Palm offered a vision, a possibility of a digital lifestyle, that never became a reality. Those of us who remain on this forum bought in to that dream, but most people never did. The fact is that most people approach unfamiliar technology as they would an unexploded bomb. People go for internet appliances because they are familiar with the concept, while satellite navigation appeals to our love of the motor car. But apart from those examples, the PDA was an utter failure.
-----Original Message----- From: Don Albertson [mailto:don.albert...@verizon.net] Sent: 22 December 2008 18:35 To: Palm Developer Forum Subject: Re: Developing on Palm PDAs - what next? I have to agree. Historically, PDA's were useful as mobile data stores that could synchronize with a master database. Now that so many wireless devices have the ability to connect directly to the master db, there's far less need for the ability to store and sync. The other thing that made Palm devices and the Palm OS attractive was the minimalist Zen of Palm approach -- the application didn't try to be everything a desktop was because the technology couldn't support it. It's hard to compete with things like iPhones and netbook style PC's these days. More's the pity. But then I'm beginning to see the Luddite point-of-view more clearly of late. dga Philip Sheard wrote: > You are probably right about traditional handhelds as opposed to smartphones. > There is very little movement in that direction. On the WM front, you only > have the iPAQ 114 and 214, both of which are regarded as oddities. The only > other new handhelds around are the iPod Touch (which is an iPhone without the > phone), and the Nokia n770/n800/n810 (which will probably morph into phones). > > The only applications that are keeping handhelds going at all are satellite > navigation and internet browsing. Although there are a lot of smartphones out > there, they are being used very much as phones, and not as PDAs. People are > downloading MP3s, ringtones, games and other small apps OTA. They are not > syncing with PCs, or installing large apps such as yours and mine. People > have moved on, and that window of opportunity has been missed. > > Most of my users now use Treos, and I have learnt to embrace this. It helps > that I use a Treo myself. But the future for applications such as ours is > bleak. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Edward Jones [mailto:edward.jo...@nvs-ltd.co.uk] > Sent: 22 December 2008 14:10 > To: Palm Developer Forum > Subject: Re: Developing on Palm PDAs - what next? > > Thanks for the reply. Palm have indeed made an announcement, but it is > not the one I wanted: "Colligan: No New Palm Handhelds" as reported on > Palm InfoCenter -> > > http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9654/colligan-no-new-palm-handhelds/ > > Thanks anyway for your response, I will bear you in mind for second hand > devices and repairs! > > Edward > > Philip Sheard wrote: > >> You should not have any problems buying new T|Xs from Amazon UK, >> at least for the time being. Apparently Palm is due to make some >> sort of announcement early next year. It could either be the next >> big thing, or another Foleo. I actually liked the Foleo, but it was >> a marketing disaster. >> >> If you are looking for second user devices, I may be able to help >> you there, depending on the number that you require. I can also >> carry out repair work, if necessary. I would not recommend >> StyleTap, but that is just my personal opinion. >> >> If you would like to discuss any of this we me direct, you can call >> me on 07530 574120. >> >> > > -- I have always wished for my computer to be as easy to use as my telephone; my wish has come true because I can no longer figure out how to use my telephone. -- For information on using the ACCESS Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.access-company.com/developers/forums/ -- For information on using the ACCESS Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.access-company.com/developers/forums/
