Palm: Likely to Stumble

William Hurley is an angry developer who wrote an article in in BusinessWeek predicting the Palm Pre will fail, citing a lack of support for app developers on Palm’s part and the possibility of being upstaged by a new iPhone during Apple’s WWDC this weekend. Oh no!

For the past few days I’ve been trying to write a post comparing the Palm Pre to Jimmy Fallon, and I think I’ve got it all figured out.

A creative entity (best known for its legacy product which has since fallen by the wayside) decides in the summer of 2007 to drop some hints about its new, flashy property that’s currently in development. The consumer reaction to these hints are decidedly mixed, but after some personal interactions with geeks at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the hype begins to build. Inexplicably attaching themselves to a failing network, Jimmy Fallon / the Palm Pre score points for their social media integration (incorporating sites like Facebook and Twitter) but recieve low marks for build quality.

(Incidentally, Engadget’s Joshua Topolsky went on Late Night to demo the Pre for Mr. Fallon, who loved it.)