac and how the GUI is a waste of time and the Apple II will be forever.

My memory is that the people who whined most about GUIs were the DOS users.

- Long complaint threads about having to use USB with the removal of ADB and Serial ports.

Well, it was a big issue if your expensive laser printer was suddenly incompatible.

- Naysayers thinking all you need is a floppy drive and a hard drive is a waste of money.

This I don't remember at all. I just remember how freaking expensive early hard drives were. But then, I remember getting my II with 32K of ram and wondering how long it would take me to write something that needed all of that space.

 

[PracticalMac]

Wow, I was going through MacRumors Archives (I was bored and wanted to see how far back it went and what kind of things came true...) and I came across this:

Link??

So BlackBerry was not the only one to underestimate the game changer iPhone is.

 

[Eric5h5]

- Members hoping for a 68050 and being shellshocked by the release of PowerPC.

There was a 68060, however, and it was way better than the 68040 (quite a bit faster, less heat...rather large chip though). I had one in my Amiga.

--Eric

 

[user-name-here]

Ballmer laughed at the iPhone after it was introduced. It is interesting to see that reaction now.

To be fair, he laughed at the original 2G only iPhone that was $400 subsidized

Most everyone (besides early adopters) laughed at Apple for this ludicrous pricing, which is why Apple eventually abandoned this model and brought the next model's price down to $199 w/ two-year contract.

So really, Ballmer was correct for laughing at that model's price.

 

[GermanyChris]

But then, I remember getting my II with 32K of ram and wondering how long it would take me to write something that needed all of that space.

I just remember the movie that made everyone say that

 

[roadbloc]

To be fair, he laughed at the original 2G only iPhone that was $400 subsidized

Most everyone (besides early adopters) laughed at Apple for this ludicrous pricing, which is why Apple eventually abandoned this model and brought the next model's price down to $199 w/ two-year contract.

So really, Ballmer was correct for laughing at that model's price.

This. Plus the fact that the first iPhone didn't actually have anything that other phones at the time couldn't do. In fact, it did less since it lacked Apps upon release (other than web apps). The Nokia 7650 from 2002 came with just as many software features and the ability to run Apps.

Ballmer was right to laugh. At the time Apple didn't pose much of a threat. Unfortunately for the rest of the industry that remained stagnant and didn't build up a healthy ecosystem, Apple obviously had some fantastic ideas for iOS and the iPhone.

 

[SkyBell]

Yeah, and we know the answers to these questions now, too:

"hey - heres an idea Apple - rather than enter the world of gimmicks and toys, why dont you spend a little more time sorting out your pathetically expensive and crap server line up?
or are you really aiming to become a glorified consumer gimmicks firm? "

And what do you believe the answers to these "questions" are?

 

[Consultant]

Phones were really designed bad. I am surprised anyone would think Apple would fail at creating a better phone. Phones in 2000 thru 2007 were just like the DOS prompt in the 1980s before the iPhone.

Exactly. The largest phone makers of 2007 are virtually all gone due to iPhone disruption.

Palm
Nokia
Motorola
Blackberry

 

[MacCruiskeen]

I just remember the movie that made everyone say that

I don't remember any movie about that--before I got my Apple, I was learning BASIC on a Polymorphics 8080 that had 3K of available user ram. But the Polymorphics did have dual floppies, a real luxury in 1977.

And Apple clearly makes far more profit on glorified consumer gimmicks than anything else these days. I mean, they're basically a phone & media company that happens to still make computers.

 

[rjcalifornia]

LOL wow!

All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field™ is starting to warp Steve's mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off.

 

[jav6454]

To be fair, he laughed at the original 2G only iPhone that was $400 subsidized

Most everyone (besides early adopters) laughed at Apple for this ludicrous pricing, which is why Apple eventually abandoned this model and brought the next model's price down to $199 w/ two-year contract.

So really, Ballmer was correct for laughing at that model's price.

True, but he then compared the iPhone's features and capabilities to back then Motorola Q. You must be really thick to perform such comparisons and then claim the Q still beat the iPhone.

Then the top gem, 0 phones a year and Microsoft several millions.