Palm’s Approach to Elegant Design

Jeff Hawkins, Numenta

Despite Microsoft’s desire to crush the fledgeling Palm Pilot in the 1990’s, Jeff Hawkins, Palm’s former Co-founder and now the Founder of Numenta, decided to battle on a ground where the behemoth from Seattle could not compete: In the field of elegant design. Hawkins’ focus was to make the product as beautiful as possible, and they hired acclaimed design firm IDEO to design the Palm IV. Not only was it easy on the eyes and easy to use, but it was the first consumer product with a lithium battery, and the first to use glue, rather than screws, for seamless closure.