Remember Palm? They're not dead, just sleeping

Would you call the Palm brand name “dead,” or merely “sleeping?”

There’s a drive-by profile of Palm in today’s New York Times, one that looks at how former Apple hardware design guru Jon Rubenstein has tried to resurrect the Palm we used to know. That is, one not “dead” or “sleeping,” but one beating everyone up and stealing lunch money just for phone—virile!

We gain a few insights into what Palm has been up to, and where it plans to go.

• Palm’s not trying to kill the iPhone, but is trying to build a “killer” Palm product

• Palm isn’t going to be saved by brilliant management, but rather employee-generated, terrific ideas

• Palm also won’t be saved by one hit product (like the Pro), but will need a string of successes to bring it to the dance again

If you have any interest in Palm, you’d do well to read the whole profile. It’s a nice distraction from the wall-to-wall “Who will Obama pick?” coverage.