Palm is simple, 16-bit colour would be nice, but isn't really that necessary for a CEO of a corporation. What he needs is simplicity of use, and speed. I personally believe that Palm should worry more about increased speed and resolution over colour. I believe that Palm only has another year or two under its belt before the Pocket PC dominates the market. If you think about it, the consumers are attracted to the visuals.
Palm is still alive because of their beautiful looking V model.
Compaq and HP is popular because of their slick looks. Better resolution means better looking apps, better picture viewing, and better text legibility. It's a no brainer for the visually competent consumer. It's important not to forget that colour can be effectively traded for resolution, up to a point. With 16 bit colour, anti-aliased fonts are possible, and pictures can be beautiful, even at 160x160.