Palm Centro: A Case of Safety vs. Danger

I wish the nice people at Palm all the best. I truly do. I've used Palm products for about 10 years now. When it came time to upgrade my smart phone recently, I bought a Treo 755p.

Nonetheless, I have to ask those nice Palm people: Where is your imagination?  Your mojo, cojones, bravado, creativity, whatever you call it?

In case you missed the news, the new Palm Centro, announced today, is a Palm OS smart phone that comes in Jungle Red and Darth Vader Black. It costs only $100 (with a new contract). Sprint will be the exclusive carrier for 90 days.

The Centro is designed for a young audience, primarily women (the fact that mostly young women are featured in their marketing is a dead giveaway). The thinking is, this market would gladly upgrade from their standard cell phones to smart phones if the price is right and the phone is cool.

But this demographic is often on the hunt for the absolute hippest phone of the moment. Given the iPhone's success, they don't mind paying for it, either. This market wants something with personality, style, an edge. Something that makes a statement about who they are (or aspire to be).

The trouble is, the Centro appears to be too...centrist. It's basically another Treo, but in a shinier, sleeker, slimmer, less expensive package. It doesn't appear to be a rock-my-world, oh-my-God phone, like an iPhone, a Sidekick, a Razr, or a BlackBerry Curve.

Maybe that's OK with Palm. Maybe the Centro will be a huge hit. Maybe I should withhold judgment, since I haven't even seen a Centro in person yet.

Then again, what the hell? I'm a blogger. I'm supposed to jump the gun. So here goes: Ultimately, it seems to me Palm is playing it safe with a consumer market that considers safe boring. After all, let's not forget the technology company behind the Sidekick, one of the most popular smart phones among the very consumers Palm is targeting. That company's name? Danger.

Comments

[chuck]

After reading your very well-written opinion for today, I now have to put in a call with my broker to get rid of all my Palm stock ASAP. Please excuse me for a minute.

(Elevator music plays.)

In this wonderful world of technology, it seems that companies will either aim their products at one of two targets: the elegant and edgy (like the iPhone) or the safe and dull (like the Centro). Palm used to be in the former category, but, as of late, it's slid into the latter. If the best products Palm can create are such uninspired designs as the Centro and such solutions in search of a problem like the now-canceled Foleo, maybe it needs to be taken over by someone who will breathe edginess and elegance back into it. (The trouble is, I can't envision anyone--other than a certain Apple executive who will remain nameless--who has the sense of style and purpose to undertake such a task.