We all expect a bit of BS before a new phone launch. In fact we turn up with shovels and full anti-BS suits and, if it’s an announcement by Ballmer, a specially rented fertiliser truck so that it doesn’t go to waste. But Steve’s “Spore-level Overhype” crown has been stolen by Roger McNamee of Elevation Partners, who hyped the Palm Pre so hard that Palm themselves issued a press release saying “Steady on there, partner, we’re not the Holy Grail or anything.”
Roger’s main points were that the Pre was going to be the best thing ever, it would do things no phone had ever thought of before, it would in fact be the first of an entirely new generation of phones, and that existing iPhone users would ditch their handsets to get one - and if nothing else, that’s where the alarm bells go off. The average iPhoner couldn’t be cut from their handset with an oxyacetylene torch. Even the the most ardent “hater” has to show you exactly what they hate, no, hang on, it’ll come up in a minute, no wait till I show you this…
Most of Palm’s proclamations were along the lines of “Since we haven’t actually finished building the thing, it may be a little premature to claim it’ll cure cancer.” Then again, since Roger and Elevation Partners have a major stake in Palm, he might not want to wait before seeing returns on his investment.
