allgeektout

[Note: This was originally posted on TechFlash as a guest post; I have kindly been given permission to repost it here.]

I’m not entirely sure when it happened. It probably started a while ago — after all, I’ve been eagerly checking the PreCentral blog for the WebOS news for months now. I’ve been toying with Palm’s software development kit (though with limited success) since it was leaked. And when I was covering the Consumer Electronics Show for Scholastic last month, I rearranged almost my entire schedule to make sure I could get to the Palm press conference.

Somehow, I’ve become a Palm fanboy. Yes, that Palm. You know, the one behind the PDAs and the Palm Pilot? The one whose name became synonymous with “business”? The one that many thought was on the verge of collapse before it made waves at CES last year with its “revolutionary” WebOS software? Not a company with a lot of fanboys, I know. That’s why I’ve been trying to figure out how exactly it happened.

The funny thing is, I never really meant to get a Palm Pre. When it was announced last year at CES to rave reviews (Best of CES 2009, if I recall), I somehow missed it, so I didn’t get swept into all the hype. I was actually interested in getting an Android phone, but someone who knows about this kind of thing more than I do told me that Sprint wasn’t likely to pick up an Android phone. So instead I started looking at the Pre, and I liked what I saw.

(A few months later, the HTC Hero, an Android-powered phone, was released on Sprint’s network. But that’s beside the point. I’m happy with my decision.)

So what is it that I like about the phone? I’m really a big fan of the whole “card” metaphor. Running multiple applications is pretty handy, but more importantly, I love being able to flick stuff off the screen when I’m done. There’s nothing to learn; it works the way it intuitively should. Much cooler than having to learn an entirely new interface.

There’s also the way Palm keeps on pushing the devices beyond what I thought was possible. To be honest, I doubted that my Palm Pre would be able to run the 3D games they showed off at their CES press conference. Just a week ago I downloaded a demo for Asphalt 5, a racing game, and I was surprised to see it not only ran, but it ran smoothly! Sorry for ever doubting you, Palm. Giving people more power without forcing them to upgrade their device is a great way to make sure they keep coming back to you.

And yes, there are some obvious flaws with the Pre and WebOS. Palm is miles behind anyone else when it comes to apps, because they took too long getting out the developer’s program (and now, the Plugin Development Kit that enables 3D games like Asphalt). A lot of the really cool things that the phones are able to do require tweaks and hacks, which aren’t particularly easy to find or use for the average consumer. But I’m capable of looking past all of these flaws, because, after all, I’m a fanboy.

Okay, so I don’t know exactly why I’m a Palm fanboy. But does it really matter? Being a fanboy isn’t a rational decision. It’s the unashamed love of something regardless of any faults it might have. There’s no way to actually find out exactly why I’m a fanboy, I just am. There’s nothing more to –

Oh, wait, strike that. Now I know when I became a fanboy. When they announced there would be Oregon Trail for the Pre. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to make sure my family doesn’t die of dysentery.