11-24-2004, 02:00 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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PocketFactory: "The Sad State Of The Palm Economy, And Other PDA Ramblings"
"October 24, 1929 marked the beginning of the Great Depression, an economic decline that lead to the loss of millions of jobs and livelihoods all over the world and eventually resulted in the largest military conflict in history. While this dark event may not seem to have much in common with the world of mobile devices, the same dark cloud of disappointment and lost hope seems to hang over another once major economy; the Palm Economy. After years of leadership and trailblazing innovation, today�s PalmOS platform is a pale shadow of its former self. Where a juggernaut of mobile technology once stood, a diminished figure now faces a market where PalmOS is often outclassed and outgunned in the very market it created."
Kent Pribbernow, a.k.a. Foo Fighter, waxes philosophical about the state of Palm and the PDA industry in general. Give it a read and tell me what you think about what Kent is saying.
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11-24-2004, 03:19 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 137
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As I posted on my site:
Kent acknowledges that PalmOS devices lose some of their vaunted stability and ease of use when adding third party software. He also notes that Windows Mobile is a sub-par user interface and that the quality of Pocket PC hardware has been declining. But his conclusion is short sided.
Kent thinks that PDAs have become marginalized between notebooks and smartphones. I don't see it that way. I think that a PDA and a Bluetooth-enabled "dumbphone" make a better, more flexible solution than either a notebook or a smartphone, and I wouldn't trade my Zodiac for any Pocket PC, much less an unpocketable notebook. I like having a truly pocketable office that is with me all the time, and the ability to connect to the net for email, IM and web browsing anywhere. One of Kent's biggest problems with PalmOS offerings is that they generally don't offer built-in WiFi, and that's true. What Kent hasn't realized yet is that WiFi is over, that the combination of Bluetooth and a 3G cell phone makes WiFi irrevelant. Why limit myself to only connecting to the net at "hotspots"?
The sky isn't falling, and the PDA isn't dead. Nice as smartphones are, I can do things on my Zodiac/T608 combination that simply aren't possible on a Treo 650. And even if I had $2,000 to spend on one, I wouldn't try carrying a Sony VAIO U75 in my pocket. Sorry Kent, but I'll stick with my PDA and get some real work done.
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11-24-2004, 03:27 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 172
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Palm
I recently thought I would hold onto my Palm T3 as a backup to my hx4700. But I have recently come to depend on being able to assign multiple categories to tasks and Palm just doesn't support this. And there's the matter of no multitasking. And there's no handwriting recognition. A few of the reasons my T3 is up for sell.
It's a shame that another competitor to MS is biting the dust, because competition is important to ensure we get the best. But, when I look at the history of the failed competitors (e.g., Netscape and RealPlayer), I see that they did it to themselves. Sad.
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11-24-2004, 03:29 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 137
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Re: Palm
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Originally Posted by bvkeen
I recently I thought I would hold onto my Palm T3 as a backup to my hx4700. But I have recently come to depend on being able to assign multiple categories to tasks and Palm just doesn't support this. And there's the matter of no multitasking. And there's no handwriting recognition. A few of the reasons my T3 is up for sell.
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So explain to me how I have handwriting recognition on my Tapwave Zodiac. Explain how I can check email, have several IM chats going and listen to podcasts at the same time on my Zodiac. I'll grant you the multiple categories thing, but let's stay realistic about the differences between PalmOS and Windows Mobile.
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11-24-2004, 03:38 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 204
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He makes some good points but it's too much doom and gloom or my tastes.
My Pocket PC is even more indispensible to me now than it was when I bought my TI Avigo 6 or 7 years ago (and I went tthrough two Palm devices in the journey). In addition to the PIM functions, I think it makes a great MP3 player and I wouldn't think of carrying another device specifically for that purpose. I have quite a few games installed as well and I play them anytime I have a free minute or two. eBooks and pocket eSword complete the package. I don't even go to the bathroom without my PPC.
This guy wants a PDA for e-mail and browsing the web and those things are cool but I very rarely need that. I would love a smartphone with gigs of memory a VGA screen in PPC-like form factor but until I see that type of device with a sub-$400 price tag I'll carry my e750 with the memory cards and my smallish Motorola flip with the camera built-in. I may not be on the bleeding edge but I have a combination that works for me.
There's still a lot of innovation left in the handheld market. I can imagine a day when my only computer would be a powerful OQO type device with mobile phone capabilities built-in and I'd dock it in terminal like stations at home, work, hotel rooms, etc. Yeah, and one charge lasts a month! Yeah, and I get OS upgrades direct from Microsoft not the OEM because it runs their desktop OS platform. YEAH! Handhelds are dead, long live handhelds!
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11-24-2004, 03:49 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 48
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Windows Mobile continues to evolve as Palm OS stagnates (or retreats.) That's how MS eventually dominates all markets it enters, it's got the resources to keep plugging away. Steamrollers may be slow and ugly, but not much stops them. It's a shame, because the Windows Mobile UI is just plain clumsy compared to Palm. But MS will probably get around to fixing that too someday, or at least someone will make a Palm emulator that runs on Pocket PC (if it doesn't already exist.)
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11-24-2004, 04:01 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 555
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jeff Kirvin
What Kent hasn't realized yet is that WiFi is over, that the combination of Bluetooth and a 3G cell phone makes WiFi irrevelant. Why limit myself to only connecting to the net at "hotspots"?
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WiFi will not die and will, at least in the near future, be more ubiquitous than cell-phone dependent internet access.
Why? Because WiFi enables wireless access to an internet connection that's already there. There's no running cost, except if maintenance and the cost of having an internet provider. Every home, small business, and corporate building will have pre-existing internet service. Thus, it makes more sense to wirelessly distribute the current connection, then to tear it down and make everyone 3G.
And some places you are hard pressed to get a signal -- i.e. factory floor. You may still want WiFi -- to access your local area network. Try accessing your business's internal network on a 3G network. And in a large building, WiFi is a cheaper alternative to running wires all over the place.
Saying 3G will predict the doom of WiFi is like saying cell phones will replace cordless land-lines. It just isn't going to happen -- for costs and practicality (i.e. building on top of existing structure) reasons. Costs is something that can drop for cell phone prices, but it will probably be a very very long time before it will be as low as land-line costs. Practicality reasons is time-independent.
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11-24-2004, 04:04 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 172
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Re: Palm
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Originally Posted by Jeff Kirvin
Quote:
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Originally Posted by bvkeen
I recently I thought I would hold onto my Palm T3 as a backup to my hx4700. But I have recently come to depend on being able to assign multiple categories to tasks and Palm just doesn't support this. And there's the matter of no multitasking. And there's no handwriting recognition. A few of the reasons my T3 is up for sell.
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So explain to me how I have handwriting recognition on my Tapwave Zodiac. Explain how I can check email, have several IM chats going and listen to podcasts at the same time on my Zodiac. I'll grant you the multiple categories thing, but let's stay realistic about the differences between PalmOS and Windows Mobile. |
Jeff,
I'm not familiar with the Zodiac, but it apparently is not a pure Palm OS, or the handwriting recognition would not be there. I do not knock the Palm in terms of being useful, and in some ways I prefer it to the PPC (it is faster in many respects, for one). But, the only program I can have open on my T3 when another is opened is RealOne. I cannot have Documents To Go open along with the Notepad and along with e-mail and so on. I cannot copy more than 1Kb of text from one program to another without using a hack, and the hacks often create more problems than they are worth.
Palm had an opportunity to be a strong competitor with its T5, and it will sell a lot of them, but it is a far cry from what a lot of Palm owners were hoping for. Before the T5 came out, but when it was close to coming out, I had considered buying one instead of my hx4700. I went ahead and bought the 4700 and was glad I did: the T5 came out and I read one complaint about it after another in the posts on it at BrightHand. And, looking at the specs, I am not at all impressed. And, I do not think they have anything else in the offing for a while. I read a post by Alex Kac the other day, on his website, where he had responded to someone's question of whether he would develop PocketInformant for the Palm platform. He said he considered it for when they release a device with their Cobalt operating system, but that he understood that this would now be about 14 months away!
I'm glad you like your Tapwave, and a lot of Palm users, including me, have benefitted from your writing on how to get the most out of their Palms. I really, really do wish Palm could compete with MS, and maybe they will stay in the running (out of the Netscape "demise," we did get Firefox, e.g.). But, I have owned Palms for a long time, generally the high-end ones, and they don't seem to be getting noticeably better in terms of features. While Microsoft is not a shining star at its support for the PPC platform, I do see continued improvement with it.
Take care,
Bruce Keener
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11-24-2004, 04:10 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,466
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I can sum up this article in three words; bitch..bitch...bitch! What a whiner. This guy really needs to get a life and stop...WAIT! What am I saying?? 8O :lol:
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11-24-2004, 04:23 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 53
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I guess it's true becaue you say so....what else do you want us to believe
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Originally Posted by Jeff Kirvin
As I posted on my site:
What Kent hasn't realized yet is that WiFi is over, that the combination of Bluetooth and a 3G cell phone makes WiFi irrevelant. Why limit myself to only connecting to the net at "hotspots"?
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Jeff, rationalize your choices if you choose but Wifi is far from dead. It's so dead that more and more hotels and public facilities are adding it everyday. I'd rather have a fast, free wifi connection in my hotel room than use a slow, 3G phone while depleating my talk minutes. I view bluetooth/3g net access as a option of last resort instead of a first choice for connectivity. It has it's place as a method of connection when all else fails but definately after Wifi and CF ethernet connections are not available.
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