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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."
Maybe its time for apple to ressurect the Newton?
With Mac OS X getting stronger support from both nerds and end users and palm losing in its own niche, not supporting a platform with an existing userbase is pretty moronic.
maybe palmsource knows something we dont re: isync?
you're incorrectly intertwining market share with install base. The problem with that is that market share is a figure that relates directly to quarterly or yearly sales figures (something that translate well to Linux and OS X because these platforms tend to outlive their usefullness as compared to their Windows competition this compelling individuals to keep aging hardware longer and not make another sale) Linux has it even wose than OS X, because Linux is distributed for free, so in most cases... it wont translate to a "sale" Think of it like this... if a single Windows user buys 4 computers in 4 years and a Linux or OSX user buys 1 computer in that same time period, the way "marketshare" works is that Windows would have the lions share of the market while Linux and OSX users would be religated to a fraction of that figure EVEN THOUGH THE SAME NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WOULD BE USING THE COMPUTER. If the *Install Base* term were used instead, each platform would occupy the same number of users. Unfortunately, this misappropriation of words has caused the entire population to believe market share translates to install base. This must change. The alternative OS community must work in unison to break this trend by correctly using the appropriate term to describe one or the other.
Add to that that they need to dedicate developers to supporting a platform that less than 5% of customers use.
I'm sure that was their logic, but it's short sighted. Palm competes directly against Win CE--Mac users are a natural customer base. Case in point: I've been shopping for a cellphone/pda. Guess which ones I'm not looking at any more?
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
Je-zus, it's good someone said this. I don't know how many posts were at OSnews.com saying "pfft- I already have iSync! Palm Desktop blows!" Blatantly ignoring the fact that if you don't install Palm Desktop, you're SOL as far as syncing your Palm with your Mac.
A reply mentions that you "probably" won't need the palm desktop any longer- but have we heard anything about this? Is Apple going to buy out Mark/Space's Missing Sync? Not likely. What is more likely is that Palm users on the Mac will have to *buy* a copy of Missing Sync just to sync their Palm OS devices with their Macs... Bleh.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
But that iBook doesn't fit in your pocket. My primary computer right now is a "PDA" that runs Windows CE. Mind you, this isn't PocketPC but something more. Nor is it PalmOS. I need multitasking- after all, I use it as a computer, not an expensive datebook. But unlike the iBook I gave my girlfriend, I can fit it in my pocket, and even more easily, in my jacket or backpack without adding more than 0.5 kilo/1 lb to my person. 800x480 screen-mmm. Though, I don't have 20 GB of MP3s on it, certainly, nor a library of DVD rips. But I don't do DVD rips, and I have a MP3 cd player for tunes.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
Aside from the fact that Apple and other third party entities do a MUCH better job a syncing that Palm does on it's own hardware, I think this is a strange decision. In fact, this might be one of the few "no longer supporting Mac" statements I've heard in almost two years.
If anything, most companies are jumping into the ring on Mac support because of OS X being so versatile. Seems strange, but like I said-- you'll still be able to sync your Palm pilot, just not with their software.
If anything, it's bad PR and just another reason to ask yourself why you really need a PDA anymore. I believe a good cell phone with iSync would take care of it.
"Politicians find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the people."
Well it's better than dropping it in carbon freeze, I guess. Oh, wait. Different thread.
What probably happened was that Mac users are probably moving to the free Apple stuff like iCal and iChat and iWhatsis instead of Palm Desktop, and then by extension they'd be required by the userbase demand to make the Palms sync with the iApps. So they said, "Feh... whateva..."
I would almost wager on Apple putting a Palm sync feature into the next releases of their iApps. At this rate Apple might wind up making all the hardware AND the software for Macs.
Not that I'd turn my nose up at iBryce. C'mon, Apple. Everyone's grandma wants to do 3D rendering with deep texture editing.
--- Ban humanity.
Seems like a marginaly smart decision on Palms part. Palm is probally loosing money developing software for Mac, where Mark/Space can turn a profit as they are a smaller company with lower rent, smaller staff, etc. Palm could probally license Mark/Space's software to distribute with Palm devices for less money than it would cost to develop it in house. Of course that would require lawyers.
I wouldn't be suprised if Apple itself or 3rd party OSS developers make conduits for iSync too.
I'm going to go back in my box and will think within the limits of my box: MS Sucks Linux Good I read too much Slashdot.
I know that a lot of Mac users out there see this as some kind of conspiracy, but the truth of the matter is: if Mac Users were a viable market for Palm OS products, Palm OS would enjoy continued support on that platform. PalmOne, and PalmSource, are not run by fools. They're the only company in recent memory to beat Microsoft in direct competition. This decision can not have come as arbitrarily as a lot of the people on this forum speculate. Either there are some serious architecture issues with OS X that drive the cost of developing a software package that is comparable to the one available on Windows to an unprofitable level, or the market for OS X users is just so small, that it doesn't make it worth their while to pursue that segment. Considering that software for the Mac has been released for previous versions of Palm OS, I'd tend to believe that the prior is the actual reason.
I suppose there is a third option, and that is that Palm is aware of some new product that Apple is preparing and doesn't wish to commit resources to the development of a software package that may be trumped by some new Apple product. This doesn't make that much sense, in that Palm was able to wipe the floors with Wince, developed in house by MS. In that situation Palm couldn't give up on such a huge market segment and remain in business. With Apple, they could certainly give up on such a small segment without much concern. Apple has done so much with its branding that there is a risk that even if Palm could create a better product for the Apple market, it might not matter in the minds of Apple users.
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
Just because they use gcc/POSE/etc. does not mean they "support" Open Source development. In fact, quite the opposite. They tried to absorb those projects, and failed, because of the huge number of Free Software users and developers supporting them in their absense. In fact, Palm has been using OUR hard work for their own profitous gain. Now that has stopped.
We're already replacing the need for their tools, step-by-step, because they refuse to help us and cooperate with us. We're not asking for the source code to the OS, just the API to the subsystems they use, so we can extend them into other areas, thus reinforcing their market and their device sales.
They don't seem to want to help us, so our motivation to keep helping them, is significantly lower.
The solution, support a different vendor, one who does support our goals and our hard work.
I beg to differ. MissingSync/PocketPC is a hell of a nice piece of software, and isn't even the only game in town for Mac/PocketPC syncing.
Palm f'ed up by not including Mac support of some kind into Cobalt or the HotSync component. They're just removed one more differentiator between themselves and their largest competitor.
Rather than being able to market "The flat-out best PDA for Mac users who are going to buy a PDA", they've made a clear and bold statment that no longer will they support users who haven't already paid a nice big tithe to Palm's biggest competitor.
Once again for the business school dropouts: PalmSource has taken one simple step to ensure that every one of their customers has given PalmSource's #1 competitor money first.
Way to go, guys.
I try new versions of iSync every time Apple releases them. And yet iSync still takes 5-10 times longer to sync then the Palm HotSync software. This sucks because I *want* to use iCal, but I can't if I have to spend 5 minutes syncing (instead of 30 seconds).
I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. -- Thomas Jefferson
dude.
the usb market probably would have grown and done it's thing without the imac, but you know what? the instant the imac came out, the usb market exploded. yes, it's because all of the sudden there was a captive market of imac owners who needed printers and slow-ass usb hard drives, but the point was the imac was a major product whose sheer popularity created an entire market for usb devices.
the same could be argued for digital video editing--until apple created a market for 1394 minidv cameras by shipping millions of copies of imovie, no one was doing it at home except for uh, you, with your 1989 amiga. cut-ting edge, my man.
and i clearly had a centris 660av with a 25mhz 68040 and DSP chip that could capture s-video out of the box in 1993. it was just a pain, because the computer couldn't talk to the camera very well--there was s-link, but it never worked right. apple made it all just work(TM) and that's kind of what people give them cred for, y'know?
(interesting note about multitasking: when apple went to OS X, preemptive multitasking meant that the age-old behavior of all processes screeching to a halt when the mouse button was held down was finally done away with. there was actually a massive outcry because people in realtime production environments had used this little limitiation to their advantage, essentially starting and stopping the computer as they needed. i just thought that was interesting.)
london is drowning and i live by river
Jpilot is the answer. Not only is it a near-perfect replacement for the Palm Desktop, thanks to the pilot-link backend it can do things the latter can't, including synching over Wi-Fi.