[beamup]

As a very happy owner of the Palm Pre, I can tell you that it's not cheap crap. I love the Pre. As a Sprint user, I can't have your iphone. I don't like the blackberry. I don't like the Instinct. The Pre does everything I need it to do and more. And as an owner of six ipods, three mac computers, and user of Itunes, I would be very unhappy if Apple chooses not to let the Pre owners continue to use music we have purchased for our personal use. I don't need all the fancy apps that the iphone has. What I need is a good phone (got it!), with access to the internet (got it!), easy to use email and texting(got it!), navigation (got it!), and an easy to use interface (got it!) Anytime you get a new phone, you need to read the booklet that comes with it. I think those of you who are bashing the Pre either haven't used it or are so consumed with everything Apple you can't leave room for anything else. I don't begrudge you your iphones, so don't begrudge me my pre.

[rab777hp]

Finally some people talking sense here.

[reverie]

You do know that, should Apple ever lock the Pre out of iTunes, you could still use your songs, right? Just drag them over by hand.

[beamup]

Yes, I do know that though it's worth repeating. I just find it a bit disappointing that Apple proponents would "threaten" those of us who have the Pre that we won't be able to use Itunes to download our music. I guess that means those that have other players other than Ipods shouldn't be allowed to use Itunes either. But I don't think that is the case.

In regard to apps, how long did it take Apple to get to 50,000 apps? I'm pretty sure that they didn't start with that many, and the Iphone has been out, what 3 years? And in my case, 99% of them are useless to me. I have purchased two, I think, for my Itouch, but I don't really use them.

I did want to say that for several years I've been going fishing at a trout park here in my home state that happens to sit at the bottom of a steep valley. I have never been able to get cell phone service there UNTIL I got my Pre. I did happen to be on "roam" but I was able to stay in touch with those at home, something my husband still couldn't do on his Instinct (it won't be long until he trades his phone in for his own Palm Pre.)

For those of us who don't have the option of the Iphone due to not wanting to switch to AT&T, the Palm Pre is the best alternative I've found so far. I love the feel of the phone, it does not feel cheap at all, and it is definitely the best phone I've ever had.

[Davewrite]

I find it amusing that Pre devotes are so adamant that it's fine and great to have only a limited number of apps.

Pre apologist say things like "All I need is a few good apps. I don't need 50,000. Heck you can't load 50,000 into the iPhone! Most iPhone Apps are junk"

That's all rather silly. The point of 50,000 is choice.

Your 'handful of apps you like' might be different from the other guys. 50,000 provides choice. A handful of good apps for a gamer might be different than a handful for a music lover or a doctor or a traveller or a Army sniper in Afghanistan (using Bulletflight Ballistics Calculator. You can buy a copy of this software actually used by army and marine sharpshooters from app store). A gamer might have several dozen games and might want to browse and buy games often, might want to play on line games etc. For a gamer having a handful of games instead of 10,000 to choose from sucks. There are several hundred apps for the medical profession alone, from patient data collections to diabetic monitoring etc. The iPhone allows people to get the apps that they want, 50,000 is choice.

I keep reading Pre apologists saying that iPhone apps are junk without out showing reviews or statistics to prove their point. What makes Pre owners think only bad developers write for the iPhone and good ones write for the Pre? That's a ludicrous supposition. Sure out of 50,000 there will be some junk but then again there are many iPhone apps that have rave reviews and fans. If only 10% are good that means there are 5000 good apps! And I'm sure it's going to be higher than 10%.

And all the excuses that Pre is only just out and the iPhone is out x number of years. Palm is competing with iPhone NOW. Are the majority of consumers willing to wait to get the apps they want? And with iPhone OS base so much larger (40 million and growing vs. several hundred thousand Pres. And as can be seen in the recent launches of the two the iPhone gap is widening) a lot of developers are simply not going to bother with the Pre.

The iPhone besides 50,000 (now closer to 60,000) apps has other advantages like easy video recording, tap on focus camera and google maps that orient with the magnetometer but the real kicker is this: even 50 000 app advantage the iPhone has a Price Advantage - more storage in the iPhone for the same price!

[rab777hp]

So by your reasoning I should get rid of all my macs and replace them with PCs because they only have a limited number of apps- as opposed to the plethora of windows apps available

[sparkplug]

rab777hp said:

So by your reasoning I should get rid of all my macs and replace them with PCs because they only have a limited number of apps- as opposed to the plethora of windows apps available

Uh, no need to that, if there's a specific Windows app that you need that is not available as a Mac software program, you can always set up a Mac to run as a Windows machine via BootCamp, Parallels, or VMWare. As a Mac user, I would think that you would know that Macs have the capability to run BOTH Mac and Windows software.

Don't think the Pre can run both Pre and iPhone apps.

[Davewrite]

You say "So by your reasoning I should get rid of all my macs and replace them with PCs because they only have a limited number of apps- as opposed to the plethora of windows apps available"

Typical silly reasoning. (This is another one of those statements like "iPhone apps are junk" which I've read over and over again)

Hey there are tens of thousands of Mac apps. That's no where comparable to the few dozen Pre apps!!

There over a 1000 mac Desktop Widgets for Dashboard alone!!

If I'm using a Mac chances are I'll have the apps I want.

Even so the superiority of the number of apps in Windows does count. So many gamers for example stick with their PCs because there are more games on the platform although again the gap between apps available is probably not as bad as Pre vs iPhone as there are hundreds of Mac games.

The Mac has a superior OS to Windows for years. Even PC World and PC magazine rate Leopard higher than Vista and Macs have great build quality and superior design to most PCs, yet Macs only constitute 2-3% of the worldwide market. I bet you the Windows app advantage plays a part. That's why Apple is making sure the iPhone doesn't fall into this disadvantage.

And you forget I can run Windows on my Intel Mac and get ALL the Win Apps if I wanted to like play all the games, can you run iPhone OS on the Pre?

[beamup]

If I'm going to run programs written for a PC on a Mac, then why do I need a Mac at all? I own both machines--paid $3000 for a Macbook Pro laptop that I don't really use anymore in favor of a PC laptop that I like better, although I agree that the Mac operating system is better than the PC. But to run PC programs on a MAC, I have to purchase another program in order to run PC software OR I have to keep rebooting. I used to work solely on a Mac, but I got tired of not being able to purchase the programs I wanted because they didn't run on a Mac. So I finally gave up and went to the PC. My daughter bought a Mac laptop to use at college, but one of the programs that was required in one of her courses wouldn't run on a Mac. So she had to go to a computer room and work on a PC in order to submit her lessons. So even though some of us might want to work on a Mac, sometimes it just isn't that easy.

In regard to the Iphone, Apple made the decision to give it to At&t for the first five years (or at least that's what the Apple Store person told me.) That means that unless I want to leave Sprint (which I don't), I can't have an Iphone. Apple CHOSE to limit it's sales by not providing the phone to all the major carriers. So the argument that the Iphone is better than the Pre is moot for me. After using the Pre and using my Itouch for several things (except talking on it, obviously), I'm not sure I would replace my Pre with an Iphone even if I had the option. For people who think they have to have 50,000 apps, then good. Buy an Iphone. But I don't need them. If I had an Iphone, chances are I wouldn't buy them. I don't play games or listen to music on my phone. I use it to check email and talk on it. And for that, my Pre is great.

I believe in what Apple is trying to do (which is make money mostly as those apps aren't especially inexpensive), but I also appreciate Palm giving me a choice in what I want in a phone (after all, they want to make money too.) If I can accept that the Iphone is perfectly fine as a phone, then why can't others accept that the Pre is also perfectly fine as a phone? Does one necessarily have to be better than the other? Can't they just be different?

It's those people who refuse to accept that other companies can and do make phones and computers that do the job just as well as Apple that tend to give Apple enthusiasts a sort of "crazed" reputation. To continually criticize someone else's product beyond reason seems a little silly to me and probably isn't in Apple's best interests (although I do love the Mac commercials!) There is room for both Apple computers and PC computers and Iphones and Palm Pres. All that matters is that we have the right to make that choice on our own, and none of us should be criticized for those choices.

[rab777hp]

You guys are really missing the point here.

[reverie]

beamup,

No offense, but you should sell your MacBook Pro and buy your daugther VMWare from the proceedings. You would still have enough money left for an iPhone plus 2 years of service from AT&T. It just seems odd that you're willing to waste thousands on an useless luxury Mac and then become stingy when it's about a $80 software or even $1 apps from the AppStore.

[Davewrite]

{quote}To continually criticize someone else's product beyond reason seems a little silly to me and probably isn't in Apple's best interests {quote}

What about Pre enthusiasts bashing the iPhone?

I've read so many posts in so many blogs where Pre users say the 50,000 apps on the iPhone are "junk, all Fart Apps". I can probably cut and paste and fill up entire columns with their comments.

And PALM executives and their investor associates themselves bash the iPhone:

"The Pre will be a million times faster than the iPhone."
"June 29, 2009, is the two-year anniversary of the first shipment of the iPhone. Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later"

How does your comment "To continually criticize someone else's product beyond reason seems a little silly to me" jive here with Palm's statements?

Palm a big corporation's statements are even worse than iPhone fans as they are completely wild! When I say the Pre doesn't have as many apps as the iPhone at least it's TRUE, compare that to Palm's "Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later. A million times faster" Wow!! And Palm said those things in public in front of news reporters, I'm just posting as a fan on a blog site.

So is Palm according to your own definition "silly"? If not then you're biased allowing Palm to make wild statements while criticizing Apple supporters. If it is silly then you're supporting a "silly" corporation!

(and as an aside of course Palm's statements have been proven wrong. iPhone outselling Pre, tens of thousands of iPhone users upgrading to 3GS. AnandTech and Medialets speed tests under controlled conditions, iPhone faster).

See that's my problem with Pre enthusiasts they are so selective. IPhone users are fanboys, but Palm users are not? Things that iPhone users say is bad but Palm and Pre users it's ok?

[Steve_S]

beamup said:

As a very happy owner of the Palm Pre, I can tell you that it's not cheap crap.

While I'm glad that you're happy with your Pre and I might even agree that the terms "cheap crap" might be a bit to harsh to use, there is no denying the fact that the Pre does have hardware related issues. Both in terms of parts such as the decision to use a plastic screen that scratches easier than the iPhone's glass screen and in terms of overall build quality that is associated with the slide out keyboard. You don't have to be a Pre owner to realize that. Just spending 5 minutes with it in a store makes that abundantly clear. That's not to mention the many accounts of people having to return their Pre due to hardware issues.

Quote

Anytime you get a new phone, you need to read the booklet that comes with it.

Similarly, the same can be said for a touch screen device that requires a gesture tutorial.

Quote

I think those of you who are bashing the Pre either haven't used it or are so consumed with everything Apple you can't leave room for anything else.

Do you put everyone with an iPhone in this category?

>I don't begrudge you your iphones, so don't begrudge me my pre.
Any begrudging you see can be blamed on the ridiculous comments that came from Roger McNamee when he claimed that nobody would be using an iPhone after the Pre came out. Of course, the Pre zealots that sung the device's praises and preached how it was going to be an "iPhone killer" before the product even hit the market are sort of asking for a beat down now the product has hit the market and neither the Pre as a product nor sales of the Pre have turned out to be "all that".

Finally, I don't begrudge anyone for their choice of phone. However, when people are going to talk so much hype about a product, it had better be as good as they say, or else it will come under fire. While the Pre represents and extraordinary leap for Palm and it's a big win for Sprint, it's not exactly an "iPhone killer" either. The device is not without it's share of flaws.

[rab777hp]

As opposed to your great iPhone, which wilts and turns brown when it gets a little hot.