ZDNet has a story about Microsoft trying to bribe a few dozen Palm enthusiasts. Basically MS identified the most outspoken and influential handheld enthusiasts, invited them to Redmond, and then gave them $1,400 in free PocketPC PDAs. Each participant received a Compaq iPaq and a HP 540.
Apparently Microsoft hopes its marketing department can accomplish what its software division can’t — give large numbers of people a reason to own the PocketPC.
Of course it backfired. As one participant told ZDNet, “It was a cheap tactic to bring Palm users into the fold with freebies. And I think they did that because the device doesn’t stand well on its own.”
And apparently the Palm enthusiast learned why the PocketPC still has such problems, experiencing numerous difficulties in doing basic things like synchronizing the PocketPC with a desktop PC. As one person put it, “Here we were, a room full of handheld experts, and we had trouble figuring even the basic stuff out. This is exemplary of why the platform doesn’t work and Microsoft doesn’t get it.”
One of the people who replied to the ZDNet story put Microsoft’s problem succinctly. You can only bribe somebody with something of value, and a PocketPC machine ain’t it.
Why do big corporations think these sorts of things are good ideas? First Apple gets slammed for allegedly forcing people to sign non disclosure agreements to get their defective Cube’s replaced, and now Microsoft guarantees that even if they do eventually produce a decent version of PocketPC consumers will have to wonder if it gets good reviews because it’s really good or because somebody’s been bribed.
(If I were the Palm enthusiasts, most of whom are journalists or authors, I’d return the gifts ASAP. Never take a gift from someone you’re covering if you still want to be considered objective — or donate them to a friendly web site operator like myself.)