Ed's Thoughtcast - September 21, 2005

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/podcast/PocketPCThoughtsCast-20050921.mp3">http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/podcast/PocketPCThoughtsCast-20050921.mp3</a><br /><br />Welcome to another edition of Ed's Thoughtcast!<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/thoughtcast.jpg" /><br /><br />Show notes:<br />• Why was there a month break between Thoughtcasts? {cough}<br />• Frustration with a <a href="http://www.spritesoftware.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1746">known bug</a> in Sprite Software's restore function. The link will take you to a thread that has a solution. I personally haven't tried it but I passed it along to another MVP that ran into the issue two weeks ago and he confirmed it does work.<br />• Talked a bit more about the Treo 670 and the 240X240 resolution. Give me your feedback in the thread.<br />• Is the Palm OS Treo successful because of the OS, the hardware or is it some magical combination of the two that will leave the Windows Mobile Treo out in the cold?<br />• Jason Dunn reviews the <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,43092">Dell Axim X51v</a>, Dell's first Windows Mobile 5 device.<br /><br />The RSS link with enclosures for your podcasting software is <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/xml/thoughtcast.xml">here</a>.

[jngold_me]

I think there's something wrong with the rss link. Itunes couldn't retrieve and clicking the link results in an error.

[Ed Hansberry]

I think there's something wrong with the rss link. Itunes couldn't retrieve and clicking the link results in an error.
Fixed. Try it again. Sorry about that.

[Dave Conger]

Great show Ed.

Don't forget that we would love to have you voice your comments on what Ed talked about and/or anything else you have thoughts on. Skype users can simply place a call to thoughtcast (callto://thoughtcast). If you don't have Skype, your phone works as well, just call: (425) 296-2462.

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[welovejesus]

Ed,
You mentioned that you use spreadsheets quite a bit. What spreadsheet program do you prefer/use on your Pocket PC? I checked your software list (http://www.ehansberry.com/pages/pocketpc.html) but did not see a spreadsheet program.

[dazz]

Ed,

Thanks for another great podcast. I've been looking forward to hearing another since, well...the last one. :wink:

I hear what you are saying about the screen res on the WM Treo and agree, for the most part. However, I just got the x50v and love the higher res a LOT. That's not because I can see more on the screen but rather, what is there looks sooo much better.

If a WM Treo is on the shelf beside a Palm OS Treo most users are going to notice that the WM version fonts don't look quite as clear. People will notice the difference because they will pick up each to compare and not knowing the OS differences would see that the Palm seems to just look nicer.

Your arguement about people computer monitor res does not really count here. People will keep that lower res, first, because that was the default, and second, because the larger fonts and buttons mmake them feel the computer is simpler.

Between the lower and higher res Treos the comparison would not be about the amount of info on the screen but which looks better. There is no doubt the higher res wins.

No, the lower res does not cripple a PDA from a usability standpoint but might from a marketing standpoint. The only differenciater would be price, and in this case, OS.

[R K]

• Talked a bit more about the Treo 670 and the 240X240 resolution. Give me your feedback in the thread.

Unless you want to argue that the average user won't be needing any third-party programs, I think the biggest disadvantage of a 240x240 screen is incompatibility.

If you had a 320x320 or 480x480 screen, there'd still be a good chance that you could run a lot of legacy (240x320) apps without too many problems, but when you have a 240x240 screen, there's little chance that a program's going to work well without revisions. Think about all the new releases that were necessary when landscape support came out and you'll know what I'm talking about.

[Ed Hansberry]

If you had a 320x320 or 480x480 screen, there'd still be a good chance that you could run a lot of legacy (240x320) apps without too many problems, but when you have a 240x240 screen, there's little chance that a program's going to work well without revisions. Think about all the new releases that were necessary when landscape support came out and you'll know what I'm talking about.
But if 480X480 is just a high-res version of 240X240 and not really showing more information, how does hi-res help? It is the issue of a square screen, not the resolution of that screen and square screens are here to stay. Where is my logic mistaken?

[R K]

But if 480X480 is just a high-res version of 240X240 and not really showing more information, how does hi-res help? It is the issue of a square screen, not the resolution of that screen and square screens are here to stay. Where is my logic mistaken?
I'm just saying that theoretically, they could have used a 320x320 screen along with a fill-in-the-gap technique rather than 240x240 or 480x480 with a pixel doubling technique.
In my opinion, the 320 to 240 chop-off technique was a bad idea. They should have increased the resolution in WM5 instead and made it 320x320 or 640x640 instead of 240x240 and 480x480.

[Ed Hansberry]

Ed,
You mentioned that you use spreadsheets quite a bit. What spreadsheet program do you prefer/use on your Pocket PC? I checked your software list (http://www.ehansberry.com/pages/pocketpc.html) but did not see a spreadsheet program.
Believe it or not, Pocket Excel. My spreadsheets on the PC are too complex for any PDA software. Multiple sheets, file links, pivot tables, addins, ODBC links to our SQL server databases, conditional formating, macros, etc. I only use spreadsheets on my PPC to view things or work with very limited scenarios - like costing "what if's" for example. Perfect for receiving email attachments and light work. Never for serious work. If I know I am going to need access to a spreadsheet for a real work session, the laptop comes with me.

[Darius Wey]

Believe it or not, Pocket Excel. My spreadsheets on the PC are too complex for any PDA software. Multiple sheets, file links, pivot tables, addins, ODBC links to our SQL server databases, conditional formating, macros, etc. I only use spreadsheets on my PPC to view things or work with very limited scenarios - like costing "what if's" for example. Perfect for receiving email attachments and light work. Never for serious work. If I know I am going to need access to a spreadsheet for a real work session, the laptop comes with me.

Sort of highlights the inadequacy of Excel Mobile, doesn't it? ;) Although the Pocket PC contains "pocket" versions of Office applications, there's still room for improvement if these mobile Office applications are to become true on-the-go solutions for document and spreadsheet editing/viewing. Heck, I'd even be willing to pay a little extra for a separate Microsoft Office Mobile suite if it were done right. Despite Windows Mobile 5.0's improvements to Office Mobile, it is still far from perfect.

A friend pinged me on IM the other day and asked me why his Word document he copied over to his Pocket PC didn't display tables and images properly like it did on his desktop. I guess the saddest thing to come out of that conversation was my three word response (something along the lines of "because it sucks") and me having to point him to a third-party solution. :roll:

[Ed Hansberry]

Believe it or not, Pocket Excel. My spreadsheets on the PC are too complex for any PDA software. Multiple sheets, file links, pivot tables, addins, ODBC links to our SQL server databases, conditional formating, macros, etc. I only use spreadsheets on my PPC to view things or work with very limited scenarios - like costing "what if's" for example. Perfect for receiving email attachments and light work. Never for serious work. If I know I am going to need access to a spreadsheet for a real work session, the laptop comes with me.

Sort of highlights the inadequacy of Excel Mobile, doesn't it? ;) Although the Pocket PC contains "pocket" versions of Office applications, there's still room for improvement if these mobile Office applications are to become true on-the-go solutions for document and spreadsheet editing/viewing.
To me it highlights teh inadequacy of the PDA as a platform for the type of work I do. PlanMaker doesn't cut it either. Only full blown Excel would work for me, and that just doesn't make sense on a PDA.

[ctmagnus]

Hm... Your phone buzzes, too...

;)