Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein has never used an iPhone

Sat, Jan 9, 2010

News

At CES 2009, Palm stole the show when it showcased the Palm Pre. At last, people thought, a true competitor to the iPhone. Though the Pre hasn’t done much to steal the iPhone’s thunder, it was enough to keep Palm afloat at a time when its days seemed numbered.

Spearheading the development of the Palm Pre was former Apple executive Jon Rubenstein who was literally recruited by Palm while he was relaxing on a beach in Mexico, enjoying his retirement. Before that, Rubenstein had spent nearly 20 years working closely with Steve Jobs, and was an integral force behind the development of both the iMac and iPod before retiring from his position as the Senior VP of Apple’s iPod division in 2006. When he finally returned to the workforce at Palm, Rubenstein subsequently recruited a good number of Apple engineers to join him, prompting a rumored and heated conversation between him and Steve Jobs.

As an interesting tidbit, Rubenstein, who is now Palm’s CEO, recently revealed in an interview with Kara Swisher of All Things D that he has never used an iPhone.

“We don’t pay that much attention to Apple….I know it sounds really strange,” says Rubinstein.

“Really?” Kara replies. “You don’t worry about the iPhone?”

“No, I really don’t,” Rubinstein answers.

“I don’t believe you,” says Kara, telegraphing a sentiment I imagine is widely held among the audience.

Rubinstein: “I don’t have an iPhone. I’ve never even used one.”

While on one hand it’s admirable, and strategic, for Palm to set its own path and not blindly follow in the footsteps of Apple (as many seem to do), there’s something to be said for at least having a working knowledge of what the top selling smartphone on the market is capable of doing.

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4 Comments For This Post

  1. Nathan Says:

    I’m fairly certain he has a working knowledge of what the iPhone is capable of doing.

  2. Andy Lee Says:

    I would *think* he would want hands-on experience, to get a sense of the feel of the iPhone that people like so much. It seems he’d have had plenty of opportunities to hold one in his hands, so he’d have to have been deliberately avoiding it, which seems odd. Makes me wonder, though, if Steve Jobs routinely gets hands-on with his competitors’ devices, if only to get a clear sense of what they’re doing wrong. Maybe he delegates that to Jonathan Ive.

  3. sas Says:

    palm would lose any comparison with the iphone. so he just want to avoid followup questions.

  4. ryemac3 Says:

    Maybe that’s why you guys FAIL! Maybe you should pick up an iPhone, play with it for a while, and figure out why it’s so damn successful?

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