If Palm wants to do so, they're going to have to do everything the iPhone does and do it better.

How about the main function of the device-- making phone calls? This has been my gripe with all the Palm devices, the iPhone, and the Blackberry Storm. Phone clarity sucks. As a sysad, I use all the bells and whistles on my smartphone, and got one with a slide-out qwerty keyboard (now, I can ssh into a server and use vi), but the main thing I need the phone for is so that people can call me. And quite honestly, the only smartphones I've seen with high-quality phones are the Q and the various phones made by HTC and Samsung.

Actually, Joe Bob with his Master Electrician license IS going to be better qualified to wire your house than a PhD in Electrical Engineering with 20 years experience. It's a different skillset, requiring different knowledge, and uses different tools. You also need to quit thinking like a classist prick and realize that electricians do spend a lot of time in school, and that the combined schooling and training of a Master Electrician is probably at least equal to that of a Master's Degree.