<Taking turn on soapbox>
The platforms mentioned are all general purpose computing platforms. With
the exception of the introduction of a GUI user interface and the ability to
multitask, it doesn't seem to me that they have changed all that
dramatically in the way they function. They still can perform their function
to this day. They are obsolete only in the perception that they are
obsolete. Users, including me, have come to expect that these machines can
do everything because we as developers can deliver it and computers are
marketed that way. Users don't expect their calculators to be word
processors because calculators are not perceived as general purpose
computers.
It seems to me that WinCE Palm sized computers and HPCs are being marketed
as general purpose computers and "oh by the way.. you can carry it around
easier". PalmOS devices don't seem to be marketed in this way. It's a
"Connected Organizer". Toasters last because they are perceived as still
doing their job effectively as long as they make toast. General pupose
computers become obsolete because that is the way they are marketed. How
well the "Connected Organizer" will fare remains to be seen.
...and if Duracell came out with a battery that lasts 3 months in a WinCE
HPC with color screen, think how long it will last in my Palm III :)
<yielding soapbox>
> I have been a part of the
> computing revolution since the first pc's came out (Altair, Sinclair, TRS
> 80, IBM PC, Apple II, etc) back in the late 70's early 80's. and one
> observation that can be made is, that no platform, no matter how sweet it
> seems at the time, lasts very long if it doesn't aggressively and
> constantly
> reinvent itself.
> If Duracell comes out with a battery that
> lasts 3 months in a CE device... well, I don't want to think about that.
