Pocket PC platform lifeforce waning?

[lithium]

Will Pocket PC get squeezed out between Tablet PC and Smartphone? To be clear, this is not the sort of thing I'd like to think about! But Jeff Kirvin at http://writingonyourpalm.net/ has some interesting points in this week's column.

[Stephen Beesley]

Yes I think the PPC (or what ever it evolves into) does have a future.

Certainly in the short term (the next 2 to 3 years anyway) I cannot see any version of the tablet pc which will be as portable and have the instant on, batter life etc of the PPC. As for the smart phone - I think it might be the bit of equipment that gets squeezed out in the end.

Goldtee

[phanprod]

It'll be a long time before the Tablet PC drops in price enough to compare to the PPC... if it ever does. Besides... size alone - something you can slip into your pocket and go about your buisness is something the Tablet PC will never be.

As for the smartphone, as far as I'm concerned, is on the other end of that size spectrum. Give me a small, inexpensive device to clip to my belt any day. Give it bluetooth or infrared to sync with the PPC and I'm happy. But you'll never be able to give me the size I find useful in a phone with a screen that would be useable by human hands and eyes. Smartphones are just too big.

In a perfect world, I'd love to see the PPC evolve a bit faster. More focus on what the PPC can do with more connectivity options instead of breaking it into other directions. Sure, the Smatrphone is perfect for some users. Let's make it an option. And the Tablet PC - I'll stick with a seperate laptop, myself. Sure - I'd love one of those new fangled things... but I'd still take my PPC more places.

If I need to scribble out a note, I don't pull a 5 Subject notebook out. I pull a scrap of paper or a small pad. That's the issue here. Convenience.