so this blog isn’t a technology blog (exclusively), and i don’t hold any legitimate credentials that certify me a tech expert, genius or geek squad member, but i do have a bit of experience with tech-ness and interweb-ness and i thought i’d weigh in on the debate pictured above.

as you may know, on june 6th, palm and sprint launched the Palm Pre, the hail-mary smartphone from palm that was dubbed a potential iPhone killer, and yesterday we saw the release of the iPhone 3G S, apple’s latest and “greatest” iPhone and incumbent in the smartphone race.

background info on my stake in this biz :

i’m NOT an apple fanboy, but i do make use of many apple products - an (ancient) iPod, an iMac and a black MacBook. in fact, i make a living using mac products for my design work, and i’ve been very satisfied with their performance. i’ve never, however made the leap to the iPhone. i’ve been rocking my LG vx8700 with verizon for a few years now and i’ve been pretty happy with its functionality and the service. but times are a changin’ and so’s my life. now, more than ever, the advantages of having the internet, email and a multimedia experience at my fingertips wherever i get a cell phone signal are becoming more evident and i’m ready to make the big leap. last year, my only option was clear : switch to AT&T, snag an iPhone 3G and party on, garth. but recently it’s become a bit more complicated.

so here’s my two (or three-hundred thousand) cents worth of opinion about each device and why i’ve made the decision i have.

the iPhone

:

i’ve played with some iPhones in my day and i can’t deny how simply awesome they are. a smooth and sleek physical design, makes this product act just like a real mac with all its creature comforts. the operating system, based on mac’s OSX is stunning and mimics its bigger brother quite well. my friend katie’s got one (a 3G), and she’s definitely made use of it and it’s plethora of applications, whether finding directions on the road, snagging an open table at a nearby restaurant, or examining which bird species are in the area for observation (ok, she’s actually never used that app). but according to apple (and all it’s cult-members), there is an iPhone app for everything. and i mean everything. the app selection is one of the iPhone’s biggest selling points, and it’s an indisputable fact that apple is the leader in this category.

if i were to go with the iPhone, i could buy one of two models - the outdated 3G for $99 (with a sell-your-soul contract to AT&T) or the new 3G S for $199 (with a similar soul-selling contract). according to this review from endgadget it’s a no brainer that the extra hundred bones result in a much faster and more versatile experience that’s totally worth it.

but like i said before, i’m no apple fanboy. i love the products, but i’m not waiting in line at 4:45 am each time a new toy comes out. if i had a mobileMe account and put all my eggs in the apple basket, then the decision to grab an iPhone would be much simpler. but i don’t. i use macs, but i also mainly use third-party applications. my calendar is a google calendar, not an iCal and i like having my contacts on Facebook rather than in mac’s address book program.

furthermore, i find apple’s methodology a little creepy. like every mac user with limited funds, i’ve felt the utter shame of watching my perfectly functional mac product immediately decrease in value and street-cred with the release of a new generation. and i don’t think that’s exclusively a result of the inherent forward course of technological development. apple’s marketing department makes you feel obsolete, which makes you want to spend more money catching up with the times. apple’s marketing strategy works so much better than any other IT company, but something about it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. also the way they’ve fascistically controlled iTunes users with countless “necessary” software updates that impose song-sharing restrictions in various platforms and devices (namely with the Palm Pre). and speaking of updates, apple releases a new version of it’s OS once a year, and they always pair it with a new device. in fact, the iPhone OS 3.0 is available for FREE for older iPhone 3G users, but one wouldn’t know it looking at apple’s various ad campaigns. in fact, OS 3.0 is what most reviews say is the real improvement on the 3G S, and that any speed and hardware upgrades are just secondary and/or inadequate reasons to purchase a 3G S if you’ve got a 3G.

which brings me to…

the Palm Pre

:

palm invented the smartphone (remember this?). there’s something satisfying in supporting a company - an underdog company - that started the ball rolling and is now finally catching back up to it. design-wise, i’m a fan of the pre’s hardware. i think the profile of the product is beautiful - yes it does look like a river pebble or a bar of soap from annie hall, and despite criticisms of the plastic body being cheap looking, i think it feels just fine (i played with one in the sprint store on broadway a few times). also, i’m a huge proponent of a physical keyboard. typing on the iPhone’s virtual keyboard is clumsy despite it’s amazing auto correction features, and even though one critic says reads from a cuecard that the pre’s keyboard is too narrow for typing, i had no issues with it.

palm also has launched a brand new operating system with the Pre called WebOS. this webkit-based system flows beautifully, and is actually fun to use. each application launches as a “card” and can be dealt with (no pun intended) with a series of gestures which include swiping from side to side to shuffle through cards, tapping to zoom-in to a program, and swiping up to close an application. WebOS allows for multiple programs to be open at the same time, a huge advantage the Pre has over the iPhone. some may argue that this is useless, and a battery drainer - that the iPhone launches app’s so quickly that one doesn’t actually waste time switching from one app to another. but i say that the ability to have multiple applications open and represented visually side-by-side is very impressive. furthermore, each application uses notifications that appear at the bottom of the screen in a seamlessly integrated info-bar, as to not interrupt what you are doing. if you get an incoming call on an iPhone for instances, you’re stopped dead in your tracks, even if you’re finishing off the last sentence of an important email. furtherfurthermore, the Pre has a replaceable battery (unlike ANY new apple device), and with inevitable OS firmware updates, battery usage will no doubt improve.

the Pre also syncs contacts from gmail and facebook extremely well. while i don’t use my gmail contacts as much, the fact that i will have all my facebook friends’ phone numbers in my phone upon activation is a huge sell for me. and when anyone changes a piece of information in their profile, it automatically changes in my contacts. sweet. google calendars are also sync-able by the Pre, as well as facebook calendars and any outlook or exchange ones you happen to use. just think, you accept an invite to a party on facebook and it’s instantly uploaded to your Pre in one unified calendar representing all your plans and scheduled events. gCal integration is another huge sell for me. as of yet (i believe) the iPhone doesn’t have it.

and the winner is

:

the Palm Pre!

i just like Palm’s ideology better than Apple’s. and that’s not a completely moralistic reason. Pre’s operating system is more suceptable to being updated more frequently, and Palm’s attitude to third-party developers is panning out to be a benevolent one (versus that of apple). most of the reviews i have read that criticize the Pre seem to forget that it’s operating system is brand new, and that most likely, many if not all of the highlighted problems with the Pre will be fixed via FREE wireless updates over time.

the truth is there’s a long way for this phone to go before it can catch up to the convenience and flashiness of the iPhone, but frankly, seeing how it’s began, i’m pretty sure the Pre’s gonna be the pony i pick in this race.

now, the only question: get it now or or wait til verizon starts carrying it in january… geesh. a little help? anyone?

[now a message from palm :]