Palm Changes Name To PalmOne [Archive]

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Ed Hansberry

08-18-2003, 02:00 PM

<a href="http://palmone.com">http://palmone.com</a> Palm, Inc. is getting closer to their split. PalmSource has been the name of the software solution group for months now. The hardware company, internally called Palm Solutions has been officially renamed PalmOne. "The name palmOne was chosen following interviews with a broad spectrum of Palm customers, partners, employees, naming consultants and industry influencers. When people inside and outside the company reflect on Palm’s essence, three ideas emerged consistently: • the company’s heritage as a pioneer in handheld computing; • Palm’s worldwide leadership, which it has retained despite an influx of competitors; and • the conviction that Palm always would place customers first, thereby delivering what matters most to them." Gets you right here doesn't it? {sniff} <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2003/20030818-palmone.png" /> You can read more about it <a href="http://www.palm.com/us/company/pr/palmOne.html">in their press release</a>. Doesn't really matter. Everything that fits in your hand that remotely resembles a PDA is still called a Palm Pilot. :roll: You know, I wasn't planning on doing this, but this one just sticks in my craw. "The conviction that Palm always would place customers first, thereby delivering what matters most to them." When did they start doing that? It must have been sometime after they were dragged kicking and screaming into offering storage cards on their devices, color screens, voice recording, more than 2MB of RAM, etc. :? There is no question that in the PDA world, they were the last OEM to offer those, regardless of the operating system.

PlayAgain?

08-18-2003, 02:15 PM

Still easier to say than 'Windows Mobile .Net 2003 for Smart Thingies with Compact Framework that go Ping' :lol:

rhmorrison

08-18-2003, 02:16 PM

DerekTheGeek

08-18-2003, 02:28 PM

I know what you are saying Ed! It makes me angry when companies just outright lie to people. It's like Verizon Wireless saying "We never stop working for you" and Sprint saying they have the best nationwide network and mortgage companies saying how they really care about their customers.

Most of corporate America really thinks the people of this country are stupid morons. Let's just take a guess at how much money they spent on polling everyone on the name "PalmOne". Had to be upwards of two Million dollars. I wonder how many people could have kept their jobs for that much money wasted. Don't get me wrong, it's not just Palm but all of corporate America.

- Derek

bjornkeizers

08-18-2003, 02:29 PM

All corporate BS if you ask me. It's still the same ****ty company making the same old devices. Why don't they just roll over and die?

It's eat or be eaten out there. You can't play ball with the big guys with such ****ty hardware as Palm makes these days. I can pick up a HP Ipaq 1915 for less then even a discounted Tungsten T, and I still get a lot more features. Hell, my two year old Jornada can do more then the newest palms! I don't see those new Tungstens playing Quake.. Do you?

Edit:

See? Palm agrees with me! Look at palm.com: there's a big pic that says..

"PalmOne. New name, same great handhelds. "

Which ones would that be then Palm?

smashcasi

08-18-2003, 02:31 PM

Most of corporate America really thinks the people of this country are stupid morons.
Well people here do watch a lot of reality TV.

GoldKey

08-18-2003, 02:35 PM

I know what you are saying Ed! It makes me angry when companies just outright lie to people. It's like Verizon Wireless saying "We never stop working for you" and Sprint saying they have the best nationwide network and mortgage companies saying how they really care about their customers.
- Derek

Why bother trying to actually provide good customer service when you can just advertise that you do? Whenever I see an ad for a company saying they offer good customer service, I usually take it as a warning that they don't have it. Good service speaks for itself and does not need to be advertised. Offhand, I can think of only two retail companies anad a few resturants that I think consistently provide me with good customer service - None of which advertise that they have good service.

I started an off topic thread on what companies I think provide good service here - http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=151687#151687

WillyG

08-18-2003, 03:16 PM

So now we will have, um,
Palm One Three
Palm One Five
Palm One Seven
Palm One Five Double Zero
Palm One Five Zero Five
Palm One Five One Five
Palm One Tungsten (Translated: Palm One heavy stone - Tungsten=nordic=heavy stone)
Palm One Tungsten T Two
What will they do when they slip down to number two? Do i hear Palm Two? :wink:

Personally i think this is a stupid move. I would say the current Palm logo is classy, the new one simply looks cheap. Sounds like a cheaper, second class, copy of themself (Palm). I dont want Palm to roll over and die. I want a near 50%-50% market shares between PPC's and POS devices. Simply put i want competition. But Palm, like earlier (i almost typed always), tend to do everything wrong....even with their good brand-name and logo.

helloboys

08-18-2003, 03:42 PM

What a completely and utterly stupid move this is.

Sure, their product is fairly ordinary, but they had real brand recognition. As Ed said, "Everything that fits in your hand that remotely resembles a PDA is still called a Palm".

So what do they do? Throw that away. Bloody idiots. They'll be dead in a year.

quidproquo

08-18-2003, 04:07 PM

HUH?

If their naming before was simply an internal distinction between hardware and software departments, then why make the change?

I understand that they want to divide up the two departments into potentially separate companys (hardware and software).... but they are tossing out name recognition as everyone is saying.

Always, when I am at a retail store with my iPAQ or my T-Mobile PPCPE and I put a debit transaction in my KeepTrak program - the cashier always says..... "Hey....is that a Palm Pilot?" I have gotten to where I simply nod and say yes, instead of trying to explain the difference. :?

Palm should have kept the name Palm for its hardware division and just added some nifty name at the end for the software - like Palm Systems or something of the sort.

kagayaki1

08-18-2003, 04:09 PM

Does this remind anyone else of another firm who says one thing and delivers another?

http://i.real.com/pics/real/home/top_header.jpg

Nothing like being family.

kagayaki1

08-18-2003, 04:11 PM

Always, when I am at a retail store with my iPAQ or my T-Mobile PPCPE and I put a debit transaction in my KeepTrak program - the cashier always says..... "Hey....is that a Palm Pilot?" I have gotten to where I simply nod and say yes, instead of trying to explain the difference. :?
I usually say, "No, it's a Pocket PC!" Then, they're suddenly open to understanding how it's different, and I take the time to educate (convert?) them. Hmm....sounds almost like a religious thing.

Kati Compton

08-18-2003, 04:18 PM

Personally i think this is a stupid move. I would say the current Palm logo is classy, the new one simply looks cheap. Sounds like a cheaper, second class, copy of themself (Palm). I dont want Palm to roll over and die. I want a near 50%-50% market shares between PPC's and POS devices. Simply put i want competition. But Palm, like earlier (i almost typed always), tend to do everything wrong....even with their good brand-name and logo.

Well, the new logo uses 1337-speak (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=139778&highlight=1337#139778). Pa1mOne. Are there many other companies out there that have l337 logos? I hope this does not become a trend.

08-18-2003, 04:28 PM

Hyperluminal

08-18-2003, 04:57 PM

Yeah, I don't think the new name is that good. It just doesn't make sense.. palmOne? Why One? It sounds like a product name, kind of. (All you need is One-- palmOne) But it really doesn't sound like a company. One what? One Palm?

I think even just 'palmSolutions' would sound better... :lol:

Jeff Rutledge

08-18-2003, 04:57 PM

Well, the new logo uses 1337-speak (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=139778&highlight=1337#139778). Pa1mOne. Are there many other companies out there that have l337 logos? I hope this does not become a trend.

I couldn't agree more. It may be that I'm just "getting old" but I find this very annoying. It's not a case of me resisting change or anything, I just think it looks dumb. :lol:

WillyG

08-18-2003, 05:13 PM

I couldn't agree more. It may be that I'm just "getting old" but I find this very annoying. It's not a case of me resisting change or anything, I just think it looks dumb. :lol:

Agreed. PaOneLmOne !??!! Do they try to be Annoying?

Situation 1
"Excuse me could you spell that?"
"Sure P-A-"number One"-L-M-O-N-E, um, *cough*cough*"

Situation 2
"Is that a palm you got there?"
"No its a Paonelm! from Paonelm One. Paonelm *spit* rules!"

Hyperluminal

08-18-2003, 05:26 PM

James Fee

08-18-2003, 05:30 PM

I was under the impression that the Palm Solution Group was going to move away from the name Palm which would be left with the software part of the business. The idea was that this would keep the various licencees happy.

Looks like they decided keeping the OEMs happy is not important afterall.

pa1mOne is rather amusing though and at least with the Treo 600 they have the potential for one good product. (Maybe that's where the One comes from).
You are correct. The value is in the OS not the hardware for the name. If they spun off the OS and could not call it Palm who would know what they were. I'm not sure PalmOne or whatever its called is much better, but they can still refer to the hardware as running Palm OS...

Foo Fighter

08-18-2003, 05:37 PM

I think you folks are over reacting just a bit. As long as they retain the word "Palm" within their brand name, everything should be just fine. Remember, it was originally speculated they would lose the Palm name entirely. If they had gone with a completely unfamiliar name like "Eon" or "Edge" that could have been suicidal. As it is now, I doubt consumers will even notice the change. In my opinion, PalmOne's greater challenge will be matching PPC vendors in terms of price/features. On the other hand, PPC's greatest challenge will be matching high-end PalmOS devices, which are continuing to pull out ahead.

Next year should be quite interesting as OS6 comes into play, and more PalmOS devices with full sized screens (which Palm users have been screaming for) begin to saturate the market. One the PPC front, we should see a continuing trend of wireless integrate trickling down to low-end devices. And we may find out for sure whether or not Microsoft intends to keep PPC screen resolution locked down at 320x240.

But this name change isssue? Much ado about nothing, IMO.

T-Will

08-18-2003, 05:47 PM

Maybe they're trying to appeal to the 1337 Linux users... ;)

lapchinj

08-18-2003, 06:48 PM

Maybe they're trying to appeal to the 1337 Linux users... ;)

Hey - watch it :snipersmile: OW, That hurt. :nonono: We shouldn't start picking on all the second place runner-ups we're just bashing Pa1mOne now. Anyway, as an OS Linux sure beats Palm (in functionality too). Too bad there's not more software for it.

The Palm OS is still stuck in the dark ages and at the rate they're making OS enhancements it looks like it will be there for some time to come. :jester:

But the .NET CF still rules and is going to be hard to beat especially with MS making such cool development tools for it. :ppclove:

Jeff -

Weyoun6

08-18-2003, 06:51 PM

What a stupid name. Palm one? does that mean anything? Palm - makes sense. PalmSource - ok, thats fine. Palm One? - does that mean they are "the center" of the palm universe or something? Or does it mean that they are the only ones who will be making palms?

And, What's going to happen to the palm domains? Do they go to palm source, or palm one?

Just some thoughts...

ctmagnus

08-18-2003, 07:20 PM

What will they do when they slip down to number two? Do i hear Palm Two? :wink:

Palm Number Two!

(please keep the toilet humor to a dull roar ;) )

ctmagnus

08-18-2003, 07:21 PM

Pa1m -- Paonem -- too hard to pronounce.

mmace

08-18-2003, 07:30 PM

I was under the impression that the Palm Solution Group was going to move away from the name Palm which would be left with the software part of the business. The idea was that this would keep the various licencees happy.

Looks like they decided keeping the OEMs happy is not important afterall.

Just to clarify, the name Palm and the round logo don't go away. The logo will now appear on all devices that use the Palm OS, with the word "powered" beneath it.

Our licensees have known about this for quite a while, and the plan hasn't changed at all.

Mike
CCO, PalmSource Inc.

lapchinj

08-18-2003, 07:40 PM

... does that mean they are "the center" of the palm universe or something? Or does it mean that they are the only ones who will be making palms?...

Seems to be a trend in naming conventions. We have some initiatives here where I work and we also tag on "One" to everything. But it's a good question what happens when they start coming in second.

Jeff -

Wes Salmon

08-18-2003, 08:33 PM

Ugh, I wonder how much they paid for some bonehead logo/branding "expert" to tell them ...

"Hey, you know if you have both the number one and the world one in your name, people will think you're number one two times over. How can you go wrong with that?!" :roll:

It looks like a custom license play you'd get if your first choice was taken.

freitasm

08-18-2003, 08:39 PM

http://palmone.com

Everything that fits in your hand that remotely resembles a PDA is still called a Palm Pilot. :roll:

(airport, empty pockets, put everything in little plastic backet, walk thru detector).
(airport scanner): "bzzzzz"
(security): Sir, can you step back and walk through it again, please?
(me): ok
(airport scanner): "bzzzzz"
(security): Do you have anything in your pockets?
(me): ? I think I've emptied all pockets.
(me): (take coat off, place in x-ray belt)
(security): Ah, you forgot the Palm Pilot.
(me): It's a Pocket PC
(security): The same.

Even though Palm Pilot as a name was phased out years ago, and I changed to Pocket PC last year...

freitasm

08-18-2003, 08:41 PM

Pa1m -- Paonem -- too hard to pronounce.

Don't worry. It's PalmOne. Just a bad font choice for the logo.

TawnerX

08-18-2003, 08:52 PM

I was under the impression that the Palm Solution Group was going to move away from the name Palm which would be left with the software part of the business. The idea was that this would keep the various licencees happy.

Looks like they decided keeping the OEMs happy is not important afterall.

Just to clarify, the name Palm and the round logo don't go away. The logo will now appear on all devices that use the Palm OS, with the word "powered" beneath it.

Our licensees have known about this for quite a while, and the plan hasn't changed at all.

Mike
CCO, PalmSource Inc.

Didcha guys hire underage script kiddies again to reduce cost? How is the webpage project going?

pa1mOne? dude, that's so l33t. h4X0r rulez.

easylife

08-18-2003, 09:10 PM

Pa1m -- Paonem -- too hard to pronounce.

Think of it as "Pawonum" as "Pa1m" or "Pawonumwon" for "Pa1mOne"

And I guess I figured the "O" in the word "One" was a zero, like "pa1m0ne"

ctmagnus

08-18-2003, 10:24 PM

Pa1m -- Paonem -- too hard to pronounce.

Don't worry. It's PalmOne. Just a bad font choice for the logo.

Pa1m -- Paonem -- too hard to pronounce.

Think of it as "Pawonum" as "Pa1m" or "Pawonumwon" for "Pa1mOne"

And I guess I figured the "O" in the word "One" was a zero, like "pa1m0ne"

Or, we could just call the company "too hard to pronounce" from now on. ;)

Janak Parekh

08-18-2003, 10:33 PM

Kati Compton

08-18-2003, 10:34 PM

Mike
CCO, PalmSource Inc.
Didcha guys hire underage script kiddies again to reduce cost? How is the webpage project going?

pa1mOne? dude, that's so l33t. h4X0r rulez.
The guy is from PalmSource, not pa1mOne, so he probably didn't have much influence on the name. Plus, it's one thing to make fun of the name, but you're bordering on insulting one particular person here (who as I said is probably not involved with the issue anyway), which is not a good thing.

Kiyoshi

08-18-2003, 11:30 PM

I didn't read the entire thread, but the first post said that Palm seemed to take forever to include voice messaging, over 2MB memory, color screens, and expansion slots, which is very true. But now, they are evolving more and more (Sony UX Series?), with Hi-Res Screens, more memory thanks to a programming update (allows over 16MB memory I think) and plenty of other changes.

On the other hand, PPC has stayed the same for quite a while. No nifty high-res screens, no new layouts (2200 is close though), and no keyboards on our PPCs!!! I have heard many other people here saying that PPC needs to stop looking the same and have some cool new designs.

James Fee

08-19-2003, 12:22 AM

What I don't get is why they didn't just call the thing PalmPilot. At least people think they know what those are...

Kati Compton

08-19-2003, 02:25 AM

08-19-2003, 02:29 AM

What I don't get is why they didn't just call the thing PalmPilot. At least people think they know what those are...
I believe they had to stop using that because of a lawsuit brought by the Pilot pen company. Not sure, though.

I seem to remember hearing that as well. I wouldn't have thought they would have dropped the name otherwise since it is still the best known in the business.

Seems to me, it's still going to be difficult to differentiate between PalmSource and pa1mOne.

Does Sony still own a piece of PalmSource?

GoldKey

08-19-2003, 02:30 AM

Or, we could just call the company "too hard to pronounce" from now on. ;)

How about "The company formerly known as Palm"

Weyoun6

08-19-2003, 02:54 AM

I didn't read the entire thread, but the first post said that Palm seemed to take forever to include voice messaging, over 2MB memory, color screens, and expansion slots, which is very true. But now, they are evolving more and more (Sony UX Series?), with Hi-Res Screens, more memory thanks to a programming update (allows over 16MB memory I think) and plenty of other changes.

While that is true, he was referring to Palm-branded devices, not PalmOS. Sony and Handera had that stuff out loonng before there was any Palm with it.

JF in Detroit

08-19-2003, 03:01 AM

Much anger here. :bad-words: Can't we all just get along? :lol:

rocky_raher

08-19-2003, 03:50 AM

Seeing "PalmOne" either expressed as "Pa1mOne" or misinterpreted as such, I am unable to resist pointing out that when I taught myself to type (on my mother's old manual Smith-Corona), her post-WWII typing class textbook explained that most typewriters did not have a digit 1 key. You were expected to use lower-case l, as they looked identical anyway.

This bit of trivia was the basis of one of Isaac Asimov's "Tales of the Black Widowers" stories. Someone couldn't open his late father's safe, after being left with a slip of paper containing the typed combination "r25-14-r37." The wise butler pointed out that the middle number wasn't fourteen, but "left four."

Learning to type on a manual typewriter was good training. It built up my finger muscles, so when I got to college I was able to effortlessly bang out code on the state-of-the-art computer center's teletype terminals.

rocky_raher

08-19-2003, 03:57 AM

I suspect the name "PalmOne" is patterned after "PepsiOne." In other words, it means "One-calorie Palm" or "Diet Palm."

I look forward to "Caffeine-free PalmOne."

If they made a PDA with a light green case, would they name it "PalmOlive"?

rocky_raher

08-19-2003, 04:06 AM

Doesn't really matter. Everything that fits in your hand that remotely resembles a PDA is still called a Palm Pilot. :roll:

Perhaps you should have a poll about this:
What do you do when someone calls your PPC a Palm Pilot?
1. Ignore it. It just means that Palm has lost its brand identity.
2. Give a short contradiction, "No, it's a Pocket PC."
3. Give a short explanation of the difference.
4. Rant.

eric linsley

08-19-2003, 07:00 AM

breaking news

Pa1m one
formerly palm
has changed its name once again

to

P.O.S

it is speculated that it is short for

Piece of......

he he he

Phoenix

08-19-2003, 07:30 AM

Pa1mOne. All these splits and additional names and changes. I don't get it. I don't think anyone has a clear grasp on much of what Palm does. I don't think Palm itself even understands. What a mess this company is.

Maybe they should have one name for each day of the week. Ridiculous.

Makes me glad I own a Pocket PC.

maximus

08-19-2003, 09:41 AM

http://palmone.com

pal-mo-ne ... sounds like the gangsters on the godfather movies.

Doesn't really matter. Everything that fits in your hand that remotely resembles a PDA is still called a Palm Pilot.

Not necessarily true !! I was on the lobby of my office building lastweek. Axim on my palm, playing winampaq, earphones on my ear. And then there is a guy commented "hey, that is a neat looking mp3 player you have there".

And I smiled at him.

ricksfiona

08-19-2003, 10:55 AM

I think there is too much reaction to Palm's name change. After all, who refers to coke as "coke classic"? Consumers will be calling Palm Pilots "Palm Pilots" 10 years from now, if they're still around.

It seems that the Sony Clie users may be getting a little fed-up with their PDA's. I was working with a client who just bought a Clie TG50 and while I think it's a beautiful toy and a possibly great PDA, don't ask it to do much more.

Here are the problems with that machine:
1) Only 16MB of internal RAM, 11MB when you have the standard apps installed. Okay, you can install a couple of apps. :?
2) Only expandable to 128MB with the use of Memory Sticks. That knocks off the use of it as being a good MP3 player. The MP3 software on it is actually very cool. :|
3) It has way too much junky standard software preinstalled. With only 16MB of internal memory, you gotta be lean. :roll:

I believe the Sony Clies' will be the Palm based PDAs that will morph into Pocket PC-like devices. They are almost there. If they bump internal memory up to 32MB and not use Memory Sticks for expansion, they will be there. Ah, and you gotta multitask boys & girls. Hopefully OS6 will take care of this... I'd say this can happen within the next 6 - 12 months. With Palm, it's anyone's guess when they'll catch up, if they ever decide to...

Then, why wait for that kind of Sony device when you can get all those features on a Pocket PC device? This is probably the worse marketing that Microsoft has ever done.

For at least a year, I saw Pocket PC advertising. The biggest selling point between the Palm & Pocket PC: A color screen! 8O At the time, there were only a couple of Palms that had a color screen, but the applications I used didn't need a color screen and I was happy with my ultra-reliable Palm Pilot. And it lasted months with a couple of batteries.

What should have been the selling point is the processing power, storage, expandibility, options. Color screen? Nice. But tell me about using SD cards to load hundreds of MP3 files on PPC vs. Palm's couple a dozen. Tell me about being able to shrink a DVD movie onto an SD card and watching it on BART/subway on the way to work (I showed the client with the Sony TG50 a scene of LOTR I put on my SD card via my IPAQ 3870. Blew his socks off). Tell me about built-in WiFi that will allow me to access the Internet wherever there is a WiFi AP, which includes 1000's of locations including coffee shops, book stores and airports. Need GPS, more storage options, a tv tuner? Yup, got cards and expansion sleeves for that!

There's the argument that PPC devices cost more, which is generally true. But if you're REALLY going to use it's full capabilities, the cost difference isn't that big a deal. No Palm can run the applications that I need as a business professional, at any price. Yet, a $200 Dell Axim which is on the lower end of Palm devices, could run my apps and give me all the expandibility and software apps I could want. It's not $100 device, but I could only use that $100 device to view contacts and my appointments and well, that's it.

I like Palm based devices for their simplicity and reliability. But how many people buy new toasters every two years? How many people will pay a premium price for a toaster?

mmace

08-19-2003, 11:58 PM

Our licensees have known about this for quite a while, and the plan hasn't changed at all.
Mike -- out of curiosity -- did PalmSource have any hand in the rebranding, or has it been an entirely Palm SG-based initiative?

The choice of name, color scheme, font, etc was all owned completely by palmOne. PalmSource's only involvement was earlier in the process -- since the "Palm" trademark will be jointly owned by both companies, we negotiated some guidelines on how the "Palm" name could and could not be used by their business. They then worked independently within those limits.

By the way, I asked them about the "L." The hardware company's name will definitely be 'palmOne" and not "pa1mOne." They just used an L that's a little funky looking.

Mike
CCO, PalmSource Inc.

qmrq

08-20-2003, 01:20 PM

Usually companies only change there name AFTER they go bankrupt and then they start up fresh having dodged all of their creditors they then create a new name and start all over again.

I guess Palm just wanted to save some time... :D

I really don't see Palm going bankrupt anytime soon. ;)

All corporate BS if you ask me. It's still the same s****y company making the same old devices. Why don't they just roll over and die?

It's eat or be eaten out there. You can't play ball with the big guys with such s****y hardware as Palm makes these days. I can pick up a HP Ipaq 1915 for less then even a discounted Tungsten T, and I still get a lot more features. Hell, my two year old Jornada can do more then the newest palms! I don't see those new Tungstens playing Quake.. Do you?

Edit:

See? Palm agrees with me! Look at palm.com: there's a big pic that says..

"PalmOne. New name, same great handhelds. "

Which ones would that be then Palm?

Why do you want them to 'roll over and die'? They make great devices. Very simple to use, incredibly reliable, and with superior battery life when compared with other PDAs.

What a completely and utterly stupid move this is.

Sure, their product is fairly ordinary, but they had real brand recognition. As Ed said, "Everything that fits in your hand that remotely resembles a PDA is still called a Palm".

So what do they do? Throw that away. Bloody idiots. They'll be dead in a year.

Trust me, they won't be 'dead in a year'. :p