.KEYWORD pplte0799
.FLYINGHEAD LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
.TITLE Will success spoil Palm Computing?
.DEPT
.SUMMARY Now that they’ve got you addicted to their device, are you feeling that Palm Computing is taking you a little for granted? One of our readers thinks they are.
.EDNOTE Now that they’ve got you addicted to their device, are you feeling that Palm Computing is taking you a little for granted? One of our readers thinks they are.
As you’re probably already aware, if the screen on your Palm device cracks, the only avenue for repairing it is through Palm Computing’s "Customer Care" unit. You order a replacement Palm device and, for $100, Palm Computing sends a reconditioned model to you. You send your broken one back, which they repair and make available as a trade-in for the next poor owner whose Palm device is damaged. In theory, it’s a sound system. In practice, it’s a nightmare. If RhinoSkin, which markets a titanium-shelled storage case for the Palm device, knew what I know now about how difficult it is to get a damaged Palm unit replaced, they’d surely base their entire marketing on experiences such as mine.
My Palm unit travels in 3Com’s padded leather belt case. One morning, less than two weeks after I took delivery on a Palm IIIx to replace a device I passed down to my wife, my Palm unit emerged from its case with a cracked screen. I have no idea how it happened, but there it was.
.CALLOUT
