04-11-2002, 07:51 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Let me tell you a story...
When I was on the Mobile Experience Tour last year, we had several Pocket PC Fan Fests across the country. The concept of a Fan Fest was simple: it was a Microsoft sponsored event with free food and prizes, but it was only for Pocket PC owners. At every stop we had presentations and a partner area for people who didn't own Pocket PCs, free food, drawings for Pocket PCs, etc. The Fan Fests were parties for people who wanted to hang out with other Pocket PC owners, get shareware software and content from laptop "beam stations" we had set up, get help from the "Pocket PC Doctor" if they had questions, show off their gear and custom modifications, and trade Pocket PC war stories. The goal for me at these events was to make sure that everyone I talked to learned something new about their Pocket PC, or left with something to improve their Pocket PC experience. It was a party for the fans!
I always had a great time at every Fan Fest - I got to meet developers like Alex Kac from WebIS and Judie Clark from The Gadgeteer. The best part was meeting the people who used their Pocket PCs every day - these were the people who knew the ups and downs of the platform, and it's always fun to show them a trick to make their experience better. Back to the story...
We had a Fan Fest in San Francisco last year. Several people who weren't Pocket PC owners wanted to come in, and someone politely turned them away. Anyone who had a Pocket PC was let in. During the evening, I noticed something odd - there was a guy there who worked for Palm (I recognized him from a previous event), and he used a Pocket PC to get in the door then took out his Palm m505 to show people "something better". He wasn't there to share tips with Pocket PC owners, he was there to try and prove that his platform was better. He wasn't there to show Pocket PC owners ways to get more from their device, he was there to "educate" people on how "ignorant" they were being. It had all the tact of going into a Jewish Bar Mitzvah with a slab of bacon, preaching about the virtues of pork.
So which one are you? The person coming here to learn more about Pocket PCs and trade some war stories, or the person who has feels they have something to prove and wants to convince everyone that their solution is the "best"?
As a footnote, I should add that many months later I talked to that Palm guy one on one, and he's a nice person - but I still have no respect for tactics based on deception or crashing someone's party.
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04-11-2002, 08:13 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 864
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Here to learn more about the platform and evangelize about the wonderment of the PPC, I look at it like seminary for the Pocket PC! 
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04-11-2002, 08:36 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 779
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I've never been to one of these, although I'd like to, if I'm ever near one.
I'm just curious about the idea behind turning away people that don't already have a PocketPC. If someone is thinking about buying their first PocketPC, there aren't many places (if any) where they can look at all the available models and see the features of the various brands. I would think FanFests would be a great way to advertise. Even when you can find a PocketPC in a store, it's likely to have a dead battery and no software, and the salespeople are not usually very well informed about them.
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04-11-2002, 08:43 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 Disconnected
I'm just curious about the idea behind turning away people that don't already have a PocketPC.
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Well, in the example I gave, there was seminars going all day so there was no lack of information for people who didn't own a Pocket PC. Let's face it though - if Microsoft is going to foot the bill for the whole shindig, they're only going to want to do it for people who bought their product, not any Joe off the street. Seems fair, no? :-)
And just to be clear, I'm definitely not saying that the people who read this site have to own a Pocket PC! :-)
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04-11-2002, 08:47 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 864
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
And just to be clear, I'm definitely not saying that the people who read this site have to own a Pocket PC! :-)
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Maybe you should might cut down on the Java this, Palm that chatter.... hmmmmm :lol:
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04-11-2002, 08:47 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 123
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Sort Of Like A "Fill In The Blank"...
Jason,
When you used the "Bar Mitzvah" analogy, all I could think is that (for as far back as I can remember), there are always people like this. Just replace "PocketPC" and "Palm" with -
- "Windows" and "Unix"
- "Windows" and "Mac"
- "AS/400" and "RS/6000" (especially entertaining when both people were IBM employees)
- "Any religious viewpoint" and "Any OTHER religious viewpoint"
- "Any political viewpoint" and "Any OTHER political viewpoint"
- etc, etc.
I live by a simple credo -
"I respect your opinions. I respect that you believe in your opinions. Now, how about respecting mine?"
Your Palm guy example is one that always "gets under my skin". I have no tolerance whatsoever anymore for "partycrashers", especially when they resort to deception. Not only do they not respect your opinion, they also don't respect your intelligence (yeah - like we're not going to FIGURE YOU OUT, PAL!).
That being said, I am here for the exchange of thoughts, ideas and information relating to the PocketPC community. I am always willing to participate in an intellectual discussion on other things in an appropriate forum (key word - intellectual. "Mine is better than yours because I said so..." doesn't cut it for me any more :wink: ).
DonS
__________________
Don SorcinelliMicrosoft MVP, Windows Mobile DevicesEditor-In-Chief, BostonPocketPC.com
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04-11-2002, 08:49 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 entropy1980
Maybe you should might cut down on the Java this, Palm that chatter.... hmmmmm :lol: |
Nah. If you're a sports fan, can you imagine watching a game with your pals and not slagging the opposing team in some fashion? That's part of the fun. :wink:
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04-11-2002, 08:53 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 61
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RE: Let me tell you a story...
AAARRRGH! I had a pretty good response typed up and then I lost it!
Here is my outlook. For the most part, I come here to get tips, ideas, and whatever. HOWEVER, I also want to see what is coming up next, and hope that it matches up with my needs that aren't yet met. Let me explain:
Are there things about Palms that I like? Yes. Are there a lot more things that PPC has that Palm probably never will? Absolutely.
I need Word and Excel. I also enjoy having media player. I want it all built in, not as after-market extras. I want the built-in voice recorder, not an add-on cover that is far too fragile.
I like the Jornada mostly because of the styling and the use of CF cards. I liked the sturdiness of the 548, and cringed a bit when the 568 was a bit, well...wimpier. The 548 was built like a tank. Even my old Palm Vx and the metal clamshell case felt more secure than the 568. I am on the go, and I liked the sturdiness of the Palm Vx and the 548.
I work in public affairs. I need the storage capacity to hold speeches, queries that we've responded to, press releases, the works. I can't tell you how many releases I've beamed to reporters in the field, especially in the chaos right before and after a press briefing. I use Excel to keep reporter lists managed for each press briefing. Each briefing on my calendar has a corresponding roster in Excel. I've even had to use Word to give to our speaker, as he lost the paper copy of the speech. Blow it up to a huge font, put it in Landscape and show him the scroll buttons. Crisis solved. Also, I can take a Flash card straight out of a Nikon D-1 camera, put it in my PPC,and beam it to anyone else. The resolution can suffer a bit, but it's still a decent product.
A few things that Palm has been outperforming, for my perspective, is the wireless angle. Even in WAY Upstate NY, my peers who had Palm VII's could access email and some Web content when out of the office. I went car shopping for my now-ex-wife. I took my buddy with me, and he took his Palm VII. I'm still not sure how he did it, but he was able to get to Kelly Blue Book website and check right then and thre how the dealer's prices matched their actual values. (Trust me, in Upstate NY, you better check. Needless to say, it was nice to have that 'technology-driven tactical advantage.') FOr me and my old 548? Cingular, (which was then Cellular One and the ONLY cell alternative), had no way of getting wireless content. It is just now slowly moving in. Why was that? It wasn't that hard for Palm. And now Palm has ANOTHER integrated product out there, and all that MS has come up with is PPC PE. I personally haven't tested it yet, but the articles I've read have it a bit disappointing to me.
Also, Palm seems to be a more stable platform that doesn't crash as often.
However, this still has not yet driven me back into the arms of Palm. But I am still frustrated by PPC on these issues. So I come here for the tips and tricks and all that, but I come here also hoping that someone else wants these same things, and maybe one day we'll actually see them...
__________________
JornadaJ: Sharp Wizard/Palm V/Palm Vx/Palm IIIc/Jornada 548/Jornada 568/hp 2200/Treo 700wx/Samsung Omnia
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04-11-2002, 08:54 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 8
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Good thing that he didn't try that here in NYC. The people in our group are pretty PPC savy and would have embarrassd him and his pathetic little Palm device. I just came back from a week in LA, and I have to say that the mood there is a bit more relaxed, so I guess they politely listened to him even though he was totally off base. The next time that you run into this guy, tell him to that company loyalty is one thing, baltantly lying about the superiority of Palm devices is another.
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04-11-2002, 08:58 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 289
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There was a similar event at CEBIT. At the German fanfest, The Palm person, Who got in with a pocketpc, started to put Palm stickers on certains peoples' property and one even managed to be put on my back. Needless to say, I took the high road on this one and rather than confront his juvenile behavior, I put the palm sticker in its rightful place. Take a look:
http://www.ppcw.net/images/column/fa...fest%20035.jpg
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