Piloting Palm: The Inside Story of Palm, Handspring, and the Birth of the Billion-Dollar Handheld Industry

piloting palm

"This really is the inside story of a groundbreaking project. The Palm device and its offspring have millions of adherents, and all would enjoy this impeccably told— and sometimes harrowing— origintale."

—Steven Levy, author, Hacker

Chief Technology Writer, Newsweek

The most stunningly successful new product launch of the information age . . . the creation of a billion-dollar industry virtually overnight . . . an intense, behind-the-scenes struggle for control of a powerful young company . . . these are just a few highlights from the incredible story of Palm Computing, its visionary founders, their creation of the rival Handspring, and a volatile new industry whose future is still up for grabs.

In Piloting Palm, Palm Computing insider Andrea Butter and New York Times columnist David Pogue reveal how the company's visionary founder Jeff Hawkins and former CEO Donna Dubinsky created the most successful start-up in computing history and revolutionized the way the world does business.

Piloting Palm re-creates the company's product development phase, its desperate attempts to raise capital, and the dizzying final weeks before the PalmPilot launch. The only book written with the full cooperation of Hawkins, Dubinsky, and scores of Palm and Handspring executives, it also reveals the strategies behind the PalmPilot's success in the marketplace and relives Palm's intense battles with Microsoft.

The authors recount how, after winning big in the marketplace, Hawkins and Dubinsky lost the battle of the boardroom, failing in their attempts to resist assimilation by corporate behemoth 3Com. They examine their painful decision to leave Palm and unveil the secrets behind the success of their new venture, Handspring, which quickly lapped up a good portion of the handheld market. The authors go behind the scenes to reveal how tactical mistakes, a softening economy, and the threat from Microsoft pit Palm and Handspring against each other in a fight for their very survival.

This unforgettable true story combines the inspirational power of the ultimate business success story with the twists and turns of a classic drama. From behind-the-scenes glimpses of corporate powerbrokers in action to compelling portraits of the idealistic people behind the most successful start-up in computing history, Piloting Palm tells an authentic tale of vision, venture capital, and the indomitable entrepreneurial spirit.