How can something so small be such a big headache?
By Chris Velazco
The only phone I've ever waited in line for in my life was the original Palm Pre. What can I say? I believed in the company's approach to design, webOS seemed to have a lot of potential and I thought the market could use some more competition. I bought in, and I was crushed when HP acquired Palm and ran webOS into the ground.
Now, years later, the Palm brand is back, and its new stewards are asking us to buy in once again. The pitch this time is highly unusual though. The company is selling a tiny, $350 Verizon-exclusive smartphone that's supposed to be a companion to your regular phone for when you want to disconnect... but not completely. There's little argument that we all probably spend too much time on our phones, and the former Samsung design execs who crafted the Palm did so to bring people out of their bubbles and back into the real world.