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View Full Version : Disney Only Allows Two PDAs To Connect To Their Network


Ed Hansberry
11-30-2002, 03:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.internalmemos.com/memos/memodetails.php?memo_id=1132' target='_blank'>http://www.internalmemos.com/memos/...hp?memo_id=1132</a><br /><br /></div>"From: Information Services <br />Sent: Tue 11/26/2002 6:48 PM <br />To: #WDI All <br />Cc: <br />Subject: Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) Policy and Standards<br /><br />During this holiday season, many manufacturers and retailers have introduced a variety of computer related peripherals and gadgets. Many of you will probably receive or give these devices as gifts. This message is just a reminder that the Walt Disney Company has a policy on personal digital assistants (PDAs). The complete policy is included below for your review.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2002/20021130-mickeyipaq.jpg" /><br /><br />As stated in this policy, support and network connectivity is now only provided for two types/brands of PDAs. The only two devices that will be supported and connected on a go-forward basis are the Blackberry PDAs and the Compaq IPAQ handheld PDAs. Users who currently have other PDAs such as Palm Pilots or Handspring Visors will be "grandfathered" for a short period of time, but no new devices of this type will be authorized for connectivity nor supported."<br /><br />You go Mickey! <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2002/20021130-mickeysmiley.gif" />

Underwater Mike
11-30-2002, 03:52 PM
Wow, what a great company to work for! :wink:

If you click through to the original memo, you'll see this gem: "...you cannot have both a laptop and a PDA." I wonder how many folks at Disney keep a laptop in their pocket to check on appointments or phone numbers? Maybe Eisner uses a paper planner? :P

vincentsiaw
11-30-2002, 04:01 PM
i dont understand the reason why disney only support blackberry and ipaq, what's the different with others pda ?

ram
11-30-2002, 04:10 PM
Not to offend you. But I see that you are the anti-palm newsperson of this website!!! It is such a dumb move from disney to force everyone to use pocketpcs! I am not against pocketpc coz I have both palm and pocketpc. But, such moves will affect ALL the pda consumers in the long term leading to slow and poor innovation from microsoft's side.

Aside from this, has anyone got both pocketpc and palm and how much do they use either of them? I don't have any problem using pocketpc OS (although imho, palm still is more intuitive and elegant) but I just can't deal with 2 things - Battery life and Size/portability!
Has anyone felt that even the new HP (which is the thinnest and lightest) is not really so - none of the ppc manufactures try to have a built-in protective cover (jornada was great if they had just reduced the size/weight but instead they KILLED it) and that easily adds 2-3 ounces!!!

ram

lspinellijr
11-30-2002, 04:16 PM
i dont understand the reason why disney only support blackberry and ipaq, what's the different with others pda ?

because when you support 40,000 employees and they each have a different PDA, SYNC cable, Docking station, memory card, application requirements, etc etc etc etc etc.......... it can be a support nightmare. not headache Nightmare.

if you dont understand by now hopefully you do.

Ed Hansberry
11-30-2002, 04:40 PM
i dont understand the reason why disney only support blackberry and ipaq, what's the different with others pda ?
IT support I suppose. Palm OS is a totally different animal with software (both desktop and device) and other Pocket PCs require different hardware, like cradles, etc. Plus, Disney may have a contract with Compaq that makes supporting iPAQs a snap.

Not to offend you. But...
Or how about "I don't want to call you a jerk or anything, but..." or "I don't mean to say you are dumb, but..."

If you put the "but" in there, you are probably going to do what you said you didn't want to do.

As to Disney's decision, it is simple. They probably standardize on a few desktop models and servers too. Probably standardize on a few cell phones and one cell phone provider. Standardize on on walkie talkies and I know they standardize on t-shirts. Why not standardize on PDAs? That is rational.

Steven Cedrone
11-30-2002, 04:44 PM
Not to offend you.

IMHO, when people open with a statement like this, that is exactly what they will try to do...


But I see that you are the anti-palm newsperson of this website!!!


So?? This is not www.politically-correct-all-pda's-are-wonderful-thoughts.com

This is a Pocket PC biased site. Hence, the name...


It is such a dumb move from disney to force everyone to use pocketpcs! I am not against pocketpc coz I have both palm and pocketpc. But, such moves will affect ALL the pda consumers in the long term leading to slow and poor innovation from microsoft's side.


You forgot to add "IMHO". How is one company's policy on the types of PDA's it chooses to support, going to stifle innovation in the global PDA market?

Just remember, if you work for Disney - make sure to put what kind of Pocket PC you want on your list before sending to Santa...


Aside from this, has anyone got both pocketpc and palm and how much do they use either of them?


I have a Palm V (the last, in a long list of Palm devices I owned), sitting gathering dust. Once I started to use Pocket PC, I never looked back...

YMMV...


Has anyone felt that even the new HP (which is the thinnest and lightest) is not really so - none of the ppc manufactures try to have a built-in protective cover (jornada was great if they had just reduced the size/weight but instead they KILLED it) and that easily adds 2-3 ounces!!!


I do wish the HP / Compaq merger did not result in the demise of the Jornada line. IMHO they were great Pocket PC's. Oh well...

Steve

ti2gr
11-30-2002, 05:52 PM
I have a Palm m505 and A Toshiba e335. Since getting teh toshiba though I have found that I am using the palm less and less. However I do still sync it everyday so that my tasks, appointments are up to date on there too

Jason Dunn
11-30-2002, 06:35 PM
Not to offend you. But I see that you are the anti-palm newsperson of this website!!!

Dude....lighten up would ya? :wink: Relax, we're just having some fun! :lol:

Sven Johannsen
11-30-2002, 06:53 PM
none of the ppc manufactures try to have a built-in protective cover (jornada was great if they had just reduced the size/weight but instead they KILLED it) and that easily adds 2-3 ounces!!!


Just weighed my Jornada 568 cover. 0.7 ounces. Of course the holes in the body it clips into easily reduce the weight by 2-3 ounces :)

Gerard
11-30-2002, 10:06 PM
'Compaq' iPAQ? I mean, I am typing this post on a Compaq-made iPAQ 3835, but Compaq's name no longer comes on new iPAQs. Shouldn't a current memo from Disney IT to employees state 'HP iPAQ'?

Gamera
11-30-2002, 10:33 PM
Interesting post. BTW, this memo addresses only the Imagineering group, and only devices that will be connecting to their internal network. I'm sure no one will be stopped at the door for carrying a Palm. As Ed said, limiting the hardware to small subset of handhelds makes total sense from an IT support point of view.

As for why Ipaqs and not other PocketPCs, probably because Disney and Compaq has had a long-standing partnership in terms of both infrastructure and marketing. Ipaqs are already used at WDW Orlando as captioning devices and have been examined for other wireless in-park applications.

As for why "Compaq Ipaq" and not "HP Ipaq", I think it is pretty well understood that Compaq = HP by most people. I think it'll take a while longer before all print/media gets updated, look how long it's taken for HP to bring up the new site and how much hardware is still labeled as Compaq. AFAIK, the iPaq is the first Compaq-developed device to get re-branded as HP.

Janak Parekh
11-30-2002, 11:09 PM
I think it'll take a while longer before all print/media gets updated, look how long it's taken for HP to bring up the new site and how much hardware is still labeled as Compaq.
Worse than that is HP's decision not only to leave certain items as Compaq, but to create new devices as Compaq - such as their new Tablet PC.

*sigh*

--bdj

Fishie
11-30-2002, 11:34 PM
I think it'll take a while longer before all print/media gets updated, look how long it's taken for HP to bring up the new site and how much hardware is still labeled as Compaq.
Worse than that is HP's decision not only to leave certain items as Compaq, but to create new devices as Compaq - such as their new Tablet PC.

*sigh*

--bdj

Wich of course is completely understandable since the Compaq brand carries more weight then the HP one in those marketsegments.

ram
11-30-2002, 11:45 PM
Ed, sorry, I only meant in a light humurous way that you happen to keep bringing news that are antipalm. But, I didn't mean to hurt you. again, my apologies, if my wording made you think that way.

also, someone mentioned abt case being 0.6 ounces. yes, jornada;s builtin case is awsome. but take a vaja case and add size and weight. there's no way that i can carry the new ultralight/ultracompact in my pocket with vaja/similar case. simply put, a basic builtin cover which protects the screen is a must, imho. i don't understand why the ppc manufacturers miss this!!!

Ed Hansberry
11-30-2002, 11:58 PM
Ed, sorry, I only meant in a light humurous way that you happen to keep bringing news that are antipalm. But, I didn't mean to hurt you. again, my apologies, if my wording made you think that way.
No prob.

However, I didn't mention Palm at all in my post. How is a "pro Pocket PC" post automatically "anti Palm?" You know the whole "pointing one finger at me, but 4 are pointing back at you" saying? ;)

Fishie
12-01-2002, 01:59 AM
Ed, sorry, I only meant in a light humurous way that you happen to keep bringing news that are antipalm. But, I didn't mean to hurt you. again, my apologies, if my wording made you think that way.
No prob.

However, I didn't mention Palm at all in my post. How is a "pro Pocket PC" post automatically "anti Palm?" You know the whole "pointing one finger at me, but 4 are pointing back at you" saying? ;)

Wich means diddly squat becouse if you wouldve done what he did on lets just say palmtoughts you wouldve had at least 4 fingers pointing at you if you had mentioned someone was antiPPC :twisted:

David McNamee
12-01-2002, 03:38 AM
Ipaqs are already used at WDW Orlando as captioning devices and have been examined for other wireless in-park applications.

They also use iPaqs as cash registers at non-permanent locations during special events. They were out in force last month during the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. I believe this is the second year they've been doing that.

FredMurphy
12-01-2002, 01:00 PM
Just started seeing a girl who works for Disney and what did I spot sitting on her bedside table... an iPAQ. Didn't get round to asking whether she was told to buy it / given it / chose it her self.

st63z
12-01-2002, 03:02 PM
You know the whole "pointing one finger at me, but 4 are pointing back at you" saying? ;)

* Looks confused, scratches head... *

Unreal32
12-01-2002, 03:21 PM
While competition is certainly good, the arguments about using one type of PPC and standardizing on it as being bad for business are spurious... look at how the DVD market (or VHS for that matter) took off as far as media goes... there may not be as many huge innovations in hardware, but once the market standardizes on a platform, more and more consumers join in to reach critical mass. If we'd kept competing standards in video, for example, we'd still have the battle between Betamax and VHS going on. I'm not saying that I would rather see all PPC's and no Palms on the market... far from it. But the kneejerk reaction that standardization on one or two platforms, especially from a single-corporation perspective, is nothing more than that.... a kneejerk reaction.

ti2gr
12-01-2002, 04:25 PM
Standardizing on certain platforms is a usiness decison and a cost effective one. It is less expensive for a company, like Disney, to standardize on PPC then to have several types of platforms. Why Compaq, maybe they have a special deal with Compaq. Why does McDonald's (and Disney for that matter) only sell Coca Cola products. why not Pepsi products. Disney used to sell both Coke and Pepsi, but now Coke is exclusive. It's basically the same issue, whether it be handhelds or soft drinks.

Disney probably has a special contract with Compaq in regards to support and service, therefore it makes business sense to standardize with Compaq in order to get the best bang for the buck.

My company for instance is standardizing desktop computers to Dell, we used to have IBM's, HP's, and a few others, but over the past few years, Dell is the one.

brianchris
12-01-2002, 04:29 PM
Now, as someone else pointed out, this email was sent to Imagineering only. Also, my trip to Disney World occured in May 2001 (about a year and a half ago) and a lot can change in IT in a big company (such as Disney) in that time. However, while there, I bought numerous Cokes from carts where the cash register was a Symbol PocketPC hooked up to (apparently) 802.11b in the park. I though it was cool and posted on it (at Brighthand I believe) shortly after I returned. Indeed, they may have switched to iPaq's......we'll see as I just happened yesterday to book a new trip to DisneyWorld this February (totally unrelated to this thread, I assure you :wink: ).

As for Pocket PC adoption and use by large companies, the Schwan's delivery man came to my house a couple of weeks ago with one of these (picture). It is totally wireless (printing, main database, etc.) and replaced a cluncky old think that didn't work reliably.

I don't mean to take this thread OT, just pointing out how nice it is to see big companies adopt PocketPC's for real world solutions.......kind of indicates us PPC lovers are not all crazy, and these devices in our pockets are quite powerful (i.e. mini PC's).

Congrats Disney for a smart decision.

-Brian

Ed Hansberry
12-01-2002, 06:51 PM
As for Pocket PC adoption and use by large companies, the Schwan's delivery man came to my house a couple of weeks ago with one of these (picture). It is totally wireless (printing, main database, etc.) and replaced a cluncky old think that didn't work reliably.
Very cool. Symbol relies on these types of corporate decisions and they have a fantastic line of Pocket PC and Windows CE solutions. They do Palm too, but I haven't heard of OS5 adoption yet, and OS4 isn't the best platform for wireless database integration. Intermec is another company that does these ruggedized handhelds. I think you can still get DOS and Win3.1 solutions on these tiny devices, though CE has largely displaced that.

Janak Parekh
12-01-2002, 11:44 PM
Wich of course is completely understandable since the Compaq brand carries more weight then the HP one in those marketsegments.
On Tablet PC's? There was no market segment for that anytime in the recent past. On the other hand, they're ditching the Compaq brand on the Pocket PC, where it was arguably bigger than HP's.

--bdj

Fishie
12-02-2002, 12:05 AM
Wich of course is completely understandable since the Compaq brand carries more weight then the HP one in those marketsegments.
On Tablet PC's? There was no market segment for that anytime in the recent past. On the other hand, they're ditching the Compaq brand on the Pocket PC, where it was arguably bigger than HP's.

--bdj

But theyre keeping the Ipaq name.
People dont say Compaq when they talk about a compaq PPC, they say ipaq so thats the brand HP chose to keep, likewise people refer to theyre Compaq laptop as a Compaq instead of using the model names.
Same difference.

RLBorg
12-05-2002, 11:00 PM
Well, since there isn't any difference on the PC side for software for the PPC's, there really shouldn't be a big deal. Since there isn't any difference, all you need to do is to "borrow" a friend that has one. Once they install the software, just swap in your cradle. ;)

Ed Hansberry
12-05-2002, 11:06 PM
Well, since there isn't any difference on the PC side for software for the PPC's, there really shouldn't be a big deal. Since there isn't any difference, all you need to do is to "borrow" a friend that has one. Once they install the software, just swap in your cradle. ;)
Not if their server software monitors for other devices, and especially if the server deploys config software to the device.