Agenda Delayed Again

aqua writes: "Two days after the announced ship date, Agenda Computing has sent mail to customers who preordered a VR3 PDA: "In keeping with our commitment to deliver the highest quality PDA possible - one that provides you with many years of enjoyment - Agenda has revised the ship date to May 21, 2001." This was previously rumored on agenda-user, since the software wasn't looking ready to ship. recent discussion on the developer list, however, suggests that many of the problems cited are now much improved. By way of apology, they're throwing in a free VR3 carrying case." Agenda sent a review model to me which I played with for about 10 minutes. I turned it off to get stuff done, and the next day when I had time to actually put it to work, it refused to turn back on. I think it needs some work yet :) But it was cool running 'ps' on a handheld.

Comments

Beaujolais to Agenda!

[nickm]

Look, the point is that the agenda software is not ready to ship. It is a good thing that they're holding back on the release date, rather than pulling a death march.

I, for one, am really excited about getting my agenda, because for once it's a system where not all of the problems have been solved before I got there. I have a chance to write some small elegant programs that provide some function for the agenda end-users.

My impression is that Agenda should really have marketed their first push as a second-gen developer release. Most of the agenda users are linux freaks and mips hackers anyway.

Yes, it's not going to be the PDA for J. Buttfuck Pinstripe and his army of polyester-clad sales weenies. It's not going to be the droolproof tamagotchi that the jet set are going to carry around to show how cool they are. Not yet, anyhow. Right now it's a free software platform that we can use to develop really kick-ass software on.

Go on, kids. Order one, and start writing agenda equivalents to the best palmos programs. It's going to be FUN.

--
I noticed

To be of real use...

[NewOrder]

These PDA's need to be totaly wireless with REAL TCP/IP and connected 24/7. Have atleast 24 hours of non stop useage and about a month of stand by time. Still be in some sort of net communication also. Other wise it's not that usefull except a note pad that is very conservative on papper.

Could be lack of funding due to...

[jcapell]

...holding company's stock tanking.

(Agenda Computing is based in Irvine, California, but is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kessel International Holdings Limited)

Kessel Company prosectus: "In view of the Euro currency fluctuation, shortage of certain electronic components and start up stage of new product lines, the Directors believes that there will not have any significant change in the overall performance of the Group in the 2nd half of the year. However, provided that the new businesses are operated as planned and all unfavorable factors graduated away from the Group, the Group look forward to the future with optimism."

Businessmen, Taco's edge

[Fervent]

I think it needs some work yet :) But it was cool running 'ps' on a handheld.

Ah yes. And that's exactly why most businessmen will buy this PDA. Why go for simplicity and elegance in the Palm when you can run a process-check on something that shouldn't even have processes.

Also, interesting that Taco lets a piece of non-functional hardware slide when it's a review copy, but if it's a review copy of some MS or RedHat software that fouls up, it's all over the front page with "from the I-told-you-so dept."

Re:A comment...

[aussersterne]

I couldn't agree more. When I take my Palm Vx with me, it is not because I feel like kernel hacking or writing device drivers. Sometimes, I just want addresses, phone numbers, and appointments! I know that it is probably hard for Taco to grasp, but one should use the proper tool for the job. If it is a notebook, Palm, Newton, or whatever, if it suits the purpose that you need it for, fine.

Yes, but for some of us "the job" isn't addresses, names and appointments. I've struggled with a Windows CE-based HPC Pro for several years now, but I'm a writer and what I really need is a device that:

• Can hold all of the plain text files n levels deep from my home directory on my Linux box.
• Can work as a dedicated journal/note-taker, not just for the odd memo, but for heavy writing, day to day.
• Lets me use all of the basic commands like cat, grep, sort, sed and will run most of the huge stack of shell scripts that I've come up with over the years to manage my life.

Basically, I do want a full-fledged Linux machine that I can stick into a backpack that doesn't weigh as much as a notebook. I've been waiting with baited breath for LinuxCE and playing with the ported kernels to try and get a usable full-fledged Linux system running on my CE device with xscribbler, but it hasn't happened yet.

Yes, I need it to be portable, too, so that I can carry it around, but not pocket-sized, because then the display is too small to work with large amounts of text. More like 480x340 or even a small 640x480 display. Something under 2 lbs. About half the size of a sheet of letter paper -- say 4'x8' or something in that range and an inch or less thick.

I'm not trolling or trying to start an argument here; I just want to point out that there are different needs out there -- different strokes for different folks, you know? No need to bash a device if you think it's too bulky or complex or a person's use habits if you think they're counterproductive; just don't buy it and don't hire that person or work their way.

I for one would be willing to spend hundreds to replace my CE device with a finished Agenda device if only it had a larger display.

Bad Pun Alert!

[HiNote]

Ah-ha. He admits it. Taco _does_ have an agenda...

The handheld "OS"

[Migelikor1]

A friend of mine got a preview model, which tanked. He nagged some tech guys at the company and they essentially told him that the software wasn't ready, and under no circumstances should he trust it to retain his information safely. Not much of a confidence builder, eh?
I personally believe that palm had the right idea. If it's going to be an organizer, make it as simple as possible. no command lines, no wacky software widgets.
My Apple newton is still working fine, crash free since '96. It surfs the web, reads REAL handwriting, and stores personal info. Isn't that enough?

sigh

[gregfortune]

Yet another round of Agenda bashing...
Let's get a couple of things straight.

1. We (slashdotters in general) bashed the crap out of them for intending releasing a product that was not ready for consumption by the average Joe.
2. We (yes, you know who you are) are now bashing the crap out of Agenda for not releasing an unfinished product.
3. What did I miss here?

Let's try some questions now...

• Has any critic really looked at the application base and how quickly it is growing?
• How about HWR? Several different solutions to the HWR problem have already been presented by the Agenda user community.
• Aliens? (yep, the green squishy things from space...)
• Did you know BlackBox is loading?
• etc etc etc

I, for one, am glad to see Agenda make the decision to hold off on the consumer release. If the parent company is not doing well, much of the pressure to get the product out the door is probably coming from above. Congrats to Agenda for holding out until an excellent product is deliverable.

And now the trolls can go crawl under a rock. Crawl back out next time Microsoft "releases" on time and then you can gripe and complain about how they should have fixed the bugs....

sigh... Maybe flashing the newest romdisk will make me feel better...

Re:A comment...

[janpod66]

The existence of "ps" on the Agenda is merely an indication that it runs standard software and standard utilities. That's a good thing. In day-to-day usage, of course, you shouldn't have to use it.

In contrast, the Palm Pilot requires you to write applications to its own limited and proprietary APIs, memory model, and threading model. The Palm Pilot runs its applications reasonably well, but someone had to invest a lot of time and effort in that; doing anything more with it is an uphill struggle.

The limitations of the PalmOS and the messy programming model are a consequence of trying to deliver a nice system on limited hardware. Those constraints don't apply anymore, and the Palm Pilot is now pretty much an anachronism.

I have a Palm Pilot. It's a reliable workhorse for its very limited set of applications. I'll gladly toss it out when I get a decent, reliable UNIX-based PDA. The Agenda could be it.