Palm would benefit enormously from Dell's corporate culture, which is competitive, disciplined and, above all, consistent. As part of Dell, Palm could continue its , the now-threatened "Pixie" project (which is a low-cost candy bar phone that runs Palm's WebOS and could sell for $99 or less) and the WebOS itself, which has enormous potential.

Palm needs the time to cultivate a developer community and ecosystem around the WebOS. It needs power and influence over Asian parts manufacturers and U.S. retail stores. Above all, Palm needs somebody to pay the salaries and electric bill until the new direction can bear fruit.

Dell has a serious case of handset envy. Apple, of course, has the iPhone. HP has the iPaq. (No, I'm serious. The !) Acer acquired E-TEN, and should be shipping in November. Lenovo is working on an iPhone-like Android device for the Chinese market. Toshiba makes a range of Windows Mobile handsets.

In fact, Dell is the world's only major PC and laptop manufacturer to not offer a cell phone of any kind.