Cheap Junk for Cheap Bastards

My favorite hardware store is going downhill.  The new owner's euphoria has worn off, and his shelves are stocked with cheap Chinese junk selected by his co-op's beancounter.  My house is over 100 years old, and some of the light switches are original and still work.  But install a replacement switch from my hardware store, and it's busted again in a year.

   I told the owner he should have a section marked "Cheap Junk for Cheap Bastards" and another section "Good Stuff for those smart enough to pay a little more", but he just complained about the minimum order size for good Leviton switches.  Blah!

iPhone vs. Palm Pre

I think the Palm Pre is too late.

   I go all the way back to the Palm I and really like the Palm software community.  When the iPhone came out, I spent a fair amount of time comparing it with my Treo 700P.  Both are good phones, both are competent at email, calendars, and web browsing, as well as taking and showing pictures and videos.  

   The iPhone was undoubtedly slicker, but for my Treo I was able to buy an FTP client and a text editor that I could use to maintain my websites, and a program that let my Treo function as a wireless modem for my laptop - anywhere.  The iPhone App Store had none of these.  So the software available for the Treo gave it the edge for serious work.

   This has changed.  For $6 at the iPhone App Store I just bought FTP On The Go, a really good FTP client with a built-in text editor (VFSFTP for the Treo cost $10).  For $5 you can buy Brushes, a drawing/painting program that an iPhone owner just used to create a cover for New Yorker magazine!  It's clear what's happening.  Talented freelance programmers are now creating add-on programs for the iPhone.

   Palm's other problem besides the iPhone is the Blackberry.  Everybody has one, they perform mundane tasks like email very well, and they're not bad at web browsing and photos.  So like Ford with its latest Mustang, Palm's time to market with the Pre was just way too long, and I don't see why anyone would buy one now.