After Dmitry Grinberg’s very negative debut interview, Resco’s Jan Slodicka took the time to answer my questions. Jan is a person I value and trust very much, he has given useful and valuable information to me and the rest of the TamsPalm team many times. Anyways, Jan’s answers are below!
Please tell us more about yourself and your company!
Resco, I hope a lot of users know our products. For those, who do not - we specialize in enhanced tools. I can mention our bestseller #1 - Explorer - one of the most flexible Palm OS applications ever written, but also the other products - Backup, Viewer, Neeews offer far more functionality than the users use to expect form Palm OS products. Resco, of course, is active also in other PDA/smartphone areas - PPC, Symbian etc.
What did you expect Palm to release? What were your initial impressions of the Foleo?
I expected something else without knowing what it could be. I just hoped, that it will be something that will at least indirectly support Treo market. My first feeling was kind of surprise, maybe even disappointment. This thing simply did not catch me at the first view.
What do you think about the device now that the news is out for a few days?
Well, my feelings are still mixed and rather inclining towards negative scale. The product wasn’t accepted well. Somehow I cannot envisage a Treo user carrying an extra bag. Perhaps it is targeted to a different audience.
Do you plan to produce products or provide services for the Foleo?
Not immediately. We’ll be waiting. Remember the big crash of Palm OS 5? There’s no need to hurry. If Palm wants that the developers start thinking about Foleo (and it looks like they badly need it), they must come with an initiative - SDKs, libraries etc. Starting a new platform - especially with complex tools as we are trying to produce - is a substantial investment…
Do you think that the Foleo will sell well? Will it get a successor?
Of course, I can’t know, but inside I am feeling a negative anticipation. Remember LifeDrive?
The Foleo looks very much like a subnotebook/UMPC mixture. How will it fare against UMPCs?
Same thing like above…
The Foleo was hyped almost as much as Apple’s iPhone. Which of the boxen deserves the hype more?
I would say iPhone. It looks like a compact, well-designed product. Maybe it’s not a product for me, but I can envisage lots of people loving it.
Would you prefer Palm to open the Foleo platform to other hardware developers?
Yes. As open as possible in both HW and SW terms. Without any added value Foleo will be in big troubles.
How will the Foleo affect the Palm OS economy and the PDA/smartphone market in general?
I expect little impact on the Palm OS world and on the PDA market in general.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they find some customers on each PDA/smarthone platform and come thus to a respectable number, but I would be surprised if substantial part of say Treo users would go for Foleo.
Anything you would like to add?
No, thanks!
