> The Palm comes with nothing very useful. That is why most Palm users need
> these other applications.
The success of a platform is very-much determined by its third-party
support, including that from non-Palm developers. There are 20-30k or more
independant developers writing PalmOS applications of one type or another
(don't quote my numbers, I know it was 17,000 over a year ago). If each of
them wrote 1/2 of an application that someone found useful, that's 10,000
separate third-party applications for PalmOS devices in 2001-2002 timeframes
(and many developers write more than one application on their own). I don't
think *ANYTHING* in the PocketPC space can compete with that, hands-down.
What about add-on hardware? Peripherals? Accessories? PocketPC loses again.
If Palm had a huge wealth of applications that came bundled with it,
I would probably not have begun using the platform myself. The applications
were simple, and hold the data you want. The power is in extending them to
do other things, and extending the use of the platform itself beyond just a
PIM, and integrating it with other applications that contain data you need.
> Also, the notion of a PDA that has a file system that matches the PC makes
> it a very desireable device. The PocketPC fits that bill.
...and that's exactly why PocketPC will die. Filesystems should be
completely transparent to the user and any and all processes that use the
filesystem. If you have to wonder if it's disk, flash, ram, then the vendor
has failed in that endeavour. It's only going to get better, as the platform
and the OS that drives it becomes transparent. Soon you'll be running
SEVERAL operating systems on the same platform at the same time, based on
your needs.
The *DATA* is what matters, not what its stored on.
> You can take files from a PC application and in a lot of cases just slip
> your Compact Flash from the PC to the PocketPC and you are ready to go.
Yep, exactly like Palm, assuming you can read those files, and
that's just a matter of applications being written for it. Look at the
Tungsten's ability to play native .ogg files. That's one good example.
> I still like the Palm better but the handwriting is on the wall, I fear.
The Graffiti is on the wall, you mean =)
d.
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