
Who will buy Palm? - dragonquest
http://www.mondaynote.com/2010/03/21/who-will-buy-palm/
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buro9
Why wouldn't Google buy Palm for the patent war chest that it can use to
defend itself against Apple? I am assuming of course that Palm have such a
thing, but since they were in that market a decade before other smart phones
they must have a lot that is useful.

HTC might also find it immediately useful.

~~~
blasdel
Clever, considering that their WebOS is as if Android had been built by
iPhone-influenced ChromeOS developers, instead of Newton-influenced Sidekick
developers.

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Tichy
Somehow Palm still has my sympathies. Maybe one of the other players besides
Google and Apple would benefit from buying the OS? As a developer, I already
feel a decided tiredness towards new mobile phone OS. iPhone - OK, I don't
like it on principles, but it can't be ignored. Android - this is for me, but
they won't have the whole market. Windows/Maemo: just leave me alone, I don't
want to learn yet another OS, even if it's Linux. I already have my hands full
with Android/iPhone.

WebOS however, is another matter. Somehow I have heard so many good things
that I would be more open towards it. So maybe Nokia would fare better with
WebOS than with Maemo? Guess they would be too proud to go for it, but still.

Did Palm license out WebOS at all (would they have licensed it out)? I just
didn't like their hardware.

~~~
stcredzero
_Windows/Maemo: just leave me alone, I don't want to learn yet another OS,
even if it's Linux. I already have my hands full with Android/iPhone._

WebOS might be a great opportunity. If Google can merge the ChromeOS "browser-
centric" interface with Android, then they could create a more seamless mobile
<-> desktop experience.

However Apple is in the best position to do this. If they can merge the
desktop with the iPhone/iPad Cocoa Touch experience, then they can create a
seamless experience from the "digital hub" to all the various mobile devices.
Just as a Unix-like command line lurks behind the OS X Desktop experience, a
conventional Desktop could lurk behind an iPad-like experience. Perhaps
interfaces like the iPad could come to dominate the everyday user's experience
more and more, while today's typical workstation becomes the sole province for
deep experts.

(Remember the classic PC/Automobile analogy. This would be like the
disappearance of oil changes and spark plug cleaning and other home-garage
tinkering from the routine experience of car owners, but if you are a true
petrol-head, you can save some extra money and buy a MX-5 fitted out with a
roll bar as a cheap, fun track car, which you'll have to spend lots of time
with to maintain and fix to stand up to the wear and tear of serious driving.)

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miles
How strange to see JLG writing what is essentially an epitaph for Palm, which
had acquired the remaining pieces of his (insanely awesome) BeOS.

~~~
av500
well, not so strange, he recognizes a dead horse when he sees it... And the
other remains of his BeOS live on happily in Android...

~~~
allenbrunson
that's true. i used to work at be, and a startling number of my former
coworkers are now at google, working on android.

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sdfx
He takes a lot of time explaining why Palm is dead, but his analysis of the
assets falls somewhat flat. Sure, Palm is in a terrible position, but a case
can be made for Google, RIM or HTC buying them - Google and HTC could be
interested in the patents, RIM could see Palm as a step towards a less
business oriented audience. I think it's more a question of finding the right
price. Maybe you can't find a buyer at the current market cap of $1B, but what
about a price that's closer to book value?

It's an interesting view of a former insider, but the arguments why Palm will
go bankrupt don't feel conclusive.

