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cervezas · 01-06-2006, 07:33 PM

I agree with Laurens (and Michael Mace, who makes the argument well ) that "convergence" isn't a good thing for most mobile device users. Even I find that I enjoy using devices that are designed to focus on doing a few things really well more that trying to do "everything" on a PDA or smartphone--even if it sometimes means juggling multiple devices at times. I was trying to put my finger a while back on why I just could never get really excited about the Treo, despite being a Palm OS devotee and a definite power user. I came to the conclusion that the Treo is so multi-purposed that it doesn't seem to have a defined character as a device. That didn't mean that as a geek I didn't find it useful, just that it was hard to get much more attached to it than I do with, say, my PC. Mobile devices are personal and they need to have a little personality, somehow. I'm not talking about bling. I'm talking about identity.

My vintage Handspring Visor Platinum, which I've souped up with extra RAM and a gleaming aircraft aluminum enclosure to keep it alive is still my main PDA. This despite the fact that I own more than a dozen others that will play MP3s and videos and display web pages and navigation maps in brilliant high-resolution and color. But the Visor has a definable character that the rest lack somehow:

It's dependable: it keeps me on schedule, runs for weeks on end without crashing, and I never have to think about it.
It's elegantly simple: it doesn't waste its energy on anything I don't care about.
It has a pleasing minimalism: a spare, clean, retro aesthetic.
It's precocious: When it occasionally does something amazing that a PDA "shouldn't" do it's a delightful surprise. Every once in a while I still love to write and compile small Palm apps on it using OnBoardC or do light maintainance of my web site with it.

When I look at the Nokia 770, I feel like it's one of the few devices I've seen in years that has the potential of being lovable in the same geeky way that my Visor is. It has a character that Nokia seems to have identified perfectly: Internet tablet.

I'd like to own an Internet tablet. Something that's much smaller and lighter than a laptop or Tablet PC, but which has a beautiful high-resolution screen for browsing web pages and web apps like Gmail and Google Maps as they were meant to be viewed. I may very well go get one.

01-06-2006, 07:33 PM	#6
cervezas palm & java hacker Posts: 52 Karma: 251 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Manitou Springs, CO Device: Visor, T3, i500, iQue ...	I agree with Laurens (and Michael Mace, who makes the argument well ) that "convergence" isn't a good thing for most mobile device users. Even I find that I enjoy using devices that are designed to focus on doing a few things really well more that trying to do "everything" on a PDA or smartphone--even if it sometimes means juggling multiple devices at times. I was trying to put my finger a while back on why I just could never get really excited about the Treo, despite being a Palm OS devotee and a definite power user. I came to the conclusion that the Treo is so multi-purposed that it doesn't seem to have a defined character as a device. That didn't mean that as a geek I didn't find it useful, just that it was hard to get much more attached to it than I do with, say, my PC. Mobile devices are personal and they need to have a little personality, somehow. I'm not talking about bling. I'm talking about identity. My vintage Handspring Visor Platinum, which I've souped up with extra RAM and a gleaming aircraft aluminum enclosure to keep it alive is still my main PDA. This despite the fact that I own more than a dozen others that will play MP3s and videos and display web pages and navigation maps in brilliant high-resolution and color. But the Visor has a definable character that the rest lack somehow: It's dependable: it keeps me on schedule, runs for weeks on end without crashing, and I never have to think about it. It's elegantly simple: it doesn't waste its energy on anything I don't care about. It has a pleasing minimalism: a spare, clean, retro aesthetic. It's precocious: When it occasionally does something amazing that a PDA "shouldn't" do it's a delightful surprise. Every once in a while I still love to write and compile small Palm apps on it using OnBoardC or do light maintainance of my web site with it. When I look at the Nokia 770, I feel like it's one of the few devices I've seen in years that has the potential of being lovable in the same geeky way that my Visor is. It has a character that Nokia seems to have identified perfectly: Internet tablet. I'd like to own an Internet tablet. Something that's much smaller and lighter than a laptop or Tablet PC, but which has a beautiful high-resolution screen for browsing web pages and web apps like Gmail and Google Maps as they were meant to be viewed. I may very well go get one. Last edited by cervezas; 01-06-2006 at 07:53 PM.