[JohnnyFlash]

Originally Posted by Chairman Clench

but they [Palm Devices] work, they sync easier and more reliably...

Until Bill Gates decides to mark them as devices to be made incompatible and make Windows recognise them as alien devices..... and he has said that this is a definate option!

As long as people will want to sync their devices with a PC, Microsoft will have a great advantage that nobody can touch.

[JohnnyFlash]

Originally Posted by Chairman Clench

but they [Palm Devices] work, they sync easier and more reliably...

Until Bill Gates decides to mark them as devices to be made incompatible and make Windows recognise them as alien devices..... and he has said that this is a definate option!

As long as people will want to sync their devices with a PC, Microsoft will have a great advantage that nobody can touch.

[HR]

Said the same thing in the topic from a week ago or so that dealt with the threats to PPC platform.

They must create a consumer, sexy-looking, sleek PPC with consumer type apps like PIM, photo viewer, multimedia, hot games etc. at a reasonable cost.

[Mike Wagstaff]

What I want to know is this: how exactly does this mythical "corporate" market differ from the equally mythical "consumer" market?

Is there such a thing as a typical corporation? Is there such a thing as a typical consumer? What are the typical requirements of each? What is the typical budget of each? Surely, such generalisations are unrealistic.

It's also worth bearing in mind that corporate users are also consumers. Issue an office-worker a Pocket PC and I very much doubt that its use will be restricted to the workplace only.

[HR]

Originally Posted by Mike Wagstaff

What I want to know is this: how exactly does this mythical "corporate" market differ from the equally mythical "consumer" market?

You are partially right. But market segmentation always exists. The way to play the game is to create the right mix of products to target different segments. In order to define those mythical segments, companies must perform market research. But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to tell that it is more likely that corporate employees that will be given PPC will need to run corporate apps, sync with the corporate servers. They will need VPN, terminal service, Word and PowerPoint, etc…The design of the case will be utilitarian and boring, as current PPC makers are so famous for.

Now, take a GenX or GenY dude (or babyboomer) who buys a PPC for his own use. It's not a stretch to assume that the person will require some PIM and other apps, maybe Word and Excel, or maybe a viewer will suffice. But for sure that person will want to use this as MP3 and movie machine, view photos, and play really hot games. It will also have to look sexy and slick to impress. Sony is the one company that have come close to creating a consumer PDA, but with the "wrong" platform of course. I would also add that this type of corporate/consumer segmentation has occurred with PC's too. Compare the corporate PCs to the ones targeted at home users.

[Take1]

Originally Posted by Chairman Clench

I have been saying this for a while...

You can't do nearly as much with a Palm device, but they work, they sync easier and more reliably, they are fast, they are stable, and they don't crash. Palm also fixes bugs in their devices very quickly... not that they have very many of them.

Agree with the not doing as much and stability (considering the simplistic OS that's pretty much a given). HotSync crashes regularly on my XP desktop, however. It's a good thing I don't need to sync alot! MS Activesync is downright rock solid on my PC -- no crashes and it works without fail - stick the iPAQ in the cradle and walk away come back in a few minutes and your'e ready to go.