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PDA Sales Fall for Third Year in Row
A reader writes "Reports ZDNet
on how PDA sales have slipped for a third year in a row now at a five-year low." Anyone have numbers for sales of cell phones? My cell phone has almost every piece of functionality I got from my PDA 3 years ago. Plus a crappy camera. Still no dice roller.
This doesn't surprise me. I am selling my T3 Tungsten Palm right now, and it's because I just don't use it. I mean, I *want* to use it, or, more accurately, I want to *need* to use it, but it's just not something I keep with me constantly.
I am torn between being geeky and liking tons of devices, but also moving toward simplification as a central theme in my life. Simplication, in the world of gadgets, unfortunately means using a single, do-it-all device. That for me equates to my Blackberry, which I am now syncing with my OS X machine (I refuse to be a M** person).
Anyway, that's the trend I think -- single devices doing everything. Few people want to lug around multiple contraptions.
dmiessler.com -- grep understanding knowledge
It is a technology trend, noted by a study at UPenn that new technology almost always has a dip after its first big increase. So the jury is still out.
I personally had a Zaurus SL5500 which suffered from stupid autonomy problems as well as a poor ergonomy and a lack of decent performance (try to edit a decently sized Excel sheet in his spreadsheet).
So, I swapped it for a read-only PDA : An iPod, that is.
I think people now either get a smartphone or an iPod for such needs.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
I guess PDA is not enough. Cell phone, camera, mp3 player, wifi and PDA would be nice, tough...
not really a shock.
Ehta nyeh IBM, ehta Macintosh!
If your phone has J2ME (it likely does) you could probably get it to run jSimpleDice.
TFA states that no Blackberry or Blackberry-like devices were counted.....Could this have pulled the numbers up?
I think the line between pda/cell phone is starting to blur....Might as well have counted the Blackberry....Hell, you can do most of what you need to on a PDA on a cell phone these days. And they come free/relatively cheap with new service
thewldisntenuff
My MythTV HowTo
Another thought is that modern mobile phones have more akin with PDAs (albiet in a different format package) than they do with older generation phones and that the 'phone' feature was the killer applications.
It has a large display, much better quality. I can put games on it (without paying Verizon for them), easy to hookup to my computer, much more memory, more functional calendar, todo list, address book.
All around it's better.
butcomplete lack of quality products on the market.
If a company came out with a decent priced good PDA... it would be a whole new market. Unfortunately, there are none.
[dream]I'm still hoping Apple will eventualy step up with a PDA, Phone, Mp3 player deal that will knock everyone's socks off.[/dream]
I've been thinking about getting one and syching it with OS X. How well have you been finding it works ? Often things are a little bumpier for OS X since people make hardware with windows in mind,
BTW. nice highlander reference.
that are replacing pda functionality. Hell, even the iPod has most of the functions of a basic pda sans an input method. I use it as my pda because my phone sucks, I just plug it into the cradle at night and it charges, updates my calendar, to do list, contacts etc.
Might not be good for people who constantly have to write stuff down, but for me it does what I need to do, oh yeah and plays music.
Monstar L
I took mine back when I found out that you could not point them at a settlement and see on the readout how many humanoid life forms there were in it, and that they were not capable of detecting nearby warp drive fields.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
?
wtf?
just download or code a j2me, c++, python, opl or vb program to do it..
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
I'm using a Treo 600. For all those out there with PDA2Ks and Kyocera Devices that are both a PDA and a cellphone, does that contribute to both?
really is a combination girlfriend/cook/investment banker/porn star, and the market will really take off.
My cell phone has almost every piece of functionality I got from my PDA 3 years ago. Plus a crappy camera. Still no dice roller.
Sure, but can you use it like a CB radio (DJ Convoy)? Is it Shatner-compliant?
I only use my PDA nowadays for reading ebooks, nothing else.
Hail to the king, baby!
I am currently workign on a project where PDAs would be used in the industry. I helped a student with a thesis and attached project a year ago and I've had a HP Jornada 620 since 2000.
For every generation of the PDA the operating systems have gotten much slower, bloated, hiding necessary functions, doing the usual MS oversimplification of the interface (hiding file extensions, not actually closing the apps etc).
Add more crashes, data loss and an abysmal battery duration and I'd say it's no wonder why the PDA sales drop, especially with phones getting more and more PDA functionality.
PDAs never got their killer application, which could have been a few of: phone capability, superior data input method compared to phones, instant messaging, mail, cheaper packet based data transfer or porn.
I can only see one way PDAs can go, and that is to be smaller, have a longer battery duration and have phone and instant messaging support and by that definitely Edge/GPRS/UMTS or other 3G telephony and data transfer capability, in effect becoming a lot of things at once.
The only way this can be achieved is with a total rewrite or replacement of PocketPC/WindowsCE
I work at RadioShack, and almost every cell-phone we carry has PDA-like functionality. There is little room for 3rd party apps, but every one contains a calendar, address book, memo pad, and the ability to recieve or send email. Unless you're an active hotsyncer, why bother?
Also, do Palm-based cell-phones or PDAphones count in these numbers?
What the heck is a 'sig'?
Modern mobile phones have proper HTTP (not WAP) browsers and sites formatted for PDA fit on their little screens quite well. Not many people are using PDAs to surf the Internet, but it's worth keeping the PDA sites going - if you had one - to cater for the new style phones. Here's the cute little Google search page for PDAs.
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
I bought a Tablet PC instead of a new laptop to fill the need of both a PDA and a Laptop given circumstances. It's done that job well, and while it's not as small, it's small enough to keep nearby and weighs so little (it's a slate) that it's easy to hold with one hand.
It's also a hell of a lot easier to work with email and web tasks than on a little 4" 640x480 (at best) display.
When the PalmPilot came out I found that it could do 90% of what I could do on my Newton in a smaller package. I was using Grafiti on my Newton anyway, so it didn't make sense to keep using it.
Then I stopped taking notes on the Palm and just used it for calendar and contacts. One more thing to remember to take with me.
Now I can sync my (iCal) calendars and my address book to my iPod. I take that little white gem with me pretty much everywhere anyway, and it's doing 80-90% of what my PalmPilot did. And it "just works" on my Mac OS X box.
So it isn't a surprise that this is happening: few people really need to read and write email on the Blackberry. Can you not be disconnected for a few minutes a day?
Smartphone says are strong and this affects PDA sales. The only thing I ended up using my PDA for was GPS software, I have that on my phone now. I always keep my phone with me, my PDA is too bulky to be pocketable.
MAC is supposed to natively talk to palm devices. I do not have first had knowledge, but Mom is the Technology coordinator at her gradeschool where everything is Macintosh. She has an older Symbol scanner/palm like they use in hospitals to help keep track of hardware. I know she didn't have to load any new software to get the palm and the Mac to talk.
I am using Windows and Linux, but I gave up trying to use a palm a while ago. I have a Garmin IQue that I really need to get working again, especially since I have a new job that puts me on the road a bit.
I hope someone has first hand information out there.
Phil
Laugh, it's good for you!
Not surprised...
I had a Palm Vx. Most stable piece of hardware I ever owned. But, then it got stolen from me at my workplace. (Bastards). I replaced it with a Palm Zire 71. Nice color screen. Software was slightly unstable. Sometimes it would freeze up while doing something (usually while playing a game).
I just replaced it with a Tungsten T5. The software is total crap. It fried its own memos database during a hotsync. Luckily I had a backup of that... and, oh yeah... Palm dropping the Universal Connector platform... real smart idea there.
Idiots. I'm not surprised.
--You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
Just like everyone is saying, cellphones are providing many of ther services that PDA's do for cheaper with the cell phone capability. This, in theory, reduces the ammount of demand (thus lower sales). What will be interesting to see is if this does follow the standard model and drive prices down.
... and the batter lasted twice as long....I still think the answer is to combine all these things into mini chips to put into peoples brains and then you don't even have to worry about carrying anything around!
And for the record, I liked my old non-flip phone that I could smash on the floor, drop in a toilet, etc and it would still work
I have been in ukraine for around half a year now and can say this, if cell phone sales are skyrocketing its the Russians doing it. In a country where the average income per year if a littl less that 500 US dollars at least 90% of the population that I see not only have cell phones, but never stop using them. I personally can't see spending a 5th of my income for the year on a phone but then again I wasn't born here. If scientists discover in 10 years that cellphones cause cancer it will be because Ukraine has turned into one giant tumor.
Crawl This - http://darkry.net/test/test.php
I'll bet the total number of devices with PDA like functionality sold is still growing. 'People' know and understand phones so a phone with a built in PDA is a big seller.
On the other hand, 'people' think PDAs are for geeks, so a PDA with a built in phone stays on the shelves, even if it were identical to the phone with the built in PDA.
On most high end phones now, the actual phone probably represents less than a third of the functionality, but it's still called a phone. That's amrketing.
If it stores my contacts, diary, memos and whatnot, I don't care what the marketdroids choose to call it, it's a PDA.
Reginald Molehusband. Edinburgh, Scotland
I just got a new PDA actually - a Tungsten E. I don't really need all the "bells and whistles" of some of the multi-media PDA's and converged cell-phone/PDA's out there right now. What I needed was new calculator. For a bit more than what a good calculator cost, the Tungsten E also provides the following:
-
A way for me to keep a material/hardware reference commonly used in my industry right on hand via SD card (FAA document MMPDS-01 in case your wondering).
-
A "lightweight" Octave (LyME) for more complex calculations (I use NeoCal otherwise).
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An organizer that's independant of my office scheduler so I can integrate my personal and work schedules without storing personal information on my office computer.
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A means to check my home e-mail without storing personal data on my work machine. (although I could use the web).
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A way to securely store my ever increasing number of passwords, pin #'s, etc. (yes, my handheld is password protected).
-
So, for me, it works out. I thought about getting a converged phone/PDA, but I take my phone places I'd never take my PDA. A phone can be replaced, the data I have stored on my PDA would be a much more severe loss.
-
-
Anyway, my 2 cents.
A goal is a dream with a deadline
Simplication, in the world of gadgets, unfortunately means using a single, do-it-all device.
That will simplify one's cartage/storage needs - using one device is pretty straightforward, after all - but can very easily complicate other aspects.
I carry a laptop, a PDA (Clie), and a mobile phone. I don't need all of them all the time, so I carry what is necessary. However, if one item goes south I will still have the other two. If the all-in-one device breaks it becomes an all-are-gone. I find this unacceptable - YMMV.
Small all-in-one devices also frequently suffer from substandard input options and user interfaces. A fair compromise might be a PDA/phone device with an optional full-size (e.g. folding) keyboard, but that still leaves the user with the risk of losing all functionality with one mishap.
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
you figure a lot of people that were happy to carry a Palm Pilot may have upgraded to a Treo (or one of the other Palm OS phones) and those do not count as PDA sales either.....
i have not carried my Palm in a few years, but if i was still willing to deal with the bulk of it i would have gotten a Treo already. my cell phone is not all that smart, but it keeps more contact info than just phone number, schedule, memo pad (to do list, shopping lists) and some other stupid things. i miss the Palm OS and the bonus apps.... but i do not miss the size of it.
My cell phone goes almost everywhere with me. It is tiny and light and has all important contacts. But it isn't a complete replacement for my PDA.
The problem is that I don't have any need to replace my PDA. I have a 5 year old Handspring Visor that still does everything I want it to do. The only really important things I use it for are playing chess (lets see a really good program for a cell phone), storing passwords and important information in a locked database, and storing config information and miscellaneous notes about my server. These are not things I NEED a PDA for however. It is just convienient to use it for that. If I lost or broke it I would probably buy another one cheaply, but it has worked without any problems for 5 years now.
On the other hand, after a year with my cell phone I am wondering if it might be time to upgrade. I live in Japan and there are ever-increasing discounts on the price of new phones based on how long you have owned your old one. I know it sounds stupid, but I am thinking of changing to a bright red phone with a better display rather than the miniture black one I have now. That kind of upgrading likely has something to do with why cell phone sales are brisk and PDA sales are not.
664.5 million units in 2004, a 29% rise compared to 2003. Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap /20050129/ap_on_hi_te/cell_phone_shipments
be a (geeky) man and flip a coin repeatedly for random binary numbers.
You call it excessive, I call it ambitious.
But the Newton community is growing!
must... stay... awake...
I have a VX4400 as well...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vx4400support/
Good luck,
A goal is a dream with a deadline
Not only are mutli-functional cell phones talking away from pda sales but, now that we have wireless in our building, everyone in my office just carries their laptops to our meetings. No syncing necesary; just type your notes straight on the network. I do keep mine around (mainly out of force of habit) but I'm one of the few that do.
"We shall party like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean." - HedonismBot
i need more than a few hours of battery life !
;-)
I still don't see any reason for a color screen, but I'd be willing to pay for it if colour didn't come at the cost of battery life.
I do use my palm m500 a lot, for contacts and calendar and ebooks, and very rarely for email or SMS.
I could use a better screen (more contrast & rez), and maybe remote internet so I could surf from my bed, and auto-synch to my PC.
Still waiting after all these years
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
Therefore it isn't much of a surprise than standalone PDA's are dying when my current pda/phone combo is nearly the same size as a Nokia 7610 and comes with a decent input method (which always was the killer issue with using a standard phone pad to enter details), sends and receieves phone calls/sms/mms and works as a PocketPC with a large base of useful applications. A Nokia simply doesn't cut it and the SonyEricsson P9xx is only discounted because it's syncing with Outlook isn't particulary great (especially with the categorisation of tasks and notes).
A friend of mine is selling his iPaq after getting a Blackberry from work. Sure it doesn't have a NES emulator, PocketScumm and a few other of the niceties - but it does everything he needs.
I'm going to really hate having to give this back.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
1. Larger screen
2. Touchscreen/stylus
3. Price
I bought my Tungsten | E less than a year ago (April 2004). After less than three months, the chrome had completely chipped off the "down" button, last week its stereo jack stopped working, and the battery is on its way to dying.
I went to the Palm website to see about at least getting my TE's stereo jack fixed. Turns out the warranty only spans 90 days(!), after which repairs cost a $125 flat-fee(!!). Coincidence that this is almost as much as some new Palm handhelds? The support section of their website offers the following "advice:" Huh? Why would I spend $499 on a "new one" when I can easily obtain spare parts from a third party?. I smell the work of a MBA.
(I ended up opening up the Tungsten myself and soldering the headphone jack connections back into place. There was barely any solder on them to begin with. Hmmmmm....)
Now don't get me wrong, I like my TE and I use it a lot. It's just too bad that Palm designed a device that isn't meant to be used that much!
For $200 + shipping, you'd think they could give me something a little more sturdy.
I don't know about anyone else but I've found my Sony Clie SJ30 to be incredibly useful. Besides scheduling, with a 128meg memory stick, I use it as an English, philosophy, and music dictionary. With a gps transmitter I've used my pda to route and drive those maps on the road. I've also used all the basic scheduling as well. As far as I know I know I haven't heard of many cell phones that can be used for all those purposes I listed above except scheduling. I know there are cellphones now that can be used as a gps map, but I've heard it's slow, and you have to pay a monthly fee to use that service.
I still use my one and only PDA, a Palm III. I used to try out 3rd party applications, but hardly do anymore. When I rode the subway to work, I'd download the news and read it, but now, notes to self, alarms, and contact list are its purposes for me. I don't expect I'll buy a newer all-in-one PDA/Web browser/MP3 player/balance-my-checkbook device. But then again, I don't even have a cellphone (you ignorant clod!).
It all depends where you are looking.
If you look at the smart phone sales figures they are skyrocketing, only stand-alone PDA unit sales are dropping.
The Register has an article that counts both sales figures together and has a nice table of figures at the end. Nokia alone shipped 4,949,5590 units with PDA functionality in Q4 2004.
I am a heavy PDA user, and have been for years (about 1996). Yes, combined devices (PDA/phone, Phone with PDA functions, Blackberry, etc) have gained over standard PDAs, but I do not see that as the only trend.
There have not been any really large innovations in the hardware in some time (and not in the OS either).
Big improvements in the past: Larger Memory, Color Screens, High Resolution Screens, Expansion Cards, Fast Processors
I've been through a lot of these, and they made we want to upgrade, or others possibly to want to get one. Now the hardware improvements are much less important, the OS and built-in software improvements are more subtle, and some of the players have been getting out of the market (Sony out of the US PalmOS market, for one).
So fewer manufacturers. Less improvements. Less reason to upgrade. And when there aren't as many new models, prices don't drop as quickly so getting the "nice" PDA still takes a lot of cash.
It's 6ood xo see that somehbv4 else is vsing a Nevvton t0 make Slabbbot entries #
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I could have told you this the day Palm Pilots went on sale. You see, I had a PDA before most people knew what PDA's were. I had a HP Omni Go.
It had everything palm pilots had: Calendar, address book, to-do list, games, calculator - oh yeah, a full keyboard in addition to the glyph style hand writing recognition.
I used it for a while then I realized it wasn't helping me. Rather, it was hindering me.
I find that a smartphone is just too small a form factor for me to be effective with when using it as a PDA. The PDA fits nicely between the phone and a tablet (which is a little too large IMHO).
If you need a PDA, you need it and for some I guess the phone form factor isn't an issue if your primary need for the PDA is contact/task management. The smaller size does make it less useful for things that require more interaction (documents, notes, etc.) Toss in a small wireless keyboard and they are great for notes, quick documents and the like.
Could the demise of PDAs be contributed to VNC and RDC? The more we access our "central" computers remotely, the less we need to have our contact information handy.
Before I bought a PDA, I never used to carry everyone's phone number around with me where ever I went. After years of carrying my pda around barely using it for anything other than a calendar (I had all my friends numbers memorized anyway), it did not seem useful anymore. Actually, it got the most use when I was doing comparison shopping, but I found using a pen and paper was much faster than typing on a tiny keyboard. Low tech was still the better solution for me.
But where is the innovation? I want a few-gigas-hardrive (those I hear from toshiba might do the trick...), a nice-to-have-640x480-screen, decent battery, GSM/GPRS or UMTS, and even an integrated projector to do some presentations... I want a real personal assistant that makes me use it, or I will (again) leave my PDA at home and just bring along my cellular.
It seems the PDAs that come out simply don't have anything really new, besides an extra Mhz from a new Intel processor.
The company I work for decided to call our primary software product "PDA", as an acronym for "Production Data Analysis". As I am currently working on this software right this second, the title of this article surprised me. What, huh, our software sales are slipping? Why would slashdot care?
TLAs are far too overloaded already, but bad marketing decisions keep pushing more meanings on them.
another report, from Canalys, shows that the recent trend is over 100% growth (doubling) in smartphones, while "PDAs" without phones shrank by about 5%. So clearly the trend is a transition to smartphones, rather than "PDAs are dying" - smartphones are PDAs, too. IDC's report is phrased to make Blackberry look good, without even mentioning their #1 competitor, Palm, which is the leader in the PDA/smartphone dual marketplace. #1 smartphone seller Nokia is surfing the same wave. But the real story, that PDAs, and Palm, have transitioned to smartphones, is the kind of story that the mainstream media missed when networking happened to PCs in the early 1990s. While the media was fascinated by their favorite corporate success, Microsoft's desktop rise, they all missed the Internet. Perhaps a similar benevolent neglect will help give the mobile Web the element of surprise when it delivers its own killer apps in the next couple of years.
--
make install -not war
that uses my Palm? My phone book is on my cell especially now that I have a phone without IR and I can't beam to it. My calendar is on Exchange/Outlook at work, but I keep my personal cal on my Palm. I use todo's and keep a lot of notes on the Palm because it replaces the 20 little scraps of paper I normally carry. If I need to remember something, I can even take a snapshot of it instead of taking the time to write it down. I read ebooks on my Palm whenever I'm waiting for a meeting, a car repair, the workday to end, or a corn-eyed brown trout. It's much smaller than even a single paperback and gives me the choice between reading Lord of the Rings or Thinking in Java. I can work on my pathetic chess skills or just stare at a photo of Gabrielle Reese on it.
A couple years back (and even today!) people whined about how Apple should make a PDA -- bring back the Newton, or whatever. Steve Jobs repeatedly said Apple isn't interested in that market; now we see why.
Sam
... 5mx or Revo plus upgraded with decent mobile phone, headset socket and bluetooth. Colour screen may also fit in there. Then I would buy them all and make a rise in sales! Without a decent keyboard (being always and immediately available) there is no way to use the (vertical) PDAs longer than a couple of struggling months to realise that it takes more than it gives. All of my friends who were using ipaqs, palms and similar stuff have long dropped them. PSION using friends are still in love with their aging beauties...
Now, mod me down freely. My karma can't get any worse...
I mean really.
According to the numbers, http://www.canalys.com/pr/2005/r2005012.htm smartphones sell more each quarter than PDAs sell all year.
The smartphone market is still young and growing at a blistering pace, while the PDA market is in decline.
But I just found myself going to paper more often. I think the main problem was the need to sometimes sketch a small picture of something along with some text, and there was no easy way to do that. The PDA was always a solution looking for a problem.
--- Ban humanity.
Remember that old word "perfected?" PDAs were perfected years ago. They do everything they need to do. They do it fairly well. Almost everyone that needs one has it already, they are durable, and nobody desperately needs any spiffy new features that it doesn't already have.
This just in: sales of pencils, shoelaces, and clothespins are not growing, either.
Despite my warnings, my wife bought a $30 battery-powered PDA with no PC connectivity about five years ago. She loved it. It did everything she needed. Then she failed to change the batteries in time and lost everything. She hasn't used one since. When a high-quality PDA with a reasonable way to sync to a PC drops to about $30, she'll probably by another one.
Me, I'm happy with my black-and-white--correction, dark-green-snot-on-light-green-snot--Palm. Why would I buy anything more? It's not as if my friends' addresses will be all that much more legible in color.
(Plus, I haven't checked all the latest models--why would I?--but it utterly baffles me why anyone would prefer a model with a rechargeable battery that needs daily charging--a battery that will deteriorate and require difficult and expensive replacement in about three years--over a model that runs six months on a set of cheap AAA's I can pick up in any supermarket checkout line).
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
I had, successively, a Palm Vx, Sony-Ericsson P800 and now a Qtek S100. The latter two are not "PDAs" as such, but did not have anything to envy to any PDA. While I enjoyed the Vx a lot (probably the best Palm Pilot ever), I soon stopped carrying it around (keys + wallet + cell phone + palm = too much). It probably the best organizer ever, but there's just not enough room in my pockets... So I was overjoyed when the P800 came out. It really is a fantastic device. The form factor is ideal, and it's a really good phone. The best part is the sony "jogdial" (that small wheel on the side, whatever it's called) that allows you to do all you need with one finger. But the sync could be improved a lot, it only synchronised basic items with Outlook. Furthermore, there was no easy (or even logical) way to access phone specific items, such as contact photos. None the less, I loved this phone and kept it for two years until I broke it a while ago (bad fall). I thought of buying a P910, but SE had disapointed me with its marketing strategy. They never improved the sync and the P910 just seemed like a slightly upgraded P800. In addition, I had a really bad experience with a sony VAIO portable CD burner, which I paid a fortune 2 months before the release of XP, and never got XP drivers. So my impression of SE and Sony is that they release wonderful product from time to time, but don't expect any improvement or support for their products from them. The Qtek S100 (HTC Magician) goes around under several names, but it's basically a tiny Pocket PC with some mobile phones capabilities. So the Pocket PC part is excellent, albeit standard. The phone part is a bit disappointing however. It works fine, but the sound quality and form factor is not as good as the P800. I'm extremely happy with all it's pocket pc features (including skype) and wifi connectivity (with a special SD card) but I am disappointed by the phone. Overall, I would recommend it, but be aware that the phone experience is adequate but not fantastic.
Cell phone sales have risen 35%, and Nokia leads with 46 million cellphones sold in the 2nd quarter alone. That means Nokia sells approximately 185million cell phones a year, and thats only one company. Just mind boggling.
0 booming/2100-1016_3-5345047.html
http://news.com.com/Cell%20phone%20sales%20keep%2
I can't get the hang of "graffiti" and I don't like typing by stabbing at a tiny on-screen keyboard with a stick. These days, I only use my Palm T3 for Acid-Solitaire, the alarm clock and playing MP3 files.
So how is it surprising that sales have dropped now that 99% of those people have their PDAs?
Shoot Pixels, Not People!
I'm with another poster, where my old Palm m515 is only good for a few games and e-books on flights where there isn't really room to unlimber my laptop.
Of course it would really, really help if Verizon would 'open' the phone, so it wasn't a fee to play any games on it. C'mon, at least my old Nokia had MasterMind, Concentration and Snakes!
But what would I really want? I've been debating to myself recently whether I'd want a 'does everything' box, or a Bluetooth (or its successor)-controlled personal network sitting on my (cough) utility belt.
MP3/Movie Player -- I figure these will be up to 200GB by Xmas 2006, a 40GB player should be squeezable into a phone and still leave space for a decent battery life. This and the screen will *have* to be part of the 'main' unit even if I go with the utility belt scheme.
Headset should be wireless, for both music listening and making calls. An eyephone is probably more than I can ask for (would that be more bandwidth than Bluetooth can handle?).
But the other features...
Gotta have an OS that will permit loading personally-chosen software. Linux, some portable Windows OS of the week, or Palm would all be acceptable to me. Gotta run MAME.
I can see that with decent wireless networking (WiMax), this could be my PC, portable at all times if the voice-activated, thumbboard and touchscreen all work well together (ooh, touchscreen is something my phone needs too). A trip to an internet cafe would be just to have a bigger screen and keyboard to use with my truly personal computer.
Camera? Sounds like a good case for a utility belt. There's no way to strap a decent zoom lens to a PDA. Now we're talking higher-speed wireless, if we want automatic transfer to the main unit.
GPS? Probably on the base. Today's phone-based stuff won't be too useful out of cell range for the geocachers. You can already get headless bluetooth modules for Palm/Win PDAs.
Anything else on a possible utility belt? heart rate or blood sugar monitoring, laser pointer, multitool, avalanche airbag, hydration pack, pencil...
Design for Use, not Construction!
I have a Tungsten T3 from work, and usually the only thing I use it for is checking the time (I don't wear a watch), occasionally using the calendar or playing Black Jack and Solitaire. The T3 is woefully inadequate as a game device because of the button placement, and the lack of quality games.
Now, if there was some way to combine the Palm OS with a Gameboy Advance or Nintendo DS, you'd really have something!
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Smartphones will continue to get better and PDAs, like boomboxes and those camcorders you used to attach to a VCR, will be another personal electronics form-factor that just won't make much sense in a few years.
I saved my pennies and bought a Message Pad 2000 when it came out. Then I upgraded it to the 2100 model. It was the best PDA ever despite it's unweildy size. If you wear cargo pants everywhere it might be considered a "pocket" computer.
Somewhere around 1997 a friend let me use an IBM PDA which was just a re-branded Pilot. It was pretty slick, but the funcationality was nowhere near the Newton. The biggest benefit of the Pilot was it's size. It truly was a pocket computer.
I ran out and bought a Palm III when it came out, and about a year later I got a Palm V. Then in late 2003 I picked up an HP 1945 iPaq running PocketPC.
None of them functioned as well as the Newton, but they did "okay". I would use each device for a few months and then find myself slowly moving back to a pad of paper and a pen. Without fail, I abandoned every PDA I tried, though the Newtons held my useage the longest. Their form factor made them difficult to keep nearby. Now I have this tiny iPaq which I can easily keep nearby and I have no desire to do so.
I've since bought some nice fountain pens, and I take joy in stroking the nib across the page with the ink trailing smoothly behind. I had to learn to not press as hard as I do with a Bic, as to not break the nib!
I am off the PDA scene until Apple gets back in. They had it nailed years ago before technology was at a place where it was small enough to carry everywhere easily. Once they do another PDA I'll take another look - they'll do it right.
Until then I keep a bottle of ink on my desk and a Parker in my pocket. It's also fun to watch the faces of others when you pull out a fountain pen in a meeting. Many people even older than I have never used one and everyone wants to check it out.
http://www.infobaseventures.com/blog/categories/ma rketResearchStatistics/
According to his quote of the AP article, 164 million cell phones were sold in the second quarter of '04, while 2.2 million PDA's were sold in third quarter '03 (sales were down by 2nd quarter '04).
At the top of the same page, he links to an article which claims that 1 million copies of Opera for Symbian-based smart phones were downloaded and installed by the end of September last year, which shows another interesting trend: smart phones replacing Wintel desktops, especially noticeable in Japan and Korea.
According to several articles I've read (notably one over at TheRegister.com), the Korean government has launched a program called the "Post-PC Era" to encourage development of smart phone technologies to replace business lost to the decline of the desktop (and PDAs as well). Meanwhile, I read an interesting article (at 'Japan Review' online, I believe) noting that basically, nobody under age 30 in that country uses desktops or PDAs anymore. They've been replaced for an entire generation with smart phones.
Another way to look at this: there are estimated to be around 600 million Windows-running x86 machines on the planet--including every box made since that initial IBM Personal Computer (1982 I believe) which is still functioning and capable of running one version of Windows or another. In contrast, more new smart phones were sold in a single year last year than all the running x86 Windows boxes in existence.
(begin incendiary comment)Am I the only one seeing a connection here: Windows CE has become the biggest OS on PDA's. And PDA sales have been dropping... hmmmm.... :) (end incendiary comment)
I bought a PDA over a year ago and I thought I would be using it constantly, well I was wrong. I found that the hand recognition software wasn't THAT good and the little keyboards are exactly what they are "LITTLE keyboards." So I've not used it in months and I agree with most people saying that they have most of the essential functionality on their cell phones. Has snyone looked at the upcoming cell phones from overseas? They are even starting to run linux with managing software for email, appointments, and so on. I think the days of the PDA are almost done.
Ubuntu, the way linux should be.
Try Ubuntu FREE! --
This guy I used to work for used his iPaq to make him appear to be constantly busy. He refused to turn off the crazy sounds because its sole purpose was to inflate his perceived importiance to the organization. Beep! I'm importiant. Buzz, got 1000 things to do!
This is the same guy who came into every meeting jabbering on his cell phone before saying, "I've got to go, I'm in a meeting. I'll get back to you", slamming down a huge briefcase full of worthless printouts and filtering through them before settling down and pronouncing, "Ok, let's begin."
He was a master among masters. Never did anything, but his bosses deemed him invaluable.
I have a T-Mobile PocketPC. I've had it for almost 3 years now. It *is* a PDA plus a phone. I like it a lot except for few problems with it. 1) I will NEVER buy another PDA/Phone or whatever else unless it has a *REAL* qwerty keyboard on it. Using a stylis and a virtual keyboard really blows. 2) I've had (3) of these PocketPCs (replacement when something goes wrong with the one I have) One thing that is consistant screwing up is any word that starts with the letter B it likes to capitalize no matter where in a sentense it appears. (annoys me beyond belief) 3) The fact that if I'm writing a text message and I use an apostrophe it errors on the first attempt on a word telling me that I'm using a non-supported character. (then I just retype it and it accepts it)
I got the PocketPC because it had MS Word and MS Excel, but I find I do not use them. Instead I find using the regular "Note" (notepad) which is plain text much easier. Word and Excel are very limited in use compared to the full version (obviously) and are just not worth the trouble. I've looked at the Sidekick 2 and the new Blackberry. They both look great. I cannot decide which one I will go with. Although, extended use of the first version Sidekick's ear peice seems to screw up after a few months (or weeks in some cases) Living in New York, hah you have to use it when you're driving. (not that you shouldn't anyhow) Hopefully, the Sidekick 2s ear piece jack is of much better quality.
from the future..
Obviously the loss of Mars research installation and its personel have hit
sales of PDA's.
Usual sales to the installation were good - with alot of those attributed to replacements
for ones that had been lost or stolen.
The influx of 2nd hand PDA's from the single surving marine from the base has also been reported
to have affected the current trend..
I'm on my fifth PDA (a Tapwave Zodiac) and it's beautiful. Long battery life, BT wireless, dual SD slots, large screen. It combines all the features I want, and I go everywhere with it. What I can't understand is how people will settle for matchbook-sized screens on "smart" phones, dimunitive amounts of storage, and craptastic input methods. Then there's the biggest gotcha-- the monthly fee. Basically they keep your device's functionality hostage, predicated on your ability to keep making payments. No payment == a crippled device, semi-permanently tied your wireless provider's network. At least I can depend on my PDA working without the need to keep paying each month.
When my Palm rechargable batteries died, I went to a Blackberry. No looking back. I can even IM from it!
What I would really like ot see happen is build a simple phone and pda functionality into an Ipod or similar device.
I don't like carrying a bunch of things and the interface on phones is cumbersome. The things I need/want are:
- very large portable hard drive - cell phone w/ wireless headphones - pda - music player - email(maybe?)
Put something like this out and even if it is a little bigger than an Ipod I would buy it.
I know so many people that own pdas and never actually use them. the concept is great but the usability is the killer. Its just not really viable for most people to use them all the time.
You can probably get a used palm 3 for $20 or $30 and they are perfectly adequate PDAs. Why not just get her one of those? Personally I do prefer a PDA with rechargable batteries, like the visor edge, but now I carry a cellphone with a Li-Ion battery. Since I play games and take pictures, I do have to charge it every night, but Motorola made a cradle that you can hook a USB charging cable to, so I have one of those.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Seriously my phone costs $0. My Palm is quite old but I could replace it for less than $200 bucks. If I want those functions in my phone I have to pay AT LEAST twice that amount. On the other hand there are already crude features like that in my phone but no way to connect them to my PC or any other service I can think of.
I mean how many of you have a cheap candy bar or flip phone that has an obscure data port connector in the bottom that no one can describe to you what it does or sell you a cable of any kind that will connect to it? Let alone show you some software that will at least sync to a Palm desktop or something quick and dirty?
I bet the numbers are huge.
On the other hand I think that people are discovering that PDAs are for the most part unusable devices on their own. Everyone has struggled for years with Graffiti, T9, Fitaly and all the others. Data entry just sucks. And when you're done entering data, then what? Are you really going to trade your stock portfolio i real time with one? Are you really going to bust out that Powerpoint presentation?
Nah, you're going to browse the sports pages, the weather report, CNN and that's about it besides some games.
So PDS sales are decreasing because PDA function really hasn't increased in 5 years. We're still limited in the same ways doing the same halfassed things we were doing 5 years ago.
I'll tell you what I use my PDA for: Avantgo, the address book, a DB of passwords and special calendars I need. Everything else is a waste of time.
But - if phone companies could provide this level of functionality I'd dump my PDA in a second. Even with the smaller screen and reduced battery life.
Does anyone find the utility of a PDA somewhat limited? I mean the form factor is somewhat limited and what do you actually use it for >? Contacts? Schedule? I have owned 5 PDAs and I simply find them too muc work to effectively use.
Thalasar
eBooks (reference, fiction, etc) Too bad most eBooks are DRM'd into extinction.
I have an Axim X30 which I no longer use since purchasing a Blackberry 7520. Simplifying is what I have been doing.
A PDA that isn't connected to the net almost seems pointless to me. I want to be able to access my data/email anywhere/anytime.
Sean Milheim
iDREUS Corporation
I am pretty sure your pen is ideal for:
....technophobes ....
-Search one entry amongst 200+ in a phone list.
-Keep encrypted information accesible.
-Play and analyze chess.
-Find the fastest route in a subway network (London, Mexico City, Hambutg, etc.)
-Check the kamasutra's positions to impress a nice lady when it matters.
Etc., etc., etc.
Keep your pen matey
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
why should they buy new ones?
people don't need Moore's Laws regarding simple tasks as jotting down an address or write down the to-do list for the day... heck, my dad did that with his PC-XT 20 years ago.
If PDA makers are so worried, well then stop producing so many, like it's too hard?
I bought a PDA specifically for use as an MP3 player (ok, and handheld gaming device). Yes, it's more money than an iPod - especially if I want a 1GB or 2GB memory card. But for that price I get a much more sophisticated music player, can play games, and organize stuff. I've really come to like listening to music while playing Bejewelled on my ride home from work - so much that I no longer even desire a dedicated mp3 player.
And the fact that so many people have iPod's now make me sick. Every time a middle aged man pulls out his iPod and white earphones with a cocky attitude ("hey look at me, I own an iPod, yes I'm cool") I get a little closer to vomiting.
Every time I bought a Palm device, it was obsolete 3 months later and people stopped making accessories for it. Remember the m500? Neither does anyone else.
Plus gratuitous changes, like the different side rail on the Tungsten so that the hard case for the Tungsten won't fit an m500.
That's why my next "PDA" will be something I can run Linux or Python on, and PalmOS is on the list of "things not to have"
One of the reasons why a lot of people who bought a PDA leave it behind after a few months of (mis)use is that they don't really know how to use it. Oh, they may know how to use the software on it, but they don't see how it makes any difference at all in their daily life, so they put it aside, considering it a waste of money.
I bought a Palm IIIx in 2000 and still use it to this day, multiple times every day. While the phone book is useful, my main usage is concentrated around two things: calendar and ebooks. Every day of the week, I enter the the time I get to and leave work and write a short summary of what I did that day; very useful if I need to know when I worked on a particular problem and *searchable*, so I can easily find that info later on. I also write my future appointments, meetings, grocery lists as well as notes about weights/reps/series, since I bring it to the gym.
But ebooks takes the lion's share of the time I spend using it. Baen's free library and Project Gutenberg provide me with a wide variety of free books (I also buy ebooks, but that's a different story). Even in the small amount of memory this beat up device has (4MB), I can cram 10 novels (assuming novels that would be 250-300 pages in a pocket edition). Since I travel a lot (half of the time via bus, 7-8 hours ride), having all these available to me is much more practical than carrying even one pocket edition, which would be bulkier anyway. So far, I wouldn't be surprised if I had read over a hundred books on it so far. I find I prefer reading on it than in a "regular" book, as I only need one hand to hold the book and "turn" the pages, without resorting to strange finger gymnastics, which is practical when I'm standing in the subway or on an exercise bike at the gym.
These days, the old workhorse is showing its age; I have to whack it once in a while when the display starts acting strangely. I'll have to find a replacement, but 5 years of constant use speaks well of how helpful this device has been to me.
De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum
from this article:
j sp ?storyid=57471
http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/showstory.
According to research agency IDC's Worldwide Handheld QView, shipments of such devices fell nearly 20 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2004....
In contrast, in another report that was released on January 27, IDC had said that mobile phone purchases had been the highest ever.
Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
I just got my second HP hx4705. The first one had to be replaced because the card slots died and it started frequently crashing. The second one has a power button problem and will probably be replaced soon. If I have to press reset and lose anything that is open just to get it to come one, it is a piece of crap. I used to use Palm, but I needed a good web browser. I got a Zaurus, but I needed a good PIM suite. Rather than carry both, I got the Pocket PC. Now I need something that won't die on me within a few days of taking it out of the box. I hope PalmOne releases the Linux PDA soon. It should have the networking of the Zaurus combined with the PIM of the existing Palm. Opera over wifi on a Palm would be great. Too bad nobody thought of this a few years ago before I spent so much money on the Clié TH-55, Zaurus CL-5600, and iPaq hx4705.
I'm still using a Palm V (acquired in the late 90s - the $300 price tag was well worth it at this point). If I were to upgrade, I could look forward to: decreased battery life, a bulkier device, and less money in my bank account.
:P
That said, I have been eyeing a GPRS-enabled Pocket PC. I want blackberry-like functionality. Having to never synch manually would be a HUGE plus and definitely worth the upgrade. Unfortunately, the whiz's at MS decided that activesync for Exchange server shouldn't sync the tasks! So, being a user of tasks I would still have to sync manually. Thanks, MS!
Anyhow, I think the key to triggering new device upgrades is improved productivity-enabling features. If I can justify that my productivity will be improved, I'll happily buy it. At present, the only compelling reasons I see to upgrade are blackberry-like instant-email and syncs-over-air technology.
Now Compare PDAs to desktops. Not only are desktops considerably more useful than PDAs, but their feature set has been improving at a much stronger pace. Ergo, desktop sales are strong and PDA sales weak. Though, it's quite arguable that the PDA sales figures are bogus if they don't include blackberries.
What has happened to PDAs is that they've started adding "features."
The early Palm Pilots were excellent devices. You had all the functionality of a daytimer, a rolodex, an alarm clock, a deck of cards and a library in a tiny, easy to use package that was exceptionally reliable. The palm pilot's strength was (and should still be) in its simplicity. I used it in place of post-it notes for quick jottings and for checklists and to-do lists, because my desk was a flurry of post-it notes that were more likely to get lost than not.
Now they're all trying to be a laptop in your pocket by being a media player with a colour screen and sound, a fast processor and a hard drive. This just drains the battery really, while adding toy functionality.
You know what's really needed? PDAs in different sizes. Small ones for use as a notepad and larger ones for use as a clipboard (like the notepad computers, only way lighter, faster, and less irritating to use). The point really is to replace paper. It would also help if you made them cheaper, instead of adding more "features" to intentionally make them more expensive.
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
When they calculate PDA sales figures, they exclude ALL PDAs with Cellphone functionality, including the tremendously popular Treo and all models from Samsung. No wonder they look bad, they're putting a huge percentage of PDA sales in the Cellphone column.
Until this is changed, take anything anyone says about PDA sales with a grain of salt... hell, you'll probably need half the Dead Sea to disguise the taste of BS in the figures they use.
egg freckles?
The problem with existing PDAs is that they are uninspired, underpowered, overpriced, lack adequate expandability/scalability, and are too fragile. Hundreds of dollars for a device that is lucky to last a year and only does 20% of what you want it to do is not a good investment.
If I was designing a PDA (which I could do if I had the capitol, so this isn't all pie in the sky), these are some of the unusual features it would have:
At least one compact flash slot, preferably two. Cellular modems don't appear to be availible in SDIO.
A dozen or mor MMC/SD/SDIO slots. At least half of these would be designed to protect protruding antennas/connectors without shielding them. These slots would be used for bluetooth, wifi, GPS, landline modem, ethernet, TV/FM tuner, RFID modem, etc. The other slots would be used for storage. At 1GB per flash card, you could store 6 gigs that way without moving parts. And these slots could support optional sensor modules: temperature, humidity, accelerometer, inclinometer, noxious gas sensor (flamable gas, carbon monoxide, etc), sound pressure level, magnetism, light intensity.
A very large battery to power all of that.
1/4" of silicone rubber for protection (think fluke DMM).
USB master and slave ports. Almost all PDAs forget the master port. The master port could connect to a full size keypord and mouse, USB serial adapters for use as a terminal emulator, USB flashdrives, ham radio equipment, modems, game controllers, ethernet adapters, USB headsets, printers, TV/FM tuners, DMM, Oscilliscope, and logic analyzer and portable hard drives. With an externally powered hub, you could even connect power hungry devices such as a USB scanner or bus powered DVD or hard drive. The slave port is used for hot sync, battery charging, acting as a portable hard drive, etc. Both ports could be used simultaneously, allowing the PDA to double as a smart controller or daisychain USB hub.
An optional hard drive of the sort found in ipods and other portable media devices.
A belt clip that won't break and won't fall of your belt. This means a full size metal clip. I broke belt clips about once a month until I switched to a modified ham radio clip.
An optional camera with a decent lens (bulky) that could actually collect some photons and also double as a barcode scanner. The base unit would have a port intended for use with a camera with the means for very secure attachment.
An optional keyboard that doubles as a screen cover (the screen being the only part not well protected by rubber).
An optional wrist harness for wearable use.
optional DVD+/-RW dock.
IRDA port with bright IR remote control transceiver.
An LED flash light (capable of being modulated) and also serving as illuminator for the camera/bar code scanner and a signaling device.
Optional replacement front panel "case" for embedded controller applications.
Color display with mpeg/HD decoder.
When a PDA can offer simultaneous wireless connectivity on a variety of networks simultaneously and has enough storage space to store a reasonable linux distribution, at least a full days worth of OGG/MP3 files, wikipedia (1GB), urban dictionary, sourcewatch (so you can lookup the bias of sources cited in news articles), a couple novels, a couple newspapers, dilbert, userfriendly, roadmaps, weathermaps, a photo library, and a movie, then it becomes worth carrying. And because the I/O would be removable, you could start small and add features and even unplug those peripherals and install them in the model you upgrade to in a year or two with a faster processor, more ram, and a better screen. And it would be scalable from junior geek to senior geek. So, you spend $500 on the basic unit, $500 for more peripherals and storage next two years, and the year after that you spend $500 to upgrade the basic unit but keep you
I loved using my Visor Prism, and when I bought it, it was top of the line. I have since transferred into a job where PDAs are banned from our work area due to "security" concerns. What it comes down to is a knee-jerk reaction to technology that is not understood by physical security people with little or no (current) technical training.
I have had many problems due to the removal of the PDA I had come to depend on.
Has anyone else had this problem?
DISCLAIMER: This post was not checked for speling and grammar- if you complain- you're a whiner
I have been a palm user and I will agree their built in organizer just plain bad.
To be a useful piece of organizer one would need to buy additional software like DateBook 5, Contacts, Shadow, etc.
Yes it will cost extra money but it will transform your pda from a cool looking toy into a useful gadget. Ideally Palm should license these software and include it with their hardware.
The popularity of PDA's has always surprised me as virtually no one actually uses them... Why spend $200 dollars on a toy that most people use to replace their $5 address book and a couple of note cards? The only people that I have ever seen really "use" their PDA's are doctors. They can put all of their patient records, reference and diagnosing books and language translators on there making them an indispensible tool. If the PDA industry was smart, they would design one just for doctors. I'm a physicist and I won't buy a PDA untill I can get one that will connect to the internet, support ssh networking and run Mathematica all ffor about $150.
Whenever I hear these forecasts, it always makes me wonder. I mean, when people make these estimates, do they think we live on a planet with an UNLIMITED POPULATION? Sales have gone down? Maybe thats because *most people who want one, already have one* PDA's for the most part, are a niche market. They are not something that "everyone and his dog" are going to find usefull. That being said, for most PDA users I'd say there is no need to upgrade. I mean, the fancy mp3, cell phone, full computer in your hand products are nice, but they probably only appeal to a tiny fraction of the already small PDA niche market. You buy a PDA, and thats it, you don't need to "upgrade" to a new one every year. I have had a Sony Clie for almost 2yrs now. Sure I envy the fancier *do it all* PDA's, but they are more of a wow type gadget. My trusty CLIE still does everything I (and probably most average PDA users) need it for. Managing appointments, contacts, schedules, reading e-books, taking notes, looking at maps, and playing the occasional game of yahtzee. Until this unit is physically damaged, I have no need for another one. It does it all, just fine. So maybe it's not that they are being replaced by other more usefull gadgets (eg cell phones), but rather that most people who would find one usefull, already have one. Aggies
I have always loved the "idea" of a PDA, but I have never found one that meets the "idea."
My idea was that a PDA was a portable interface to a larger, networked computing environment, not just a portable hand held version of your desktop. You use your PDA as a portable means to access applications and data residing on the network with a little compute power in you hand for other things.
The reality is, unfortunately, this just doesn't exist. The network wasn't there and when it was, a PDA couldn't connect to it - it has only been recently that you could get 802.11x connectivity for you Palm. WinCE\WindMobile devices like the iPAQ had them but they were difficult to configure (type a 28 character WEP key in by hand with a stylus?!?!). And once you got them configured, what to use them for except surfing the net.
And then there are the other technical issues. If I leave my iPAQ in my bag overnight or over a weekend and the battery is sucked dry, it is the equivelent of a soft-reset. I loose many of my installed programs and data as the device resets to factory settings. They aren't easily upgradable for the expense of buying one. The data storage and capabilities of some of the OS are lacking. I would love to run full JVM (or at least a stripped down version that is customizable) on a PDA.
Just imaging an environment where your PDA can run some fairly powerful programs, can easily connect, or be configured to connect, to a network. It can display highspeed graphics, dynamically download code (via say Jini) and can connect to devices and service with say jxta - one minute it can be your remote control for the TV\DVD\Stereo, the next your VOIP soft phone, the next you are using an application to enter data at work. This PDA can be easily upgraded and wounldn't lose data unless you format the storage device.
Until the day comes when all of this is available in a consumer device rather than a geek-hacked, one-off experiment (cuz I know ALL of the above can be done with the right tools, apis and a soldering iron), PDAs will never live up to thier promise.
Never by hatred has hatred been appeased, only by kindness - the Buddha
I started out with a Handspring Platinum. I eventually upgraded to a Sony Clie T665C after falling in love with the PalmOS.
I really like the PalmOS (even running old PalmOS 4) and I have several small applications that I love and do not want to give up (Vindigo, AvantGo, MetrO).
The battery life on my Clie is getting worse and worse, so I keep looking at Palm to see what is new and exciting.
There is nothing that makes me willing to pull my wallet out and buy a new one. Modern Palms seem to have basically the same feature set as my current Clie, and want me to pay up to twice as much as I paid for the Clie a couple of years ago.
A decent color screen, no keyboard, and Bluetooth. That is all I want. How is that $349? How is Bluetooth a $150 option? Cell phones with Bluetooth can be had for free, and Palm treats Bluetooth the same way SprintPCS does - an overly expensive option.
I would not mind paying $349 if the Palm at that price point if it had other desirable features. Other than Bluetooth, it seems identical to my Clie, though.
- (c) 2018 Hank Zimmerman
Someone needs to make a killer PDA midlet for java based phones. Limited screen space? Maybe, but if you've ever used the Picsel browser, you'll see what you can do with limited screen space.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
Unfortunately, no killer app has been invented for the PDA that can make use of its power. The main reason for this, IMHO, is the inefficient input methods available at the moment: Either an external keyboard, or very unreliable handwriting recognition.
The first step towards a solution is to solve the input problem. If accurate voice recognition, coupled with decent natural language processing, can be added to a PDA, then that would go a long ways. Imagine being able to tell your PDA: "Find me that email from Mr. Gates that talks about his latest trip to OSCON," and have it oblige.
" Among these could be new products from Motorola. Motorola, the second-ranked mobile phone vendor in terms of unit sales, enjoyed the strongest growth during the fourth quarter according to iSuppli Corp, with shipments growing by 36.5 percent. Overall, the mobile phone market expanded to 195 million units in the fourth quarter, an all-time high, up 14.7 percent from 170 million in the third quarter."
That should make a notebook the perfect way to take notes in classe. Here at work, everybody use it during meetings. We can barely imagine how we lived without it.
I have a five year old Palm V. I only need to upgrade because one of the buttons broke. :/
Then I will maybe buy a Symbian-based phone, Palm's phones are overpriced...
I've been saying for about a year or two that PDAs will be squished out between cell phones on the low end and tablet PCs on the high end. There just won't be much market left. The tablet will be the ultimate document reader when it comes down in price a bit (which is the only thing I really use my PDA for now anyway, aside from playing mp3s).
PDA's need greater storage capacity and more mobile functions like GSM phone functions to survive. I've been waiting for -months- for the HP iPAQ h6300 (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/en/WF05a/215 348-64929-215381-314903-f60-430120.html)
It's just too damn popular, and HP doesn't seem to cope with the consumer demand for this device!
Just wish it had a 10GB HDD !
I've got an iPaq h6315 that I bought used from a guy at work about 6 weeks ago for $400. It's not perfect, but it's definitely an extremely useful device. One of the handiest things for me is having it sync with MS Money, so that I'll always know my account balances, because I'm terrible at keeping a checkbook register. I didn't have an MP3 player before, either, so that took care of that. Not to mention that it's a lot of fun to play Monopoly while you're in the bathroom ;)
Shortcomings-
1) it needs a way to "lock" the screen and keys without turning it off. Sometimes I want to start some MP3's playing and then put it in my pocket, but I have to be very careful to put it in my pocket in such a way that nothing will touch the screen or buttons or else I'll end up with random stuff done when I pull it back out.
2) the camera sucks ass, even for a phone camera. and no video capability.
3) OS locks up somewhat frequently. I probably have to do a soft reset once a day or so.
4) HP refuses to provide a firmware upgrade to windows mobile 2003 Second edition, which allows landscape mode. There are third-party programs that do landscape mode, but they're kinda buggy- some dialog boxes and such will go off the screen and you can't do anything about it.
I agree with the poster who commented about the need for more innovation. There should be more PDA's with 640x480 screens, higher resolution cameras, built in GPS, radio and even tv tuners. little has happened lately in the market
What would be totally killer, for me, would be some bluetooth earphones, preferably more like those tiny in-ear hearing aids, and a bluetooth watch controller. How cool would it be to be able to control the mix between outside noise and your music, or to switch songs by turning the bezel on your watch?
Ah. I see that Windows CE is designed for propagation of the next generation of computer viruses, which are transmitted by chroniton particles, warp fields, and censor array scans. More worrisome are the ones that you pick up while in the transporter beam.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I am selling my T3 Tungsten Palm right now, and it's because I just don't use it. I mean, I *want* to use it, or, more accurately, I want to *need* to use it, but it's just not something I keep with me constantly.
Interestingly I had just the opposite experience with mine. Being a bit of a road warrior might have something to do with it. I had a old palm but it was too awkward to use. (no bluetooth, no digital ink notes, no voice recorder, awkward syncing, etc...) The T3 was the first PDA with enough features which was easy enough to sync with my phone and computer. Who wants to carry around a bunch of wires after all? I use it to record phone conversations on speakerphone, joting down small notes with the digitial ink, to-do list, address book, and calendar mostly. When I'm on the road, it provides convenient email access via bluetooth/GPRS. The T3 is good enough I actually use it which I can't say for any paper based system or previous PDA.
I actually revel in not keeping it with me constantly. Instead of an all in one device like a Treo (which is great, not criticizing) I can carry just a cell phone most of the time. But thanks to bluetooth, when I carry my PDA the two devices act beautifully in concert. I don't have to keep every phone number in my phone, I just touch dial with my PDA and it makes a bluetooth connection automatically and dials. Same with internet access. If Palm wants to save the current PDA form factor they should be pushing Bluetooth actively, but no one seems to care. (and no WiFi is NOT a substitute for bluetooth anymore than ethernet is a subsitute for firewire)
Now not all is perfect. I've complained loudly before that the software on the computer side of things is pathetic. I have 4 incompatible calendars, am basically stuck with Palm Desktop for syncing anything except adress books & maybe calendars. And heaven forbid the battery runs dry (all too easy with a T3) The software though is the most annoying problem and in my opinion why most people quit eventually. It's just not easy enough. The one button cradle was innovative 10 years ago but it needs to be easier still and Palm hasn't done a damn thing since. I should be able to import my contact info into ANY address book and sync with ANY calendar I choose seemlessly. Applications should either be stored in flash memory or reinstalled with the next sync should they disappear. Syncing isn't just supposed to be about backing up.
Not to mention that as you move up the usability ladder, as defined by "screen size", you start looking like a fool talking into a brick.
My needs currently are for a phone to talk on and a portable computer to answer email or make quick changes to a server config or PHP script. The Treo serves this decently well, but again--the toilet issue. I drop my phone a lot, and the lighter and less fragile the phone is, the better off I am.
What I'm looking at now is the Nokia 6822 (assuming I can get one, it being a non-USA phone) and the Zodiac Tapwave. Seperate devices, sure, but the Nokia can act as a SSH terminal in a pinch, or I can use it to connect the Zodiac to the T-Mobile GPRS network over Bluetooth, with or without a foldable keyboard. Or, in the final mobile solution, use the Nokia to connect my TiBook via GPRS. That's a continuity of ability from super-lightweight to full-on mobile office in easy increments.
(I like the Zodiac for it's metal body, huge screen and big battery. Reasonably durable, not horribly expensive, 1/2 VGA screen for easy use, and I'm likely to make it a full day with somewhat heavy use on a single charge.)
Potato chips are a by-yourself food.
I have three very small devices, Tungsten E, Coolpix 5200, and an LG phone about 2.5 inches long.
My point is I like 'em because they're separately managable in terms of:
- purchase price, I can shop for the best I can afford for a given type of tech
- upgradability, I can keep pace at the rate I care about for a given tech
- reliability (dead battery doesn't mean everything's dead and, if one breaks they don't all go over the edge at once)
- carry-ability, they are all smaller than pocket size, just not an issue
- shareability, I can lend someone my phone without also lending them everything else
- usability, I can look at the PDA and talk on the phone at the same time
I am excited about the new devices on the cusp of being released that offer traditional PDA functionality, cell phones, and WLAN connectivity, and broadband data capability all in one device. Throw in a camera and a micro-hard drive, and a GPS and you have an awesome device! And it seems to be just around the corner. Plus cost for a wireless broadband connection seems like it should hit $30/ mth shortly, which is the price point where people might switch from dial-up or current broadband to a wireless broadband? So I don't think PDA's will die out. Rather they will be replaced by a more versitile class of devices that may include all the features of a traditional pocket organizer. In the end talking about PDA's dying out now while ignoring "Blackberry Like Devices" as a category is like talking about unnetworked PC's dying out 15 years ago while commenting on the explosion of PC's with dialup... It will be exciting to see what killer apps develop as wireless broadband becomes more available. It's easy to guess that streaming music and video to your "PDA" will take off, but what else?
I think a lot of the problems with the handheld computer market is the price. Those devices tend to cost as much as a desktop computer with much less functionality. Many people can't justify spending the money on such a high cost device. I would like to upgrade from my Treo 300 but honestly I can't see myself doing that for awhile. - Andrea -
*It's not what you can do for the Dark Side but what the Dark Side can do for you!*
I got a free ViewSonic V37 PocketPc about 2 yrs ago. At the time, I was really excited.
But after 2 yrs of trying to use it, I have found it to be of limited use and doesnt really warrent another attachment to my belt.
I experienced a number of issues:
1) Not all word docs would convert: so I was not able to go completely paperless as I had hoped.
2) I cannot access the Pocket PC SD card from my desktop: Some word docs are big enough that I cannot open them if they are copied to main memory of the pocket pc. The solution is to move the doc to the sd card. Well, in order to do that, I have to copy the file to the pocket pc main memory (and convert it of course). Then I have to access the pocketpc directly and move the file to the sd card. Annoying at mimimum.
3) Reset/Restoring too frequently: I have experienced a range of problems that ultimately seemed to be best solved by restoring the pocket pc to its shipped state. I had errors like: "not enough memory to run..." even though there was nothing running; can no longer sync with my desktop;
4) Lack of good wireless (this only applies to the V37 imo). The only available SD wireless network card drains the battery to dead, even when the pocket pc is turned off.
5) Syncronization problems I have had other syncronization problems as well. Duplicate records, files locked, conversion issues. Enough problems that I no longer use my pocket pc except for email.
Bummer.
PDAs never got their killer application, which could have been a few of: phone capability, superior data input method compared to phones, instant messaging, mail, cheaper packet based data transfer or porn.
Try a Blackberry, the thumbpad is pretty nice, the UI is pretty simple and functional ( borrows a lot of simplicity from PalmOS ). The Cheaper packet-based data transfer is still a while way, but my guess is that's mostly due to infrastructure.
I got a Palm Tungsten C last September, and to be honest, I can't imagine not having a PDA any more. Not only do I keep all my errands, meetings, social events, and contacts on it, the built-in keyboard makes it very practical for taking notes in meetings and writing significant tomes. Plus, there's the usual assortment of games, photos, and ebooks/RSS readers. I don't even have a craving for a laptop any more, as my Palm handles all those needs perfectly.
But now that my needs are met, I have zero motivation to go out and buy another one. I plan on using my current PDA until it breaks into little rusty pieces, but hopefully that won't be for a while. In the interim, what do I need another PDA for?
--R.J.
Electric-Escape.net
Production of pdas with microsoft os rises....sells of pdas fall...
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Axim x50, bought on Ebay a year or so ago for under $300.
1. PIM, of course. Synchs with Outlook, keeps my home and work computers in synch.
2. Audiobooks. 1GB CF card and an FM modulator, and I can listen to audio anywhere, anytime. Great for car rides.
3. eBooks. I carry a few dozen and read when time allows. Great for reading at night without bothering the girlfriend, too.
4. GPS. Cheap CF card, store my maps on the SD. A powered mount for the car.
5. Net access in a pinch. Via a cable to my cell, I can use VNC or Terminal Services to check on a server, log into home to check email, check work email, or just surf a little.
I'm debating upgrading to a VGA Axim with BT and Wifi, or getting the iPaq Smartphone version. In any case, it's a valuable tool for me.
Killer app is right. Here are mine:
- Windows Media Player. It comes with Pocket PC, and it will play all the shows I record with my TVTuner card (after a scheduled conversion to wma format). It's been ages since I've actually sat down to watch TV live, and even now I don't have the time to do so even in my free time. So I watch it on the bus. Also an MP3 player when I don't have shows occupying my memory card.
- PocketStreets. I don't need to fumble around with a paper map to get around the city
- pocketIE. I don't have WiFi on my PDA, but viewing offline content (news, weather, movie listings) is awesome.
- BibleReader. Searching for content is instant.
- PocketNester (NES emulator). For that extra bit of interaction and nostalgia.
The PDA pretty much has the largest screen in a device that I'd be able to carry around, and being able to access information and entertainment at my fingertips keeps me from getting bored.
After all, I got a good deal on a cheap new Zaurus 6000L! Originally listed for $700, then dropped to $400 when sales were too low for Sharp to continue selling them in the U.S..
:P
But the device is fantastic; now that I've found software to do almost everything I want, I could scarcely be happier with it. I wouldn't mind NES, SNES, and Genesis emulators running faster on it, nor would I mind a better media player than Sharp's (and before anybody mentions OZ, I'm not upgrading to the OZ ROM until at least the first bugfix release, and (very) unfortunately, OpiePlayer doesn't run on the Sharp ROM).
But for everything else I would want to do w/ a PDA -- including some limited web-surfing -- it's awesome. Thanks for not buying 'em guys.
Is Capitalism Good for the Poor?