This popped up this weekend but it’s worth a look. Apparently there’s a special manual that Palm and Sprint put together to train in-store folks how to sell the Pre. They won’t sell the phone to just anyone, mind you. Only early adopters and artsy hipsters with jobs AKA “non-IT Centric business users” should apply. Real business people should look elsewhere including the WinMo-powered Treo Pro.

A few more tidbits:

* The device can be supported by existing IT infrastructure and will make many IT managers’ standards list.
* [Non-Palm] charging solutions may not work properly.
* Due to anticipated high demand, employee availability will delayed to first meet the needs of our customers.
* The sealed form factor of the device makes repairs challenging and the potential for damage is significant.
* Palm ® Pre™ Smokes the Competition

Most interesting, however, is Charlie Sorrel’s take. Charlie is a great guy – met him a few times in Barcelona – and he believes that the Pre is the iPhone’s Zune – a nemesis that spirals into obscurity and in-jokes after a few weeks. Man, Chuck, harsh on many buzzes much?

via Eng