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I share your concerns, Laurens. Those are some good points. PalmOne to some extent carries with it the success of failure of PalmOS. I'm sure the folks at PalmSource are on the edge of their seat as they watch to see how well PalmOne handles the future.
There are some encouraging signs, however:
1) PalmOS has a large enough market, and is a good enough product that it may have a viable future even if PalmOne fails to capture market with good products.
2) PalmOne knows they have had some quality issues and has worked hard to revitalize their supplier network to improve quality in future products. They may have already put the worst behind them.
3) The Treo line is positioned to get the bulk of the PalmOne product development resources in the near future, and that market may carry them for a while.
4) Unless there are problems we don't know about, it is reasonable to expect the new wave of PalmOne traditional PDA products sometime in the next 6 months. They have said they are continuing work on both the Zire and Tungsten products.
5) We might see new groundbreaking technologies such as micro hard drives in some of the newer models. If not in this upcoming set of products, something coming after that.
6) Other companies like Tapwave will help to bolster product quality due to competition in the market.
With some of those positive tidbits, I'm optimistic about the near-term future of PalmOS. I believe that, while PalmOne traditional PDA product lines may seem like one step behind in technology and features, they are a solid company and will provide solid products. Surely anything significant the PPC world comes up with will be eventually supported by PalmSource/PalmOne.
And as a fan of PalmOS, I sure hope to see them succeed!
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