Palm Pre Release Date: A Little Perspective 53

Even though every company does it, when a company gives us a sneak peek at a real goody coming down the pike, we wants it and we wants it now! Take the Palm Pre, for instance. It's no secret that Palm has struggled for a while as their beloved Palm OS became more antiquated and their foray into Windows Mobile is a fight to secure a piece of a pie that has numerous other takers. Having used Palm from the beginning and still consider myself a Palm loyalist/enthusiast, I'm as excited as the next loyalist/enthusiast to get my hands on a brand new Palm device with webOS - essentially, Palm's hopeful return to glory.

I'm not a patient guy. I've already waited years for Palm to deliver something worth being proud of again to carry on my belt. As I wait for the Palm Pre along with the rest of you, I'm interested in any news about its expected release. When? Where? GSM? Unlocked? So many questions, so many opportunities for the rumor mill to work overtime. Even Palm's financial results and stock market performance are affected by a Pre device that hasn't hit the store shelves yet as analyzed by our own Dieter Bohn here and Annie Latham here, respectively.

With all the excitement and anticipation that is abounding, it's important to step back, take a deep breath, and consider placing things into perspective. There has been recent forum activity concerning a release date that is later than expected. There is a  discussing of the Pre's release being later than promised at tinycomb.com. The same kind of discussion thread can be found over on our sister site, TreoCentral.

Now for some perspective. Whether you own an iPhone or not, remember all the hype and hoopla surrounding its announcement and release? Steve Jobs unveiled it at MacWorld back in January 2007. The world had to wait until June 29, 2007 (D Day) for the iPhone to officially launch. Fast forward to 2009. Palm unveils the Pre in January, 2009. They announce availability of the device in the first half of 2009. Half of the year, according to my calendar, takes us to June 30, 2009. For additional comment on this, there is a noteworthy post at PrePoint.

We are all anxious for the Palm Pre, we want it now, and in all fairness to Palm, they still have a few months to deliver on their first-half-2009 release date. When the exact date will be is open to speculation, but if Palm plays their cards right, there should be a stampede on Palm's Pre "D Day." Will you be in line?

[TreoCentral, tinycomb, PrePoint]