Well, the Register is not the only lamenting about the PalmOS. I just read another article talking about how out-dated the PalmOS UI is! The audacity of it!
And I'm sure before long, there will be MS-haters who will launch into rhetoric about how MS muscled its way into the pda market, killed off competition and ultimately innovation with Palm and PalmOS being the victim.
It's like, don't we see a pattern here? Apple (with their Macs) and Palm with their outstanding hardware and software combo both failed in fighting of the MS-machine? I think it's plain enough, but I'll state it anyway. Both Apple and Palm have one other thing in common (besides being excellent in hw/sw): They both never really licensed their platform out to the vendors on a large scale. They both held an iron-grip on the whole platform, which is a good thing and resulted in excellent products and high quality make. But it cuts the other way in not getting the product en masse, at least not as much as MS did.
If we look at MS' strategy for both PC and PPC, it was to define a platform of hardware and software (OS), and control the OS (and to some extent the software as well!
). Afterall, OS is supposedly their forte, though some will agree that they are not stellar in it as well.
But by working strongly with OEM hardware partners in the industry, MS is able to share the cost of punching at either industry long enough for it to receive acceptance. Remember, they only have to invest in R&D for the OS and some software, while the partners share in the cost by investing in hardware R&D, which is quite costly and volatile at best.
Further, by getting multiple partners to develop the hardware, prices for hardware can go down to some sweet spot for general consumers to go for an impulse buy. They've done it in the PC industry, ousting IBM from the whole game by pushing for the IBM-clone, and in the process also deseating Apple as Ze Personal Computer. They've again done it in the PPC industry.
Ok, Palm did have some licensees for the PalmOS/platform, but too little too late.
I owned 3 or 4 Palms from Palm Pilot Pro, IIIe to Sony PEG-SL10 and a T3. It was really good while it lasted.
PS: Heck, I just took a peek at Palm.com yesterday and found that they have very much reduced the whole Palm family to a paltry Z22, TE and Tx for pure pdas.
... As you can see, I now own a SHARP Zaurus C1000 ... whose product line recently got axed by SHARP ... grr ...
