Palm Pre, CES 2009 blockbuster, didn't live up to its hype
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The GCN Lab looks ahead to the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, and wonders why Palm Pre didn't live up to its hype.
With the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show a little more than two weeks away, we'd like to take this opportunity to assess the fate of the blockbuster of the 2009 CES show, the Palm Pre.
That's right, the Pre was the one item from the 2009 show that caused grown men to practically drool with anticipation. Seriously, it was a little scary how the eyes of relatively normal technology journalists would spin like pinwheels whenever the Pre was mentioned. From the way everybody was acting, I thought the Palm Pre -- with all its swoops and spins and nifty little keyboard -- was going to be the next Google.
But it wasn't. Sure, it seems like a nice enough smart phone, but nobody is calling 2009 "the Year of the Palm Pre." I wouldn't go so far as to use the word "fizzle," but I'm struck by how it now seems like just another smart phone. One reason, I think, is that there were so many smart phones debuting this year: the Droid, the Palm Pixi, even the Mini 3i from PC maker Dell. It was hard to see the forest from the Pre's. And Apple unveiled the iPhone 3G S a few day after the Palm Pre went on sale. It was sort of like how in 1975 "Chicago" opened on Broadway the same week as "A Chorus Line," so nobody much noticed "Chicago" until the 1996 revival.
I'm really looking forward to my second CES and the new trends I'll spot there, especially now that I know a few of the ropes. Now, for instance, I'll know to leave my tweed jacket at home. It was like wearing a gigantic sign that said "I am a newbie from the East Coast." Now I know to bring some extra cash to maybe catch one of Bette Midler's last shows at Caesar's Palace, as the only Vegas vice I'm much interested in is the sort of over-the-top, heavily sequined entertainment the Divine Miss M would provide. If Sinatra or Sammy were still with us, of course, I would try to see them, but Bette will do just fine. And now I know to take an early flight so I don't get kicked out of Steve Ballmer's keynote by the hotel bouncers.
And whatever happens during these few days in Vegas, I'll keep you informed with updates about the latest and greatest trends of interest to government. I promise, whatever happens to me in Vegas won't stay there -- it'll be posted right here on GCN.com.