Hasta La Gadget!

It’s hard to see Palm as anything but a masochist. The catch-phrase for the Pre smartphone might as well be “Thank you sir. May I have another?” spoken as Palm bends over and Apple raises a heavy wooden paddle yet again.

Arriving quickly behind last week’s 1.2 software update for the Pre comes 1.2.1, which — along with a few maintenance fixes — restores support for syncing the phone with iTunes. It’s hard to fathom just what Palm is thinking here, as you know for sure that Apple will just update iTunes to lock the Pre out once again.

Palm could, as we mentioned before, sync to iTunes’ library by simply reading an xml file. This is what all other applications do, and it is an official, Apple supported method for doing so. But Palm, for reasons unknown, continues to try to fool the iTunes application itself into thinking that the Pre is an iPod.

IPhone and Mac developer Craig Hunter sums it up very nicely:

I seriously question the strategy and brains of any company that ties critical product capabilities to the unsupported use of their competitor’s software. I mean, really? Can it get any more ridiculous? Can you possibly send a more mixed, less confidence-inspiring, “we’re a bunch of hacks who can’t provide our own sync software for our products” message to customers?

Still, the cat-fight is undoubtedly entertaining, although the ultimate winner can only be Apple. Every time Palm bends over and begs for another whack, it suffers a loss of credibility. Apple, on the other hand, is doing nothing more than working out its spanking muscles.

On Palm, Competition, and iTunes Sync [Craig Hunter via ★]

Palm webOS 1.2.1 now available [Palm]

See Also:

• Sync Your Palm Pre with iTunes. Again
• Snap! Palm Pre Will Sync Seamlessly With iTunes
• Apple on Palm Pre iTunes Sync: 'Watch Out'
• Why Palm Should Team Up With DVD Jon