05-28-2003, 06:00 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Pocket PC Universal Connectors: Why It Probably Won't Happen
I saw this question on a mailing list I'm a member of, and I thought my response would make some good Thoughts-fodder:
"Why don't Pocket PCs have a standard connector for accessories?"
Simple: profit. Manufacturers might make 20% profit on a Pocket PC if they're lucky (Dell really changed the game in this regard), but on accessories, they can make 50%+ in profit, often times much more (like charging $9 for three Styli or $19 for screen protectors). If customers were able to re-use things like keyboards, cables, GPS, cradles, etc., all OEMs would lose a valuable source of revenue.
The frustrating fact is that all the OEMs want you to have to buy all new accessories when you purchase a new Pocket PC (unless it's bought from them, which is why we see iPAQ accessories compatibility to a limited degree). The only incentive they have to adopt a universal connector and kill a good portion of their accessory sales is to make it easier for customers to switch away from their devices. It's easier to keep a customer locked into using your product once they've invested $500 in accessories than it is to get a new customer to buy your product and the $500 in accessories.
Some people have asked why Microsoft doesn't just mandate a universal connector for all Pocket PCs - my guess is that they fear alienating their OEM partners. With the declining desktop computer market, major OEMs are on the prowl for areas where they can make money. The mobile devices market is still growing quite rapidly, and the OEMs want to make money while they can, and this includes the accessories. Microsoft is the only company who could implement a standard connection anyway - I seriously doubt the OEMs would get together and say "Let's make it easy for customers to jump ship from one Pocket PC brand to another." So the long and short of this is that I don't expect to see this happen soon, if ever. Bluetooth may be our only hope, and it's still too difficult to use.
Universal connector? I don't think we'll ever see it happen. :|
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05-28-2003, 06:14 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 275
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wouldn't it make sense also if they didn't standardize the processor? People would be forced to buy software for your (say if your an SH3-PDA user...) Jornada and later would be forced to upgrade to another Jornada if you want to retain/reuse your old softwares.
having a standard connector should doesn't necessarily means that OEM's (say Dell) can get more profit for buying accessories intended for the Axims directly from them. Who's stopping other vendor (ie Targus, Belkin, etc) to create accessories that would fit Axim's connectors? Doesn't that take the market away from them also? I know there are things like licensing to use that connector but they won't make profit much from it.
weighing pros and cons on promoting their own standards has no clear cut winner and I still believe (IMHO) that having a standardized connector would be more beneficial to all including OEM's.
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John Cruz
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05-28-2003, 06:29 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by johncruise
wouldn't it make sense also if they didn't standardize the processor? People would be forced to buy software for your (say if your an SH3-PDA user...) Jornada and later would be forced to upgrade to another Jornada if you want to retain/reuse your old softwares.
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Correct. The OEMs were not terribly pleased when Microsoft said "ARM only" (well, Compaq was), but that was a decision that made sense for Microsoft to make - they were wasting resources testing and coding for multiple CPUs. Their resources are limited enough as-is, so unifying the code was the right thing to do. Short term pain for long-term gain.
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05-28-2003, 06:33 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 414
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One correction. PPC OEMs have made as much as 40% profit on the successful models (basically Ipaqs) Only recently have Toshiba cut that to 20%, and Dell to basically 0%. This is by my own reading on how much the OEMs pay for hardware and how much they sell them for.
I really think that all the PDA makers have missed a big opportunity here. I would bet that a LOT of buyers are simply not interested in hopping on an upgrade path that has all these pitfalls on top of those they already battle on their desktops.
But, I guess it is the same with Palm OS, phones, and older organizers. Like you say, they want the money from the geeks who buy all the extras. I believe some day they will wish they had played it straight.
Then again, the printer companies have gotten away with this since the advent of the ink jet cartridges. There appears no end in sight to the companies that pretend to give great deals on initial hardware only to gouge us on followup products.
But, for every such problem there is an opportunity for a better manufacturer. Hopefully one will come to the fore.
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05-28-2003, 06:36 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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The only one that can force a standard connector would be a large third party company, and there really isn't one. It was Kodak that forced Palm to come up with one connector across all models that would be around for a few years or Kodak wasn't going to keep making the PalmPix attachment. Funny thing is, soon after Palm's Universal Connector was born, PalmPix died anyway.
This is just a fact of life unfortunately. Sell the base product at low low margins and make it up on the extras down the road.
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05-28-2003, 06:38 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 361
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Interesting point about Bluetooth. Perhaps this is why we haven't seen widespread adoption by OEMs to develop not only hardware, but more importantly, good interoperability software.
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05-28-2003, 06:41 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 189
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This analysis may work for HP which has the lion's share of the PPC market but wouldn't smaller OEM's like Toshiba be more interested in using whatever the companies with the larger market share want to use the connectors of those with greater market share in the hopes of stealing? Yet I don't see that happening either... I think OEM's just do what they want, not referencing the designs of other OEM's and that's why everything is different. It's all about internal momentum sending companies into different directions.
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05-28-2003, 06:44 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 545
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Eventually, it will happen.....
It may take a long time, but it will happen. First off, dongles suck. I have a USB host dongle for my e740 and if I lose it, I have to buy another one. Thank god it's semi cheap. Now that I have that, I have been able to find a USB to serial cable that works with the PDA. This allows me to use the GPS I already have with it rather then spending an exhorbitant amount on a Pharos GPS. CF and SD are good standards and Dell, Toshiba or Compaq would not dare come out with their own memory card standard. Eventually, standard connections will come. This will happen as more and more of these are being used by vertical market segments. It's already happened on the e740/755 and it will happen on others as well. People want to easily connect things and proprietary standards prevent that. Cradles, well, that will almost never happen, but there will soon be some way (be it a extra connector or dongle or even bluetooth) to connect things. Also, with exception of cradles and dongles, I don't see Compaq or Dell actually making keyboards or other things for their respective handhelds(exception, iPaq sleeves). If they came out with a standard cradle, it would hurt noone. Belkin will just make a mess of keyboards for the new standard. The same things kind of happens in Amateur Radio. My current HT has a weird Speaker Mike connector (4 conductor with a set of screw threads at the back). I can buy a cable that separates the TX and RX audio, but I still have to buy it from Yaesu. Noone makes this connector but them (or at least I have not found anyone yet! ).
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05-28-2003, 07:18 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 416
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
The only one that can force a standard connector would be a large third party company, and there really isn't one.
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Just what I was going to say -- Microsoft may be able to mandate a processor, but they can't control the connector specs, that's up to the OEMs.. the only thing that would get them to unify (besides a sudden urge to be NICE) would be a huge third-party company that could force it. Hmm... Does Pocket PC Thoughts count as that third party?? Do the little flashlights and stuff count as "third party products"? 
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"And then she understood the devilish cunning of the enemies' plan. By mixing a little truth with it they had made their lie far stronger."-C.S. Lewis
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05-28-2003, 07:27 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 361
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by lurch
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
The only one that can force a standard connector would be a large third party company, and there really isn't one.
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Just what I was going to say -- Microsoft may be able to mandate a processor, but they can't control the connector specs, that's up to the OEMs.. the only thing that would get them to unify (besides a sudden urge to be NICE) would be a huge third-party company that could force it. Hmm... Does Pocket PC Thoughts count as that third party?? Do the little flashlights and stuff count as "third party products"? |
I don't think it's a matter of MS forcing it (we all agree that can't quite happen), but if a single company came out with a whole bunch of encompasing solutions, it just might fly. Unfortunately, what messes up that pipe dream is the already established companies (Belkin, Fellowes) have been around a while, have enough established retail presence, and create a ton of things that are *just* good enough to the average user.
Us power users are SOOOOO needy! :bad-words: Give us everything!
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