CNET Article - PDA's are dead

[RD100]

Check out this article at CNET.com

Molly to handhelds - Just Die Already.

http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-5690219-1.html?tag=nl.e501

You can post your own comments at the bottom of the article ... in the TalkBack section. 111 people already posted comments.

[surur]

I did not add a comment (because Im sure it has been said already in the thread) but she seems a bit stupid. PDA's are dead but she likes the treo? Dont buy a pocketpc because you can buy a pocketpcphone?

Why did she not just write "You all need a cellphone. Stop wasting your time with a disconnected PDA!"

As I said, she's stupid.

Surur

[Menneisyys]

As I said, she's stupid.


Harsh, but you may have a point :) She is comparing apples and oranges and definitely doesn't seem to be an experienced PDA user (except for the Treo).

For example, she tells us to get the OQO instead of a PDA. She just seems to forget that the OQO is

1, at least 4 times more expensive than a high-end VGA PDA. I wouldn't lose/break such a thing, that's for sure - I hve no problems taking out my 2210 or PL720 in the subway or the tram, but a 2000 US$ (even more here in Europe...) device??? No way.

2, has really serious limitations, which are a deal breaker for a lot of people; for example, USB1.1 only

And, her recommending plain, generic notebooks instead of PDA's is just ridiculous.

So far, mostly only Washington Post (or, was it NYC?) columnists have given such nonsense. Too bad CNET (which should have more technology-savy tech (?) writers - after all, it's a TECH mag) is also giving us the same.

EDIT: NYC = NYT

[rzanology]

the sad part about this whole thing is the fact that i look up to cnet for rock solid reviews. in the last year or so that has all been going down hill. this just shows the clown a$$ people they have working there. If you know nothing about what you're talking about then dont take the job. it sucks that i can't find another "tech savy" site to read everyday.

[applejosh]

the sad part about this whole thing is the fact that i look up to cnet for rock solid reviews. in the last year or so that has all been going down hill. this just shows the clown a$$ people they have working there. If you know nothing about what you're talking about then dont take the job. it sucks that i can't find another "tech savy" site to read everyday.

I've noticed this too. It seems my daily trip to C|Net has turned into a "maybe once a week just to see what junk they have" visit. The only thing I can think is that they are paying ignorant people to write stuff just to increase their waning web hits. As pointed out in the comments of the article, C|Net is almost to the point of tabloidism. I almost swear I read an article on there recently where an iPAQ gave birth to a 40lb baby alien or something. :lol:

[OSUKid7]

CNET (and ZDNet for that matter) has gotten worse and worse over the last few years. I used to be a loyal listener to CNET Radio, and subscribe to several newsletters including AnchorDesk, but they've all gone down the drain. The latest version of AnchorDesk is a joke. Their staff has become less knowledgeable, and I typically ignore the newsletter emails that I do still receive from CNET.

[Dalantech]

This is what I posted:

"Molly, tsk...tsk...

Sony got out of the PDA market because, like you, they didn't have a clew. The used proprietary memory modules (Sony memory sticks) and they hitched their wagon to the Palm OS instead of Windows Mobile and that's why they failed. Sony will soon be supporting the MP3 file format for their music devices -they have to or they'll have to get out of the mobile music market. I wonder: If Sony stops producing music players will you proclaim that the iPod is dead?. Sony, although they are a major player in the electronics scene, cannot make or break any segment of the industry...

Since I can't stick a laptop in my pocket a PDA, that's what a Pocket PC is Molly, goes with me everywhere. If I'm bored and have a few minutes I can play a game, watch a movie, surf the web (if I can find a WiFi hot spot) -basically I can do almost anything with a PDA that I would normally have to use a laptop for.

Granted there are cell phones out there that combine cell access with PDA functions, but I'm not interested in them. A cell phone's screen is too tiny to be useful for anything, and I don't want to look like a freak sticking a PDA to my head to make a phone call. Nor do I want to stop surfing the web because I'm afraid I'll drain my battery to the point where I can't make a phone call, so I don't want a "smart phone" -in quotes cause I don't see what's so "smart" about paying $500 Euros (about $750 USD) so I can have a PDA with a 2 inch display...

To the editors of Cnet: I'm sure your intern program has been successful in the past, but could you please do us a favor and send Molly back to the mail room?..."

[shawnc]

She's stupid, CNET hires ignorant people, CNET hires clown a$$ people. Nothing like tolerance for differing opinions. Sad to see a potentially interesting thread denigrate into vicious name-calling because you disagree with the message.

Sorry to go off-topic, feel free to go back to the mean-spirited name calling now.

[disconnected]

If she didn't want the so-called mean spirited namecalling, she shouldn't have deliberately written an inflammatory article. She could have just said she preferred an xyz device over a PDA for whatever reasons, but she didn't -- she said it was "inexcusable" to buy a PPC, a ridiculous statement guaranteed to annoy.

[surur]

She's stupid, CNET hires ignorant people, CNET hires clown a$$ people. Nothing like tolerance for differing opinions. Sad to see a potentially interesting thread denigrate into vicious name-calling because you disagree with the message.

Sorry to go off-topic, feel free to go back to the mean-spirited name calling now.

Shawnc, we've had the "PDA's are dying" discussion before. This poor lady demonstrated that she did not have the knowledge base necessary to contribute anything to it though.

She says PDA's are dying but then sings the praises of Palm and Pocketpc PDA phones. She clearly sees them as a radical departure from PDA's, but then warn pocketpc users that their platform is dying, and they might as well switch to a PDA phone, because it uses exactly the same software.

It is clearly an article written to be inflammatory and to drive website hits. Therefore she sounds stupid e.g. if you want two devices, get a cellphone and laptop, and carry that with you. Thats a stupid thing to say. Or Instead of getting an Asus for $650, get a OQO for $2000. She does not weigh up the argument in any way. No mention of battery life advantages, size advantages, pda phone usually being a generation behind and the compromises that are often necessary in a phone device. Now I'm in favour of a one device solution myself, but the way she writes in the article just makes her sound stupid.

Now maybe she is not really stupid, and just sounds like it. You cant really tell over the internet, can you?

Surur

[shawnc]

Don't get me wrong surur, I don't agree with most of what she says (though I do agree with some of it, but that wasn't the point of my post). Just because someone does something stupid, doesn't mean they are stupid. Just because someone say's something stupid, doesn't mean they are stupid. I wasn't objecting to anyone attacking what she was saying, I was just dissapointed that the thread had just started and 80% of the posts were attacking her personally. And they were doing it in a very mean-spirited (IMO) way.

I'm sure we can figure out a way to attack what she is saying without attacking her personally.


If she didn't want the so-called mean spirited namecalling, she shouldn't have deliberately written an inflammatory article. She could have just said she preferred an xyz device over a PDA for whatever reasons, but she didn't -- she said it was "inexcusable" to buy a PPC, a ridiculous statement guaranteed to annoy.

I'm not even going to try and reason with this :roll: . How dare she express an opinion about our beloved PPC that we disagree with. It's 20 lashes in the shed for her.

[surur]

Just because someone say's something stupid, doesn't mean they are stupid.
What did Forrest Gump say...

http://surur.sytes.net/mollygump.jpg

Surur :)

Edit: Smilie added. Im joking of course. I do believe she was intentionally rilling us up though, so she deserves what she gets :twisted:

[shawnc]

A nice punch-line, but just because FG say's it, doesn't make it so, at least not in my book. But to each his own. No need for me to beleabor the point. Though I must admit that I'm surprised to hear you looking to Forest Gump for guidance.

[captgoodhope]

From the cnet talkback:

Come on, guys! After her ridiculous rant about Firefox recently, it should be clear by now that Molly can't be serious about these "(whatever) is dead" pronouncements. She's just trying to stir up TalkBack activity. I'm unsubscribing to Anchordesk.

Dvorak would do the same thing. Whenever he need to raise the ratings, he'd jerk someone's chain.

[rzanology]

listen man....the lady is a fool and thats all there is to it. If you dont know anything about something....then right nothing! Some one call up jason and have him create some sort of "technologythoughts.com" I think that will solve everything. case closed.

[saznpins]

Well, I'm a female who works in IT and I have to say that this article made me cringe. Molly really seems to be the stereotypical female who doesn't know anything about technology... but unfortunately someone has hired her to write about it and she sounds very ignorant on this topic.

It also does seem that she was intentionally trying to be abrasive with some of her comments.

She doesn't differentiate between smart phones and PDA phones, and they are very different. A smartphone is a phone first and a PDA second (and it can't do half the things that my SX66 can). A WM PE device is a PDA first and has phone functionality built in as a secondary concern. It does everything I need a PDA to do, but it has a phone built in as well. Her beloved Treo is a PDA phone, not a smartphone. Whether she admits it or not, it's a PDA first!

If she's thinking that all PDAs may evolve into convergent devices, well, I wouldn't beat her up for that since they seem to be very successful devices and we're seeing more and more good ones come on the market. But she didn't articulate that in an intelligent way and came across as just someone voicing an opinion without really knowing what she's talking about.

Now, if I can only figure out where my post count has gone :?:
Cheers,
Sarah

[apanther28]

you guys have to understand that opinions are like butt holes. everyone has one. a review is really an informed and educated opinion, usually.

i am going to test this theory, because i will be getting a tre 650 soon. i also am getting the psp next month. so then, i will have my ipod, my ipaq, the psp and the treo. something will have to go. too many gadgets to carry around. unfortunately, i think it may be my pda.

i will be able to watch movies on the psp. i will have games there too. the treo will take care of everything else. so, however misguided she may be, for me, she may be right.

[surur]

i am going to test this theory, because i will be getting a Treo 650 soon. i also am getting the psp next month. so then, i will have my ipod, my ipaq, the psp and the treo. something will have to go. too many gadgets to carry around. unfortunately, i think it may be my pda.

i will be able to watch movies on the psp. i will have games there too. the treo will take care of everything else. so, however misguided she may be, for me, she may be right.

You are making the same mistake she is. The Treo IS a PDA. What you have done is replace a capable device (the ipaq) with a variety is specialised devices which are very capable in their field and cant do much else, and a Treo which is poorly capable as a pocket computer, but is a reasonable PDA, and also a poor phone. The combination will cost you more and be much more bulky.

Your total capability factor (CF :) ) has increased, at the expense of carrying 4 different gadgets. You have chosen specialisation vs integration. If you were to take that to its logical conclusion, you would get a standalone PDA (maybe a palm V) and a good small phone.

As you can see, things are far from clear cut. Molly did not even attempt to lay out the arguments both ways however.

Surur

[disconnected]

No need to roll your eyes at me, shawnc. If you look at my iPAQ, and say that a Treo is probably better for you, because you only want to carry one device, or whatever, then that is your opinion, and I won't fault you for it. If, however, you look at my iPAQ and say that it is inexcusable to buy such a device, than you are either very stupid, very rude, or just trying to annoy me.

[mpda]

What a load of bull.

The Audiovox that she mentions does not have the "exact same operating system" as the Dell X30 and Ipaq. It has Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphone, which is completely different (No large touchscreen for ease of use, for example).

[shawnc]

No need to roll your eyes at me, shawnc. If you look at my iPAQ, and say that a Treo is probably better for you, because you only want to carry one device, or whatever, then that is your opinion, and I won't fault you for it. If, however, you look at my iPAQ and say that it is inexcusable to buy such a device, than you are either very stupid, very rude, or just trying to annoy me.

:beer: :grouphug: :way to go: - It's all good :wink: !

[Typhoon]

Nahhh... how can PDAs just die? There main functionality (as organizers) will be in for a very long time. If the market died down big time, then the lines of PDA models would only shorten greatly...and that's about it. But there are other functionalities to get installed into a PDA: TV, RADIO (esp. AM if it is possible), higher MP cameras, embedded USB 2.0, larger memory or harddrive, etc. She mentioned the OQO...but why? It costs $2k and has very limited functionality.