Palm Throws Cold Water on Investor’s Provocative Zeal

As it turns out, it may have been a little much to insist that the Pre would win over every single iPhone early adopter.

Enthusiasm is one thing, and a maniacal fervor masking a complete disregard for the truth is another. In an interview with Bloomberg news’ Matt Miller last week, Elevation Partners cofounder Roger McNamee apparently treaded too far into the latter territory, leaving Palm to clean up the mess on Monday with a statement clarifying his hyperbole.

In the interview, McNamee took a number of missteps, from distorted facts to the far more notable assertion that “not one” original iPhone adopter would be left with the phone a month after the two-year anniversary of its launch – the presumption being that the Pre would have swept these customers off their feet.

McNamee also talked up Sprint – the carrier that will exclusively carry the Pre right off the bat – by knocking other carriers’ reliability on the basis of their relatively young 3G networks. “The more mature your network, the more stable it is,” McNamee asserted. “Sprint, which is our partner, has by far the most mature 3G network. They started before anyone else. AT&T’s is brand new.”

Palm posted a list of ten clarifications to McNamee’s statements in an SEC filing on Monday. These ranged from slight footnotes on his statistical statements to complete withdrawals of comments, like the prediction that all iPhone early adopters would switch to the Pre.