[JFischel]

Ok, I know I'm going to get a rash of **** for this, but here it goes. I was watching the financial news this morning (31-May-2002) and there was a warning about Palm, Inc. They are not going to make their numbers this quarter siting less than stellar demand for their products. There can be basically two reasons for this, the products suck or the market is totally saturated and people just don't need another PDA. A PDA does what it does and people don't upgrade them like they do computers. I for one have two new Apples since March.

Well, I'd love to hear others thoughts...

Josh

[jeffs7364]

Well, actually, the Palm products IMHO do suck. They have been sitting on their slow, out-dated product line for years. I used to have a Palm V, but haven't upgraded in, oh say 3-4 or so years (maybe longer) just because the really haven't added anything new. I mean once you've successfully stored my names/addresses/to-dos/etc. what's left? And my Palm V really did that well. Why upgrade to a new unit?

Unless you count the awful low-res color screens (at least sony got this one right) or the high-priced wireless option, I really can't think of much they've added. Oh--and their sync software is still awful; especially with macs.

I'd be interested in how Microsoft's PocketPC's and the linux PDA's are selling in comparison for a real look into the market. I think Palm (and compatibles--including the new sony's) will be going down until at least PalmOS 5 is out and then they'll really need to have both an stylish innovative and stable product to compete well with PocketPC and, well I'll say it, maybe Apple.

[torifile]

I agree with the previous poster: the palm OS handheld suck. There is absolutely no compelling reason to get a new one. I, too, have a Palm V and haven't needed to upgrade. I've tried to find a new one that is worth getting. I really have. (I'm a tech freak) but there is nothing worth it. Still the same limiting OS, still the same crappy HWR. Still basically glorified organizers. Don't get me wrong. For what they do, they do it well. But the new breed of handhelds don't do a whole lot more than their predecessors and none of it is really all that compelling. I must say that I gave the Treo a long hard look while shopping for a cell phone but the Palm OS is really limiting in that we have seen the extent of its capabilities. Still waiting for Palm OS 5 or a rebirth of Newton OS (hey, a guy can hope, right?)...

[mitchell_pgh]

The whole PDA thing was trendy for a while, but now they are so overwhelming most people don't care about them anymore. The only people still using them are the people that originally needed them (hard working people on the go...) If apple were to make something, it would have to be one step ahead and inexpensive to be anything more then disaster. The iPod is a little out of reach for most people. It's far enough that I just purchased a crap Sony Walkman and 100 CD-Rs...

Apple need to be thinking PHONE, not PDA... One of the first PDA attachments was a phone. An Apple iPhone could be amazing! If it worked with Sprint PCS... Housed 10 gigs of information, could communicate to the iPod (and naturally with OS X...) via. FireWire, Synched with Entourage/Address Book, had a little keyboard and ran an OS X (like) OS... but this thing would cost $900, and nobody would walk around with a phone like that...

Actually, with something like this, you could do away with the iPod...

[Red Wolf]

1. Steve Jobs hates PDAs. Honestly, he does.

2. The iPod first came out to hold music and act as a second hard drive. Currently it can also hold contact numbers/address book and now old emails. Imagine what an iPod could do once BlueTooth becomes standard on Apple computers. I'd look more toward an evolving iPod (though not into a PDA as we currently know it).

Back when Newton was killed, it was picking up momentum. The PDA market wasn't nearly as mature as it is now, and people buying PDAs were on their first unit and didn't necessarily know what it was that would best serve them.

A modern, small Newton would revitalize the PDA market. The 2100 is still the most elegant PDA that's been developed, and it's five years old. Pretty amazing, huh?

[Paco500]

If Apple made a kick-a$$ pda, it would sell like hotcakes to people like me who will buy almost anything from Apple- I've owned newtons, quicktake cameras, and now an iPod. But I don't see it as a sustainable market. The development costs would be pretty high, and once the market was tapped, that would be it.

I wish they'd do it and do it right for selfish reasons. I'd buy one and feel really cool whipping it out- you know it would be drool-worthy. But I doubt it would help Apple's bottom line much.

[Krusty]

My uninformed opinion on the matter. I think PDAs are pretty useless for most people. Several people I work with got them when they were "hot" and now only one still carries his around. And really, its ridiculous for him to keep his ... he's pretty stationary in his job and spends a lot of time synching it up with his PC (which, most of the time, is right in front of him anyway). Most of what he uses his for can be had in a $19.95 organizer .... the rest of it is mostly fluff. I bought one of those $19.95 organizers a few years ago and it does everthing I need ... stores contacts, has a calculator, and alarm clock, a reminder chime ... plus it works off of watch batteries that will last for YEARS w/o replacement or recharging. And its extremely small, light, and durable (WAAYYYY more so than a fragile-screened PDA)

I agree with mitchell ... they were a fad for a while but their actual usefulness would only be realized by a few people.

[Borborygmi]

The appeal of the PDA isn't for the average Joe/Jill... Krusty is right, a cheap organizer is all they need. The true market for a PDA (I don't even think the Newton should be called a PDA... it was a tablet computer) is for people who need to walk around with a computer (i.e. standing/walking/sitting where a laptop isn't as practical). I'm in the medical profession, and think handheld computers have a definite future here. I'm sure there are other markets as well. It just remains to be seen if the bean counters at the major computer companies feel the market will support another newton-like product. I sure hope so...

[Jackonicko]

I have invested money in PDAs. Two Psions (great but keyboard just two small) and a Palm (Graffiti is unuseable except for phone numbers and one-line notes, and connectivity is poor).

A PDA which does what people actually want would be a different matter entirely. Proper natural cursive handwriting recognition and good intuitive synching with text files in an application like iTunes would make any PDA unmissable.

An equivalent to iPod, which could be used to create or edit simple text documents and which would then synchronise to the Mac via Firewire and which could then be turned into E-Mail or Word documents.

But Palm don't have a product that's useful enough to succeed, so their woes should not be a surprise.

A cheap, simple device like the one I've outlined would have mass appeal - it would replace any paper-based note taker and would be useful for journos, Drs, secretaries, schoolkids, etc. Might be worth having a top-of-the-range model also capable of sending E-mails and SMS texts direct, but otherwise keep the weight and cost as low as possible, and give it a screen as big as is compatible with pocket-size (small paperback book). Probably have separate display screen and input screen, with a screen-based auxiliary keyboard option and with provision for attaching a fold-up protable keyboard like the Palm.

[ajprice]

I don't have a PDA myself, but I agree with jeffs7364. The PDA hasn't really advanced since it was released. So if you have an early Palm, why would you want to upgrade to a current model, they are essentially the same machine but with bigger numbers in the memory and processor, and some with colour screens. The only PDA's that advance the Palm format at the moment are the Handspring Treo (PDA/Phone combo) and the Sony Clie NR70 (camera/flip screen, and it's just cool). I think rather than making a new product, Apple would be better off releasing an iPod 2 with PDA, Inkwell and Bluetooth features built into it. If it is a separate pure PDA device, then it would mean (for the people that own them) carrying an iPDA and an iPod around, when the two could be combined into one machine.

Separate shampoo and conditioner? Why take two bottles into the shower?