Palm Foleo - Brilliant idea or $500 waste?

Before I start, take a look at the Palm Foleo website.  Go ahead; I'll wait.

http://www.palm.com/us/products/mobilecompanion/foleo/index.html?creativeID=US_BB_foleo_announcement

Palm has an interesting prospect here with a $500 "laptop" that can connect to a smartphone and surf the information superhighway.

Since it's announcement, I have been trying to determine if this is brilliant, cutting-edge technology...or a huge waste of money.

At first, I was very unimpressed by it.  While a business user may be able to afford (or talk a company into buying it) the price tag, I continually asked "WHY?"  I know that the "Crackberry" generation is tied to their mobile computing devices, but still...paying $500 for what appears to be a bigger screen and monitor seems like a waste to me.  When you think of it as exclusively connecting to a smartphone and being limited to those smartphone tasks...it's a high price point to pay.  It makes even less sense when someone can purchase an inexpensive laptop for roughly the same pricepoint, running one's favorite Operating System and with all the applications (s)he wants.

After doing a little more digging at the Palm site, I discovered one thing that makes a world of difference in the potential of this product.

Wi-Fi.

With 802.11 built in (I forget if it's g or n), this machine can connect to the internet on its own, without a smartphone by its side.  This means that, technically, the product isn't restricted to those who have Blackberrys and Treos.

I can see your expression straight through your computer screen.  "So what?" you ask, impatiently.

Go back 2 blog entries, to where I talk about the end of the Desktop PC and the diminishing importance of the local OS.

This machine fits that model perfectly!!!!

You still think I'm crazy, and that's fine.  But when you think about it...this is a possible tool that will turn on instantly, connect you to the internet, and let you run all of the internet programs (and applications) that are out there.  It's a laptop thin client!

Despite this revelation, I have to be pessimistic about the near-future growth of the product.  I'm sure there will be some people who can justify it to attach to their smartphones - think of the too-old-to-read-the-small-screen-but-too-important-to-not-be-out-of-touch type.  But for everyone else, the pieces are not yet in place to make this a logical purchase.  Internet applications, while available, are still in their infancy.  Wi-Fi is still available in pretty select locations, making it tough to guarantee you'll be able to use the Foleo for anything.  A 10" screen, while nice for portability, does not make for a good home computer, and I don't believe there's any way to attach it to a full-blown KVM setup.  Finally, the product is in its first iteration, meaning bugs are bound to be present.

For now, I think this product will be hanging on for dear life.  But if it can stick around long enough to the point where WebApps dominate the world and WiFi is present almost everywhere...look out.  We may have found our flying car for the Information Superhighway.

technorati tags:Palm, Foleo, Laptop, Internet Applications, Product Review