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Palm to Buy Handspring
liam193 writes "CBS MarketWatch is reporting that Palm has agreed to buy Handspring for $169M. If you were purchasing a PDA right now, would you choose Palm, Handspring, or avoid them entirely? I guess one of my concerns is that Handspring has some really cool features that Palm may want to keep. Any merger spells elimination of product lines. So what gets dropped? Palm which has probably a nicer "case" style or Handspring with its less desirable case but some features you don't find on Palms."
they have Hand in the Palm of their Hand?
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
I don't get it - what does Handspring bring to Palm? Certainly a couple of years ago they had nice features compared to the palms of the time, like expansion ports and such like, but now Palm has that too.
Wouldn't they most likely use the best features from both?
Yahoo is carrying an article , too.
KARMA TAG! You're it.
If you were purchasing a PDA right now, would you choose Palm, Handspring, or avoid them entirely?
I would avoid both of them entirely, but not because of the sale, but because of the clunky design, smaller screen size, and general lack of innovation. With Handspring came along, it pushed Palm to adapt and made their products cheaper, and smaller. But overall both of their products we're basically the same. I mean how long did it take for Palm to develop USB functionality, even Handsprings came with it right out of the box?
Then the Palm OS market changed when Sony came along, they pulled the 6 Million Dollar Man on the competitors. They made their handheld, faster, smaller and added functionality the others were lacking. I did my research and at the time bought the Clie PEG-SL10 and I haven't looked back. Palm may of been one of the originators but Sony has been the innovator.
I think this sale is bad for everyone, competition always spurs more innovation.
Mike
A merger doesn't always mean elimination. In many cases there's actual merging.
I don't see why it has to be one or the other. Palm has been smart, and if they continue to be, the features of the Handspring will be added in to the next Palm Pilot revision.
So what gets dropped
:-/
Half of the staff.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
"Palm Springs For Sale"
There's a way to freak out about a gazillion old folks...
Actually, the official press release contains a nice summary timeline:
1995 - U.S. Robotics purchases Palm, Inc.
1996 - Palm introduces the PalmPilot 1000 and 5000 organizers.
1997 - 3Com purchases U.S. Robotics
1998 - Hawkins, Dubinsky and Colligan leave Palm to create Handspring
2000 - Palm executes an Initial Public Offering, separating from 3Com
2001 - Palm begins building separate businesses
* Todd Bradley named Palm Solutions executive vice president and chief operating officer (June 1)
* Palm announces plans to create OS subsidiary (July 27)
* Palm OS subsidiary acquires assets and talent from Be, Inc. (Aug. 16)
* David Nagel is named Palm OS subsidiary president and chief executive officer (Aug. 27)
2002 - Palm further builds on two businesses
* OS subsidiary creation completed (Jan. 1)
* Bradley promoted to president and chief operating officer of Palm Solutions (May 2)
* OS subsidiary named PalmSource
* PalmSource names founding board of directors (June 24)
* Bradley named Palm Solutions chief executive officer (June 25)
* Palm Solutions and PalmSource move to separate campuses (August)
* Sony invests $20 million in PalmSource, marking first outside investment (Oct. 8)
* PalmSource adds four new licensees in year
* IRS approves the spin-off as tax-free for U.S. citizens' federal income-tax purposes (December)
2003 - Palm announces plans to acquire Handspring
Are you kidding? Most of my life I was one of those types who wrote things I needed to remember down on random pieces of paper that I shoved in my pocket, lost on my desk, threw away by accident, etc. I lack organizational skills, have a hard time remembering things, and I like gadgets. I tried carrying a paper & pen organizer in college. It worked okay, but I had a hard time finding notes I had written... was it two weeks ago or two months ago? With a PDA I can jot random notes and find them later in an instant with the search feature. I can have all the same addresses in my computer for e-mail and in my PDA for when I need to send a package from the post office. With the calendar, task list, and reminders I no longer suffer from as much anxiety about what I'm forgetting. Plus I've got a pocket calculator, pocket games, free databases that include conversion charts, drink recipes, a basic Spanish dictionary, and anything else I decide to download. Not bad for a hundred bucks. The Handspring Visor Deluxe was the best PDA I ever owned for the money. I had been using a PocketPC on loan from the office, but switched back to the Handspring soon after. The PocketPC was neat, but it just doesn't handle the simple organizational stuff as well.