Is the Palm Foleo Worth the Excitement?
Like InformationWeek blogger Eric Zeman, I must confess a certain confusion over the purpose of palm's newest gadget, the Foleo. Referred to by its maker as a "mobile companion," the Foleo has one purpose in life: make viewing and writing things on your smartphone easier. Tired of trying to view webpages or write emails on your Treo's small screen? Just power up the Foleo – it'll make a wireless connection to your phone and give you five hours of battery life, a 10 inch screen and a full-size keyboard to help you get your work done without straining your eyes or cramping up your fingers. It's even got a VGA adapter and the software to run MS Office applications (OpenOffice, I'd guess, since the Foleo runs on Linux), so you can give presentations.
If you're reading between the lines here, you've probably gather that Palm wants the Foleo to replace the laptop of the average business person. If you're like me, you're probably wondering why you'd bother. Sure, my laptop is probably a little heavier than the Foleo and if it were new, would probably retail for more than $499, but it can do a LOT more than the Foleo can – and I can still use my phone to connect to the Internet, if need be. Point is: the market for this product seems so specialized and oversaturated that I have to ask: who cares?
