Palm’s CEO emails Steve Jobs (2007)

Ed Colligan’s Email & Strategic Tone

• Many see Colligan’s response to Jobs as measured, principled, and legally astute.
• Email is read as intentionally detailed to create a legal paper trail, not casual correspondence.
• It explicitly frames no-poach as likely illegal and patent threats as inappropriate, while still sounding professional and non-combative.

Jobs’ Threat, No‑Poach Agreements, and Legal Fallout

• Jobs’ attempt to secure a mutual no‑hire pact is widely characterized as unethical and illegal.
• Thread connects this to the broader Silicon Valley “no-poach” scandal (Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, etc.) and later antitrust litigation and civil settlements.
• Many feel the financial penalties were trivial “slaps on the wrist” that failed to deter similar behavior.

Palm’s Products: Foleo, webOS, and TouchPad

• Foleo is mostly judged a bad product: expensive “thin client” tied to an outdated phone OS, not a true netbook.
• A few users liked the idea and say a slightly earlier, better-executed version might have worked.
• Developers recount technical missteps (cheap, broken browser engine; late screen-resolution change).
• webOS and the Pre are remembered fondly as the only early iPhone-class competitor, but hampered by weak hardware and lack of resources.
• HP’s TouchPad is seen as a huge missed opportunity: killed too fast, then dumped cheaply despite showing demand.

Palm OS, Cobalt, and Lost Lead

• Palm once had a major lead (e.g., Treo 600), but Palm OS aged badly.
• PalmSource’s Palm OS 6 (“Cobalt”) reportedly suffered from severe performance issues due to heavy IPC and microkernel design and never shipped on devices.
• This lost half‑decade is viewed as fatal to Palm.

Apple’s Success vs Palm’s Fate

• Some argue Apple’s dominance is primarily due to superior products, vision, and execution, not wage-fixing.
• Others counter that illegal collusion suppressed wages, reduced competition for talent, and may have indirectly shaped the mobile landscape.
• Several note the irony that the bullying company is now worth trillions while the more principled one is defunct.

Ethics, Culture, and Capitalism

• Strong thread that capitalism rewards aggressive, even lawbreaking, behavior over ethics.
• Some stress the intrinsic value of integrity and good leadership, even if it doesn’t “win” in market terms.
• Debate over how much of Apple’s trajectory is due to Jobs’ unique vision vs being in the right place at the right time and later execution by successors.