Do you agree with this?

[Hyperluminal]

I just read an interesting article (http://www.pencomputing.com/frames/fleecing.html) on Pen Computing Magazine's website about Pocket PCs and planned obsolescence.
While the author does make some good points, I don't agree with him.

First of all, he implies that PDAs should go for about 2-3 years before being replaced with a new version. I think that's ridiculous; some people would argue that 6 months is even too long a product cycle. Seriously, 2-3 years is way too long to have to go between new units. I'm not talking about users buying them, I mean companies making them.

I don't know why he expects HP to have support for the 802.1x spec, since it's not even an official spec yet, right? And I don't think HP should have waited 6-8 months to release the 5450 just so it's in compliance with a new wireless spec.

And why does he say that you'd have to pay for a new battery when the iPaq "starts acting like a 400MHz PDA"? Doesn't he realize that these PDAs are running at 400MHz; the software just isn't optimized for ARM v5 instructions, causing it to run in emulation mode, thus it's slower? It's not actually running at a slower clock speed.

On the whole, I wouldn't say these PDAs are "designed to be dinosaurs," if anything they're not updated quickly enough...

Am I wrong? What do you think about it? :)

[yschang]

To be honest, it is hard to please everybody when you are running a business...

The article is saying that the PDA manufacturers are fleecing consumers, which is partly true! But on the other hand, as you can read from most of the PDA forums, people are asking:"When is this and that coming out?" So there forms a demand and supply situation. If you look in the bright side, the companies are listening to the customers and trying to give what customers want. But on the other hand, they are shipping out new technologies which may not be well tested or immature at the time which can cause support problems in the future.

So, who's right and who's wrong is very hard to say... Are we expecting too much? Are we giving them the pressure to release PDAs every 6 months or it is their marketing strategies... I think there is a little of both...

I think consumers are not stupid either. When there is a new PDA out in the market, I don't think there will be a rush to the shops to buy. I have noticed that this community is very smart and users compare a lot of machines before actually buying one. And at this time when money is always an issue, the decision always comes after a careful consideration. Apart from those PDA hardcores who have to have the newest kid on the block, most of us usually sit back and let the new products settle down a while, finding out the pros and cons.

As for the new technologies, there are always ways to upgrade the hardwares or the softwares. People with tons of cash will pay the premium for integration, whereas the average users like me are quite happy with expansion sleeve or add-ons. As for the example sited in the article, HP/Compaq has been quite good at releasing new ROMs and pretty good CS. It is with that people wouldn't mind upgrading to another iPAQ machines. Also, as you can see in many threads, people ask for upgradability for the new models.

So, I would also disagree with the article since the consumers nowadays are much more smarter than just listening to the sales rants.

[WyattEarp]

While the writer did make some valid points some of it is merely his own opinion. I personally think 6 months between new products like PDAs is to quick. It does nothing but make consumers worry about whether they should wait to buy or whether their PDA will be obsolete if they buy it now. It also destroys the market itself; it comes to a point of over saturation and a lack of stability for companies who want to create software for PDAs or the PDA itself. While the consumer market is what helps to drive all this, the consumer can also get tired of the constant upgraded models if they come out too soon. You will never get use to your PDA if you keep changing it. But for those who like to keep up with the "Jones" they can go ahead. But most people hold on to their current PDA for as long as possible.

Companies making large PDA purchases don't work the way consumers do. They need more stability and support than even the above average consumer; a PDA that will be supported a year or two from now if not longer. It's a major investment. So we must not forget them either.

In some ways we have been cheated. Software that doesn't synchonize properly all the time, hardware that is unsupported by the current OS it's suppose to run on, battery drain from hardware not compliant for the PDA environment and the list goes on. Hell, my cell phone (T68i) will run longer than my PDA and it has a smaller and less powerful battery.What's up with that... :?: But things do change and compaines to listen (sometimes :wink: ).

To put an end to my rambling, this is a "throw away society" in which we live. All we can do is continue to let manufactures know that we want products to be good the first time out. Not patched up as they go along like a sinking ship. It is ultimately up to us to decide what we want. We make the market (most of the time :D ), we can break it too.

[Hyperluminal]

I agree that 6 months is too short for complete product overhauls (a la Sony), but standard, "mainainence" upgrades every 6 months or so is OK, to me at least.

And I'm not saying we haven't ever been cheated by these companies, just that I don't agree with some of the author's specific points...

[pocketpcdude1024]

The consumer has taken several blows from Microsoft for lack of product continuity with both the discontinuation of MIPS and SH3 processor support in their operating system, forcing consumers to buy a new PDA to run PocketPC 2002.

The reason for lack of support for MIPS and SH3 processors was not to make consumers buy a new PDA, rather to standardize the processor for developers. The developers benefit because they need only to make one version of their program, and the consumors benefit because almost any program made will be executable on their device. :roll:

[Pony99CA]

This guy didn't seem that bright. I wonder if he was :drinking: or something.

First, he cited the Toshiba e740, which has been around for a while, and hadn't been superceded until recently (by the e750).

Second, why is he claiming these devices won't be supported? I have an iPAQ 3870, and I'm hoping that Pocket PC 2003 will support it. I certainly think the 3900 series will be supported.

Finally, he forgets that the industry is moving quickly. Manufacturers are often just trying to release the latest and greatest to beat the competition. The same thing happens in the PC industry, but did he complain about that? :roll: A top-of-the-line PC is usually outdated a month or two after you buy it; at least PDAs seem to get six months. :-)

Steve