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The Future of the PDA

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the look-into-the-crystal-ball dept.

An anonymous reader writes "XYZComputing is taking a look at the future of the PDA and what obstacles might stand in the way of continued popularity. From the article: 'While is hard not to appreciate the PDA's ability to change with the times, it appears that its heady days of mobile dominance are coming to an abrupt end. A number of factors are competing in the mobile products field right now, all of which are vying for the same buyers. The most formidable competition to the PDA is the smartphone, but there is also pressure from small laptops, the upcoming UMPC, increasingly capable cell phones, and a few other takers, like portable media players.'"

2 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. The PDA is dead! Long live the PDA! by TimmyDee · · Score: 3, Informative

    The UMPC, in its current form and price (and usability) will not be an issue in the "downfall" of the PDA. It may have the ability to sideline the PDA in some markets and applications, but those will be relatively limited. Onto my real point. . .

    "Increasingly capable cellphones", as the summary puts it, will be the real challenge to the PDA. Many people bought PDAs to be electronic datebooks, address books, and the like. Some people felt it worthwhile to carry them, others (myself included) found it to be a hassle. Cellphones, on the other hand, are far more likely to make it into our pockets. The natural evolution was to add PDA-like functionality. So PDAs evolved into cellphones or cellphones evolved into PDAs. I would argue that there are examples of both (the Treo being a phonified PDA and Series 60 devices being PDAified cellphones).

    My take home message is thus: The PDA is not dead. It has merely evolved thanks to the advent of widespread mobile phones. If we look at some current cellphones, many have more power than the original Palm Pilots. About the only thing they lack is a more sophisticated input method (that may be arguable, though, when T9 is compared to Graffiti).

    Some manufacturers will still make "pure" PDAs, but the PDA is not dead. The PDA has merely evolved.

    --
    Per Square Mile, a blog about density
  2. Re:PDAs Are Terrible, Where is Apple? by Feneric · · Score: 3, Informative

    If Apple were to release a new Newton (or whatever they decide to call it) that was nothing more than iCal and Address Book I would be happy. VERY happy.

    With just those two features in mind one could argue that they already did, and it's called the iPod. It has both a calendar app and address book app that synchronize with iCal and Address Book on the Mac. My brother uses an iPod in exactly this fashion.

    Mind you, I'm playing devil's advocate here. I don't think the iPod interface is well-suited for PDA type functions, and I'd much prefer something that learns from the Newton.