Poll: Is Palm still interesting and relevant? - Page 2

Azayzel · 05-31-2007, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

When the Palm Pilot came out, I was intrigued, but less than thrilled by the form factor (especially losing screen space to the permanent text reco space). I also knew too many people who seemed underwhelmed with the actual use of their Palm devices.. they worked, but just okay enough for them (and they didn't want anything outside of PIM functions).

By the time Palm started to address those issues, I had already discovered very workable PDAs by Casio, then TI, then Psion/EPOC, then Toshiba/MS, and moved on. Now, I don't even give Palm a second thought... too little, too late.

But this doesn't mean I absolutely won't own one someday. Maybe, when my current PDA expires, and I need something else, I might buy a Palm... or something else. I've used too many OSs and form factors to discount one, until I need one and I see what they've got.

I'm with Steve on this as well, I jumped ship from Palm when the Casio Cassiopea lured me away with a larger screen... with color (course it was a bit bulky, but hey, it could take a CF card!).

Studio717 · 05-31-2007, 08:39 PM

I still have all my Palms, back to the III. I use my current Zire 72 AND T|X a lot, so at least for me, I find Palms useful in the present if not the future.

My problem with the Foleo is that I don't yet know what it does. Surely they aren't asking folks to pay out $500 just to read their email on a wide screen?

Is it like Alphasmart's Dana? Can it be modded out? Can I use it as a flash laptop (in the sense of, say, word processing or reading PDFs)?

Just from reading the gadget blogs and the Palm site, I still have no idea of its potential. The details are just too fuzzy for me to make any kind of pronouncement about it.

Until those and many more questions are answered and more details emerge, I don't think I have a clue as to whether Palm will still be around or not.

volwrath · 05-31-2007, 10:09 PM

I think its possible Palm still has some life in them, as they did release the great 650, and the near perfect 700wx. I want to buy the next windows mobile CDMA palm and have them fix the few flaws that the 700WX has.

In all actuality though, I will probably get the next Motorola Q version .

mogui · 05-31-2007, 10:09 PM

Somewhere I saw the Foleo referred to as the "Fooleo", a little sad and a little cruel, but it will probably stick. I too, fail to see the usefulness of it for the majority of us. However, I am still a fan of the monochrome Palm. It does almost everything I need it to do. I would buy a TX if it could do VoIP. Maybe when you have a product line that already does enough things well enough, there is little incentive to change, to introduce innovations, to branch out. I still buy new devices for other purposes (e,g, Sony Reader) but for what I carry in my pocket, my M125 and my TRGpro are good enough. I almost bought a Nokia N800 this spring because of the promise that it would run Skype. Something that size with PDA features would be very useful to me. I use WiFi at home, so it would become my long-distance phone. But that money went to Sony for the Reader. I guess the point of this rambling rant is that I buy something when I see it can do something I really need. If my Palm breaks I will replace it with another Palm -- a small market for them.

yvanleterrible · 06-01-2007, 09:24 AM

Okay! Since I know next to nothing about PDAs' recent developments...
(remember my eyesight won't let me us'em

)
...let me open a can of worms and ask; what's the best PDA these days?

And why is it that no one, as far as I know, has made a PDA sized between a Zaurus and a Foleo? I do remember a small Vaio that was about 12" wide by 8" deep about 5-7 years ago but that's it! And it was'nt a PDA!

Azayzel · 06-02-2007, 04:35 AM

I'm still using my iPaq 4150, and haven't seen enough advances in recent ones since I purchased it to warrent an upgrade. I did buy my wife an iPaq rx1715, but it didn't have integrated wifi or bluetooth, so she wanted an upgrade. I then picked her up an iPaq 4700; now this is a powerhouse of a PDA, but it was a bit larger and heavier than my svelt 4150. The screen on the 4700 is phenomenal and since it has WM2003SE on it, you can switch to lansdcape mode with the push of a button; nice for surfing the web or reading e-books. I don't really use my PDA's for MP3's (did a while back, but then I picked up a dedicated/smaller MP3 player), but it's great for palm-sized movies on the go. I also use it quite a bit for PIM functions, like mobile calendar and contacts. I had a SmartPhone in the states, so it pretty much took over most of those functions since it could sync with Outlook, but when I came here I had to revert back to the iPaq since I couldn't find a carrier I could use it with here. There are a ton of apps for the WindowsMobile platform, and many coming out weekly, so I can use it for more than simple PIM functions; i.e., play games, watch movies, study new languages, wifi discovery, pocket translator, et al.

While I love the size/weight of the PDA, I am actively looking for a replacement UMPC to take over the roles, it's just a matter of time when they develope/market a product that has what I want; i.e., instant-on, good size-to-weight ratio, easy input, and decent power consumption. Maybe the OQO v2 will meet some of these?

Steven Lyle Jordan · 06-02-2007, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mogui

I am still a fan of the monochrome Palm.

This is the one common comment I keep hearing in this thread, and it's significant.

Remember, when the Palm Pilot first came out, a lot of the geekerati snorted at it as being too underpowered and awkward, compared to the existing PDAs of the day (rough as they were). But with Palm's advertising and promotional efforts, the Pilot was a huge success, and today people who wouldn't even consider a modern PDA still use their old Palms for PIM (because they held up nicely).

Hey, for that matter, think iPod. It outsold cheaper, just as capable MP3 players, again, thanks to an aggressive promotional effort (and, in their case, unique styling).

Now the same group has a new device. The Geekerati are reacting the same way, too: Who cares? Bur Hawkins and Gates want to push this kind of device. And they've both got decent track records for pushing less-than-stellar devices to the top of the heap.

Bottom line: I'm not ready to bet against them yet.

NatCh · 06-02-2007, 11:20 AM

So, then, have I ascended to the ranks of Geekerati? That's so cool!

rlauzon · 06-02-2007, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Remember, when the Palm Pilot first came out, a lot of the geekerati snorted at it as being too underpowered and awkward, compared to the existing PDAs of the day (rough as they were). But with Palm's advertising and promotional efforts, the Pilot was a huge success, and today people who wouldn't even consider a modern PDA still use their old Palms for PIM (because they held up nicely).

You are partially right. It was advertising that made Palm an initial success. But it is where it is today because some geeks fell in love with the device - made new and exciting software for it and pushed the unit far beyond what Palm's creators envisioned.

Take a look at most technology. Products that locked out the geeks tend to fail. Products that let the geeks explore and expand the product tend to succeed.

Remember, it's the geeks who like shiny new toys (preferably ones with blinking lights). It's the geeks who blaze the new trails in technology. And, more importantly for the Foleo, it's the geeks who get the new technology, figure out how to use it in the business and show management what can be done with it.

If the Foleo doesn't get geek support, it will be no more than an overpriced Treo add-on - and will probably fail.

mogui · 06-02-2007, 09:21 PM

Yes, the geek factor . . .

IMHO the reason the PC took off in 1981 was that it became an open standard for hardware and software. Manufacturers could design for the ISA bus and software developers had the PC Bible full of BIOS calls and interrupt vectors. Before long it was obvious that, though Apple was better in some respects, the PC had more and cheaper options. That was the same reason the Amiga was not a market success.

Similarly, the Palm quickly had a big following among software developers. It was not long before Tucows and its peers offered a huge choice of software.

Now look at Linux. Anyone can sharpen their software skills by contributing to an open-source project. Participation confers a sense of ownership, territoriality, and a sense of in-group loyalty. The Linux following is so huge it is held as an example of cultural evolution.

How will the Foleo fellows proceed?

Bob Russell · 06-02-2007, 10:14 PM

I wonder how he motivates Linux development, though. He keeps the future of the Foleo secret and sells it like an email smartphone companion for now. If that's all it is, on a slow ARM processor, why do people want to write software for it? But if he shares the future, then while he motivates developers, he might make the idea too easy to copy.

Sort of like the chicken and the egg problem, but there's also a fox in the hen house!

View Poll Results: Is Palm still exciting to you?
YES! I can't wait to see all the great products roll out!	5	13.51%
SOMEWHAT. I'm still a Palm fan and look forward to the future.	9	24.32%
NOPE. They just don't have anything good left in them.	18	48.65%
FORGET IT! Palm's not interesting or relevant. Who cares anymore!	5	13.51%
Voters: 37. You may not vote on this poll

06-02-2007, 09:21 PM	#25
mogui eNigma Posts: 503 Karma: 1335 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: The Philippines Device: HTC G1 Android FBReader	How will the Foleo fellows proceed? Yes, the geek factor . . . IMHO the reason the PC took off in 1981 was that it became an open standard for hardware and software. Manufacturers could design for the ISA bus and software developers had the PC Bible full of BIOS calls and interrupt vectors. Before long it was obvious that, though Apple was better in some respects, the PC had more and cheaper options. That was the same reason the Amiga was not a market success. Similarly, the Palm quickly had a big following among software developers. It was not long before Tucows and its peers offered a huge choice of software. Now look at Linux. Anyone can sharpen their software skills by contributing to an open-source project. Participation confers a sense of ownership, territoriality, and a sense of in-group loyalty. The Linux following is so huge it is held as an example of cultural evolution. How will the Foleo fellows proceed?

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05-31-2007, 08:39 PM	#17
Studio717 Addict Posts: 208 Karma: 575 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: California Device: Various Kindles, iPhone, iPad, Galaxy 10.1	I still have all my Palms, back to the III. I use my current Zire 72 AND T\|X a lot, so at least for me, I find Palms useful in the present if not the future. My problem with the Foleo is that I don't yet know what it does. Surely they aren't asking folks to pay out $500 just to read their email on a wide screen? Is it like Alphasmart's Dana? Can it be modded out? Can I use it as a flash laptop (in the sense of, say, word processing or reading PDFs)? Just from reading the gadget blogs and the Palm site, I still have no idea of its potential. The details are just too fuzzy for me to make any kind of pronouncement about it. Until those and many more questions are answered and more details emerge, I don't think I have a clue as to whether Palm will still be around or not.

05-31-2007, 10:09 PM	#18
volwrath Guru Posts: 713 Karma: 1001739 Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Nashville, TN Device: SGS3/PW2/Nexus72	I think its possible Palm still has some life in them, as they did release the great 650, and the near perfect 700wx. I want to buy the next windows mobile CDMA palm and have them fix the few flaws that the 700WX has. In all actuality though, I will probably get the next Motorola Q version .

06-01-2007, 09:24 AM	#20
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	Okay! Since I know next to nothing about PDAs' recent developments... (remember my eyesight won't let me us'em ) ...let me open a can of worms and ask; what's the best PDA these days? And why is it that no one, as far as I know, has made a PDA sized between a Zaurus and a Foleo? I do remember a small Vaio that was about 12" wide by 8" deep about 5-7 years ago but that's it! And it was'nt a PDA!

06-02-2007, 04:35 AM	#21
Azayzel Cache Ninja! Posts: 643 Karma: 1002300 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: PRS-500, HTC Shift, iPod Touch, iPaq 4150, TC1100, Panasonic WordsGear	I'm still using my iPaq 4150, and haven't seen enough advances in recent ones since I purchased it to warrent an upgrade. I did buy my wife an iPaq rx1715, but it didn't have integrated wifi or bluetooth, so she wanted an upgrade. I then picked her up an iPaq 4700; now this is a powerhouse of a PDA, but it was a bit larger and heavier than my svelt 4150. The screen on the 4700 is phenomenal and since it has WM2003SE on it, you can switch to lansdcape mode with the push of a button; nice for surfing the web or reading e-books. I don't really use my PDA's for MP3's (did a while back, but then I picked up a dedicated/smaller MP3 player), but it's great for palm-sized movies on the go. I also use it quite a bit for PIM functions, like mobile calendar and contacts. I had a SmartPhone in the states, so it pretty much took over most of those functions since it could sync with Outlook, but when I came here I had to revert back to the iPaq since I couldn't find a carrier I could use it with here. There are a ton of apps for the WindowsMobile platform, and many coming out weekly, so I can use it for more than simple PIM functions; i.e., play games, watch movies, study new languages, wifi discovery, pocket translator, et al. While I love the size/weight of the PDA, I am actively looking for a replacement UMPC to take over the roles, it's just a matter of time when they develope/market a product that has what I want; i.e., instant-on, good size-to-weight ratio, easy input, and decent power consumption. Maybe the OQO v2 will meet some of these?

06-02-2007, 11:20 AM	#23
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	So, then, have I ascended to the ranks of Geekerati? That's so cool!

06-02-2007, 10:14 PM	#26
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	I wonder how he motivates Linux development, though. He keeps the future of the Foleo secret and sells it like an email smartphone companion for now. If that's all it is, on a slow ARM processor, why do people want to write software for it? But if he shares the future, then while he motivates developers, he might make the idea too easy to copy. Sort of like the chicken and the egg problem, but there's also a fox in the hen house!