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PalmSource Drops Mac Synchronization in Cobalt
Gear_Media writes "Originally posted at PalmInfocenter: 'In a surprise announcement at the developer conference, PalmSource revealed that Palm OS Cobalt will no longer offer synchronization with the Mac. This marks a departure as previous versions of the Palm OS had long shipped with Mac compatible hotsync software.' Smart move? I think not."
I have a song coming on! Windows Zealots can brag about something mac zealots can't. Ah ha ha ha ha! (To be sung to the tune of that "I'm better than you are, ah ha ah ah ah" chant)
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USB became popular because Apple pushed it.
USB is an Intel standard--not Apple--and x86 clone makers were shipping USB machines and motherboards 18 months before the iMac shipped(I know from experience.) Apple used USB at the expense of everything else to save money with the iMac. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but please drop the fiction that USB in any way required Apple to take off, as it would have done so had Apple never adopted it at all. It was well on the road before the first iMac shipped. USB, along with PCI/AGP/IDE, etc., is just one more x86 technology Apple adopted in order to save money. No sin there, as the custom hardware route long ago became too inefficient and unprofitable to allow Apple to serve the general consumer markets without the widescale adoption of x86 tech.
Apple had a great opportunity with Firewire, but they screwed the pooch with Job's greed once again coming to the fore, and charged licensing fees for Firewire--which killed its widespread adoption as a standard in the larger markets. When Apple realized its mistake and rescinded the licensing fee, it was too late for Firewire to become the standard it could have been, as the industry had moved on.
Home video editing became popular after Apple worked with it and made it easy.
I was doing "Home Video Editing and Production" back in the late 80's and early 90's on Amigas & VideoToasters in 24-bit RGB, preemptively multitasking, while the single-tasking Mac was still monochrome and ran on tiny, 12" B&W monitors that were incredibly overpriced. There was nothing comparable for the Mac at any price at the time, and that's where "Home Video Editing" actually got its start within the personal computer industry. Please, I understand that Mac fans have a fantasy that if it's any good it has to be made by Apple or else adopted by Apple--but that's just a fantasy.
By Palm ignoring a trend setting platform it runs the risk of writing itself out of history. Just as in luxury cars the high end features eventually trickle down to every day models. Palm will be lost. Now the funny thing to happen would be Microsoft making their Pocket PC fully syncable and compatible with Mac Office products and Mac OS.
Companies do not seek to support "trend setters" and "styles" and "fashion" for their own sake. They seek to support markets where they can make money. If they drop a market, like Apple, it's not because they are trying to make a political statement, but because they aren't making any money in the Mac market and, most likely, are losing money in it. That's the only reason companies support a given market only to later withdraw that support. Think about it--nothing else makes any sense, does it? Companies do not abandon the profitable markets they serve.