A little while ago I gave my opinion on the Palm Pre, well Wired have now whacked up an article with their list of suggestions to help the ailing phone. I think their suggestion of becoming a ‘MiFi killer’ is a great one and certainly a feature that I knew absolutely nothing about. As with their idea of providing first class customer service (I really believe it’s a great way for any company to really stand out from their competitors and create great word-of-mouth and goodwill).
But, these still don’t affect the hardware. And, after my girlfriend had her iPhone lifted, she decided to give it a go rather than forking out for a new iPhone straight away.
Upshot; the GUI is ok but the keyboard is horrible. Horrible to look at, horrible to touch and bloody horrible to actually use (too small and feels super cheap). Having had an iPhone you just assume that all other smart phones must be roughly the same in terms of top end quality – but she’s now seriously weighing up the option of using the Pre or having to splash the cash for a new (or more likely second hand) iPhone.
So whilst Wired’s suggestions will certainly help with the marketing and positioning of the Palm Pre, there are some underlying hardware issues that need sorting out before any significant increase in sales. And that’s an area that Apple excels at, creating something that looks and feels beautiful.
