I enjoy this CE-PalmOS discussion. We are a software company supporting multiple
protable computing platforms.
Whom ever wrote that dollars are the deciding factor is temporaily correct, IBM
was once there. What drives the commercial market must be real integrated
solutions. Integration relys on a set of both hardware and software components
and in most cases it is the software which is the driving factor. Therefore it's
those hardware components that best meet the software designers demands end up
winners.
Furtharmore, the spt 1500... is an example of what 3Com needs to maintain
leadership assuming competitive agreements are in place. The greater number of
hardware integrators such as this can only improve market shares furthar.
Finally, Windows CE by name is a markting gimic leading end users to believe its
a subset to Windows and totally compatable as well, and we all know its not. Who
needs Windows in 5 years anyway, that technology is in the process of being
replaced. It's too bulky and limited.
Pete
Bob Ebert wrote:
> At 12:06 PM -0700 4/14/99, Jason Dawes wrote:
> >Would you like to bet as to when vertical will pass the horizontal?
>
> Sure.... except that my bet is 'never' so I can't actually win, I can only
> lose. Given that, I don't think it would be wise to bet any money. But
> if you want to set and end date for our wager, I'd be interested. :)
>
> Oh, yeah, now's a good time to remind you all that these are my own
> personal opinions, and don't necessarily reflect those of Palm or 3Com.
>
> >Are you including sales of the SPT-1500/1700 in your figures?
>
> I'm not sure exactly how the figures are broken out, and that data is
> probably confidential anyway. I think it's safe to say that the majority
> of the total units sold to date are horizontal, but I'm not sure how the
> current sales rates relate.
>
> >Oh, I don't care about Palm vs CE, I care that Palm (3Com/whatever) makes
> >the excuse that they can't do x or y because it would degrade battery life.
> > If it was up to Palm, the SPT-1500 would not exist. (The SPT-1500's I'm
> >using at the moment need their batteries changed every week or so and my
> >clients find that perfectly acceptable).
>
> Huh? It _was_ up to Palm! Partnering with other companies like Symbol is,
> I think, a valid way of extending the platform. That's why I always wonder
> what people mean when they say Palm OS is "proprietary", usually when
> comparing it to WinCE. I think they mean it's "not windows", but seem to
> forget that windows is also a proprietary platform!
>
> Anyway, about batteries: battery life really is a very important feature,
> at least horizontally, and tradeoffs have to be carefully considered.
> That's not to say that we won't ever trade battery life for something else
> -- new devices have backlights, for example -- just that it's not a
> no-brainer.
>
> >P.S. The SPT-1700 has some really cool features ... one of which is
> >rechargable batteries...that (shock, horror) recharge in the cradle.
>
> So does the Palm V. What's your point?
>
> --Bob
