[bjornkeizers]

Originally Posted by lapchinj

The best thing they could do is go to Linux and concentrate on staying solvent. They might be able to make Linux transparent to the user but I feel bad for all the developers that will have to rewrite their apps. Their code will not port over unless they did it in Java (is there a Java VM for the Palm?).

Bottom line of my following argument: 'F... them.' The only reason Palm is in this bad shape is because they hold onto these old programs and architecture. I had a Palm Pilot Pro the day they came out, and I witnessed the birth of the 'Zen of Palm'. In fact, I was a Palm software developer many moons ago, during the days of mono screens, 1 mb of memory and 8 mhz processors, and I feel proud to say that I contributed in some small way to making Palm what it once was before it went stale.

Sure, starting over will be difficult - but look at it this way: You know how many Palm developers there are? Multiply that by a thousand, and you have the number of Linux developers. There are people right now working on software for devices like the Zaurus, and quite a lot of that work can be directly transferred to a new Palm running some sort of Linux - provided Palm finallly grows a set of balls and gives the public and the developers what they crave: good hardware and a good OS that we can build on.

If you build it, they will come. Developers love challenges, and the Linux people even more so. You can't swing a dead cat on the internet without hitting a dozen different distros and projects.

I'll be first in line to get a Linux powered Palm PDA.

[bjornkeizers]

Originally Posted by lapchinj

The best thing they could do is go to Linux and concentrate on staying solvent. They might be able to make Linux transparent to the user but I feel bad for all the developers that will have to rewrite their apps. Their code will not port over unless they did it in Java (is there a Java VM for the Palm?).

Bottom line of my following argument: 'F... them.' The only reason Palm is in this bad shape is because they hold onto these old programs and architecture. I had a Palm Pilot Pro the day they came out, and I witnessed the birth of the 'Zen of Palm'. In fact, I was a Palm software developer many moons ago, during the days of mono screens, 1 mb of memory and 8 mhz processors, and I feel proud to say that I contributed in some small way to making Palm what it once was before it went stale.

Sure, starting over will be difficult - but look at it this way: You know how many Palm developers there are? Multiply that by a thousand, and you have the number of Linux developers. There are people right now working on software for devices like the Zaurus, and quite a lot of that work can be directly transferred to a new Palm running some sort of Linux - provided Palm finallly grows a set of balls and gives the public and the developers what they crave: good hardware and a good OS that we can build on.

If you build it, they will come. Developers love challenges, and the Linux people even more so. You can't swing a dead cat on the internet without hitting a dozen different distros and projects.

I'll be first in line to get a Linux powered Palm PDA.

[lapchinj]

Originally Posted by ctmagnus

Hmm...

:mrgreen:

Couldn't have said it better. But even Cobol has a brighter future than Palm. Although the part about moving away from the PDA and towards the Smartphone world sound interesting but what would they have to offer in a smartphone that would bring in some cash?

Jeff-

[Typhoon]

One more point for MS. What industry has MS not conquered that they have attempted? Desktops, PDAs, almost the video game industry, etc. Anyone think they will take over the MP3 player market as well?

[Felix Torres]

Originally Posted by Typhoon

One more point for MS. What industry has MS not conquered that they have attempted? Desktops, PDAs, almost the video game industry, etc. Anyone think they will take over the MP3 player market as well?

MS isn't in the MP3 market; they don't sell players.
(And the MP3 spec is owned lock, stock, and patents by the Frauhofer Institute of Germany and Thomson of France).

They do play in the digital music market but only as a technology supplier (wma,MS-DRM) and downloadable music vendor (MSN Music). In the latter its too early to say if they'll be successful (although they are quite competitive in most aspects and superior in some, particularly the quality of the tracks they sell) but in the former they are doing quite nicely. Enough that they already have the eurocrats worried... :twisted:

If the market does swing towards music subscriptions as the dominant portable music source, then MS has a good lead, but since the market is barely 6 months old its too early to tell what its native size is like...

As for industries where they've not succeeded; well, they're still working on the TV-broadcasting business after ten years of going nowhere. But lately they've been getting traction...

Basically, MS succeeds by sticking around, stalking a market, until the opposition shoots itself in the foot and then they pounce. The don't kill companies so much as help them commit suicide. :lol:

[Regint]

What industry has MS not conquered that they have attempted?

How do you define conquer? Most popular product? 50% market share? 80%?

Here's a few examples where Microsoft hasn't conquered all (yet):

Webserver market vs. Apache
Website design market vs. Adobe Dreamweaver
PIM market vs. Lotus Notes (one I really wish they would win)
Internet search vs. Google
Media player market vs. iTunes

I think they're still a long way off conquering the console market too (compare the market share they've got now, compared to Sony's first console at about this stage in it's life-cycle). But that's a moot point.

I agree with Felix though. Microsoft will always keep plugging away and plan for the long-term. Eventually the opposition will always screw up.