Keep in mind this was 2007 -- my hunch is it sounds like it probably was really about iOS vs webOS, not Apple vs Palm (Pilot/Foleo/PalmOS). Android wasn't even out when the email was sent, and I know webOS didn't come out to the public until 2009, but I am rather curious how long it was in development prior-to...
I was a webOS dude -- I still have a Palm Pre 1, 2 and 3 in a box. I tried to explain to my hipster doofus buddy at the time why I fucked with the Palm vision over the Apple vision (regrettably, in hindsight, part of it was due to Palm holding onto the physical keyboard, part of which was I was a huge fan of that due to entering the smartphone era after being a previous T-Mobile Sidekick 1 - 3 user) -- they both preached the same philosophy of web apps over native apps, except something intangible and aesthetic about the Pre resonated with me in late 00's more than iPhone did.
Apple also hadn't yet started deploying most of its critical infrastructure (walled-garden interoperability, APNS, any of that stuff) that lead to eventual dominance and ended up justifying the current stock price / mobile supremacy -- it was just a phone vs phone comparison.
These days, IMO, Apple is on top of the pile. They're launching satellites that likely will completely sidestep mobile carriers in the short term. They're doing stuff with hardware that today we think is stupid, but tomorrow might just be an accepted part of life. They've made it easy for anybody to lock their digital lives inside of the Apple vaults for a recurring monthly subscription lol.
I can't say any of that speaks to the 90's dream of an open internet, but they sure do seem to have a clear-cut plan and are quite good at executing it!
> These days, IMO, Apple is on top of the pile. They're launching satellites that likely will completely sidestep mobile carriers in the short term.
Satellite won't take over land-based mobile connectivity. The density and in-building coverage just isn't there. No matter how many sats you launch. There's only small windows of radio spectrum that work well for sats and the signal is spread out over too wide an area. You just can't get enough bandwidth to serve all iPhone users in populated areas.
It's great for backup purposes and sparse areas but it's not going to replace mobile networks.
I was a webOS dude -- I still have a Palm Pre 1, 2 and 3 in a box. I tried to explain to my hipster doofus buddy at the time why I fucked with the Palm vision over the Apple vision (regrettably, in hindsight, part of it was due to Palm holding onto the physical keyboard, part of which was I was a huge fan of that due to entering the smartphone era after being a previous T-Mobile Sidekick 1 - 3 user) -- they both preached the same philosophy of web apps over native apps, except something intangible and aesthetic about the Pre resonated with me in late 00's more than iPhone did.
Apple also hadn't yet started deploying most of its critical infrastructure (walled-garden interoperability, APNS, any of that stuff) that lead to eventual dominance and ended up justifying the current stock price / mobile supremacy -- it was just a phone vs phone comparison.
These days, IMO, Apple is on top of the pile. They're launching satellites that likely will completely sidestep mobile carriers in the short term. They're doing stuff with hardware that today we think is stupid, but tomorrow might just be an accepted part of life. They've made it easy for anybody to lock their digital lives inside of the Apple vaults for a recurring monthly subscription lol.
I can't say any of that speaks to the 90's dream of an open internet, but they sure do seem to have a clear-cut plan and are quite good at executing it!