Todd

I think something we can both agree on is that the Pre is built on an exceptional software platform and incorporates some innovative and exciting features not found on any other smart phones. Though I am an iPhone user, I would love to see Palm really challenge Apple in this space to create a competitive environment that pushes both sides to excel.

I would disagree that this is bad news for Palm by trying to allow syncing, in fact I would argue it is good news. Clearly they are trying to provide a good user experience, and are actively providing updates to do so. I would also point out that any news over this “tug of war” certainly provides free marketing, though I highly doubt that is the intention of Palm to get free marketing out of it, or that it is part of their ultimate marketing strategy. If nothing else, I guarantee it will at a minimum make more people aware of the fact that the Pre even has this feature in the first place. Many people (including friends/people I meet in the 20 something age group) ask to see my Pre when they realize I have one, having no idea what it is or who makes it. Any news is good news

Regarding your first point, the worst thing for me as a user is to have to depend on a service that isn't dependable. This was a choice Palm made. RIM decide to use the open mechanism Apple made available, and their Media Sync for iTunes works reliably for their users. Palm pre users, on the other hand, have been force to deal with periods where they were unable to sync their devices with iTunes, and know for a fact that when it is working, it's only because Apple hasn't shut it down yet. To me, that isn't a great user experience - no matter how good the device is.

To your second point, the premise of viral marketing is that you hear something GOOD about a product from someone you trust, and act on it in a positive way. The strongest recommendations are those that come from satisfied users that have purchased the product with their own money. For that reason, anything Palm does or doesn't do to keep these users satisfied will have effect the Pre's success in the market. Picking a fight with Apple over something that shouldn't be an issue doesn't, to my thinking, advance their cause.

As for the irony - I don't see how my writing about this plays into Palm's marketing strategy, and I am not expecting any incoming links to this post from Palm's web site. :-)

I appreciate you taking the time to speak your mind

1) How is Palm providing a terrible media experience by making the Pre sync with iTunes? It would seem to me they are trying and are providing a terrific media sync with the iTunes sync feature

2) This tug of war is providing word of mouth advertising, this article being case in point. I really can't believe you don't see the irony in that statement you made

I do share your sentiment in general regarding government involvement in matters online, but I believe this is one case where it makes sense. We already have a national identity number that we are required to disclose on most financial or legal transactions, and we have certificates in the form of driver's licenses and passports that have become almost mandatory - even for basic things like getting past security in buildings, getting internet service, or buying a phone. We also have biometric data already associated with these forms of identity; typically signatures and photos. All of this is intrusive, but short of living at the fringes of society, we are pretty much forced in to compliance with providing all of this. Since almost everyone has been forced into giving this up already to operate in the physical world, I'd like to have a way we could leverage it (where it applies) to our digital lives as well.

The identity you discuss here is really reputational identity, and I see NO role for the government there. You absolutely have the constitutional right to conduct open discourse on any topic even under an assumed name (just like Benjamin Franklin did as the widow Silence Dogood and many other nom de plume). You get no argument from me on this point at all.

However, we sometimes also need to communicate absolute identity - unambiguously and with high certainty. This will require the involvement of some trusted agency that is available to everyone in society, accepted by everyone in society, and persistent over time. I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that the only trust authority that can really fill this role at a practical level is the government. With that said, I think it need to happen now. Identity theft is a major issue in this country that could be mitigated by this. We will need it if we are serious about automating our medical infrastructure. We will need this for bringing legal 'paperwork' into the digital age. I think this is a case where the positives outweigh the negatives.

So who exactly on Tumblr is saying I'm fat? :-)

Thanks for commenting!

-john

Thanks for commenting.

My identity is distributed across the web. It would be very difficult to fake me online b/c I'm present under the same handle on most popular sites and I'm connected to my friends. If people noticed out of the ordinary behavior from me, I'd become aware of it quickly, just like when my credit card company calls up to let me know about odd purchases. It's easy to trust that I am who I say I am online because of my presence.

For others, who aren't so “out there”, they'll just realize that there is a cost to anonymity–just like there's a cost to not having any credit by never having used a credit card. The world operates on trust and if you don't take the time to build that up on your own, the government would be hard pressed to just as effectively “issue” trust with a technology solution.