Palm already dropped support for OS X before this announcement. I "switched" from XP to an OS X Powerbook and was surprised (d'oh) to discover the OS X Palm Desktop would't recognize the USB-to-Serial converter Palm makes.
"A fix is expected by the end of 2003," said Palm. (This was December 2003.) Then last week they said "early 2004." Now I think they mean never.
Perhaps Palm is a victim of its own success. I'm still using a Palm IIIxe -- a great device, ten times better constructed than my wife's newer b/w Palm 125. For keeping addresses/phone #'s/memos/password vault on hand, it's well worth the money I spent -- 3 years ago. I was always amazed Palm kept upgrading/releasing its software for free. No one else does that these days. (Apple charges for iLife 2004, etc.) Still, it's a pain in the butt to have a perfectly good PDA not be useful because of some stupid conduit software. Of course I could spend money on a Keyspan adapter or new software, but why not just buy a new Palm...
1) they're calling it Universal Hotsync and it's "standard" from now on (not counting the m105 which they released recently, it's only compatible with the m100 but supposed to supplant the IIIxe). It totally sucks that they're only now standardizing... My peripherals are worth more than my Palm now. And no one seems to make adapters. But Palm said they wanted a "standard" that included how the devices fit onto the back of Palms (think of the V modem), so that the whole package would be more stable.
2) Cardslot is SD (secure digital) and a bunch o' companies (Panasonic for one) use it. It can also read MMC (multimedia card), which you see around quite a bit too. The advantage over CompactFlash is that it draws less juice. Which is a good thing. Also they have a whole bunch of people who will probably quickly make their own versions of it. It shouldn't be too hard for Handspring Springboard vendors to rejigger their devices to work on the Palm hardware. Bigger install base. Unlike Sony, which has almost no developers of Memory STick add-ons, this might work. Sony is overpriced and hasn't sold well.
What I don't like about this is price ($450 for the color, only $50 than the new monochrome, like anyone wouldn't pay the difference) point.... I bought a IIIxe b/c it was 8mb (which the new ones continue to be) and $200.
I'd rather pay $200 every year than $400 every two. You get the good stuff quicker.
Here's an article too.
What's interesting is how Handspring will respond -- new read/write Springboards? And soon supposedly Sony has a 320x320 Palm OS color Clie coming out.
There's another raskin interview here at Computerworld from last week.
Briefly, Raskin gives an overview of what's wrong with current GUIs -- Linux, Mac, Windows -- and how zooming interfaces will just bring the components of what's needed to the fore.
If you think about it, 20 years is a long time to have had only small improvements in the GUI...
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Palm already dropped support for OS X before this announcement. I "switched" from XP to an OS X Powerbook and was surprised (d'oh) to discover the OS X Palm Desktop would't recognize the USB-to-Serial converter Palm makes.
...
"A fix is expected by the end of 2003," said Palm. (This was December 2003.) Then last week they said "early 2004." Now I think they mean never.
Perhaps Palm is a victim of its own success. I'm still using a Palm IIIxe -- a great device, ten times better constructed than my wife's newer b/w Palm 125. For keeping addresses/phone #'s/memos/password vault on hand, it's well worth the money I spent -- 3 years ago. I was always amazed Palm kept upgrading/releasing its software for free. No one else does that these days. (Apple charges for iLife 2004, etc.) Still, it's a pain in the butt to have a perfectly good PDA not be useful because of some stupid conduit software. Of course I could spend money on a Keyspan adapter or new software, but why not just buy a new Palm
2) Cardslot is SD (secure digital) and a bunch o' companies (Panasonic for one) use it. It can also read MMC (multimedia card), which you see around quite a bit too. The advantage over CompactFlash is that it draws less juice. Which is a good thing. Also they have a whole bunch of people who will probably quickly make their own versions of it. It shouldn't be too hard for Handspring Springboard vendors to rejigger their devices to work on the Palm hardware. Bigger install base. Unlike Sony, which has almost no developers of Memory STick add-ons, this might work. Sony is overpriced and hasn't sold well.
What I don't like about this is price ($450 for the color, only $50 than the new monochrome, like anyone wouldn't pay the difference) point .... I bought a IIIxe b/c it was 8mb (which the new ones continue to be) and $200.
I'd rather pay $200 every year than $400 every two. You get the good stuff quicker. Here's an article too.
What's interesting is how Handspring will respond -- new read/write Springboards? And soon supposedly Sony has a 320x320 Palm OS color Clie coming out.
There's another raskin interview here at Computerworld from last week. Briefly, Raskin gives an overview of what's wrong with current GUIs -- Linux, Mac, Windows -- and how zooming interfaces will just bring the components of what's needed to the fore. If you think about it, 20 years is a long time to have had only small improvements in the GUI ...