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Future of PDA Bleak?
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PDAs are like Model Ts
They have a use-- and that cannot be denied but they are not elegant. Too much duplication of energy if you have a computer too- despite Bluetooth/USB or F/W connects.
It is still the PHONE that is the most useful non-computer device we have, so if PDAs can carry voice, potentially for NO fee, can sync to the computer for data storage with no hassles and can be used all over the world without local phone company regs getting in the way-- then, you will have a device that is worthy of consideration. But as I have looked at each wonderful PDA that has come out, it always seems to me to be the Model T--- against the Testarossa- not in the same ballpark, let alone league. Clearly there is a place for a miniMac with VoI but it hasn't happened yet. Apple could do it, though... right?
They have a use-- and that cannot be denied but they are not elegant. Too much duplication of energy if you have a computer too- despite Bluetooth/USB or F/W connects.
It is still the PHONE that is the most useful non-computer device we have, so if PDAs can carry voice, potentially for NO fee, can sync to the computer for data storage with no hassles and can be used all over the world without local phone company regs getting in the way-- then, you will have a device that is worthy of consideration. But as I have looked at each wonderful PDA that has come out, it always seems to me to be the Model T--- against the Testarossa- not in the same ballpark, let alone league. Clearly there is a place for a miniMac with VoI but it hasn't happened yet. Apple could do it, though... right?
Think about the iPod and how it evolved into being able to store things such as contacts. Then think about what Apple might do for a `PDA', if any.
Think about it this way...when PDAs acquire hard drives such as are found in the iPod will Apple have any choice ? Classic case of Apple losing a market through inertia because believe me folks all PDAs will soon have hard drives...in this case Apple will lose the iPod market because you'll be able to play MP3s on these babies to your heart's delight
The death of PDAs has been predicted for years
The death of the PDA is nothing new. this has been predicted by the Symbian Consortium.
The Smartphone will take over.
They had the foresight to forget about the PDA and build the Symbian OS (which is INCREDIBLY stable and low powered requirements but yet very powerful) that will work in SmartPhones - ie, cell phones that has the capabilities of the PDA built in. Forget Palm and Stinker - these have been hacked up run on Smartphones. Symbian was built specifically for SmartPhones and it really does show.
Think about it - why carry a PDA and phone, two devices. You can buy one device and have the benefits of both - at a lower cost. Look at the Nokia phones, they are very small and powerful. Also look at the Symbian P800 - touch screen Smartphone, abeit, a little larger - but the P810 will be smaller. The handwriting recongition is far, far better than Palm or Pocket PC.
The Symbian based smartphones are going to take over - they have the largest cell phone manufacturers backing it - Nokia, Siemens, Motorolla, Sony Ercisson to name a few. There are more Symbian based smartphones than any other...
A lot of people in north America I have found do not understand or know what a Smartphone is. They are just as powerful as the classic PDA.
Smartphones will kill PDAs.
The death of the PDA is nothing new. this has been predicted by the Symbian Consortium.
The Smartphone will take over.
They had the foresight to forget about the PDA and build the Symbian OS (which is INCREDIBLY stable and low powered requirements but yet very powerful) that will work in SmartPhones - ie, cell phones that has the capabilities of the PDA built in. Forget Palm and Stinker - these have been hacked up run on Smartphones. Symbian was built specifically for SmartPhones and it really does show.
Think about it - why carry a PDA and phone, two devices. You can buy one device and have the benefits of both - at a lower cost. Look at the Nokia phones, they are very small and powerful. Also look at the Symbian P800 - touch screen Smartphone, abeit, a little larger - but the P810 will be smaller. The handwriting recongition is far, far better than Palm or Pocket PC.
The Symbian based smartphones are going to take over - they have the largest cell phone manufacturers backing it - Nokia, Siemens, Motorolla, Sony Ercisson to name a few. There are more Symbian based smartphones than any other...
A lot of people in north America I have found do not understand or know what a Smartphone is. They are just as powerful as the classic PDA.
Smartphones will kill PDAs.
Symbian , Shmymbian....
Gimme a good Bluetooth phone phone (Nokia 6310i or Sony Ericsson T68i) and a Bluetooth enabled PDA (Tungsten T2 or Sony TG 50) and I'm in heaven. Why ? Because I can carry a small, lightweight phone and not a brick like the SE P800....and when I need net access I pull out the PDA and dial in....no expensive data plan needed
Gimme a good Bluetooth phone phone (Nokia 6310i or Sony Ericsson T68i) and a Bluetooth enabled PDA (Tungsten T2 or Sony TG 50) and I'm in heaven. Why ? Because I can carry a small, lightweight phone and not a brick like the SE P800....and when I need net access I pull out the PDA and dial in....no expensive data plan needed
Have you seen the specs for the new Treo 600 from Handspring - seems like a nice convergence device. Smaller than standard PDA but still a workable touchscreen. The OS is Palm 5.2 (I think) with a faster processor and SD/IO card slot for expansion. I believe Sprint, AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile will be carrying it when it arrives this Fall.
In Japan they already have phones that do this. We're way behind here in the US.
Also in italy...
http://www.tre.it/servlet/ContentSe...lore/Marketing/Where&cid=0&selectedTabIndex=4
But i don't know if it works because i don't have this provider...
Also in italy...
http://www.tre.it/servlet/ContentSe...lore/Marketing/Where&cid=0&selectedTabIndex=4
But i don't know if it works because i don't have this provider...
Re: The death of PDAs has been predicted for years
It's not a matter of one "killing" the other...traditional PDAs and cell phones are simply converging into one device that'll combine both functions in one package: an OS that lets me carry around and work on any subset of my data, a large, bright display (OLED perhaps), several input methods (keyboard, handwriting, voice) and voice/data connectivity. I think that we're still at least a couple of years away, though.
It's not a matter of one "killing" the other...traditional PDAs and cell phones are simply converging into one device that'll combine both functions in one package: an OS that lets me carry around and work on any subset of my data, a large, bright display (OLED perhaps), several input methods (keyboard, handwriting, voice) and voice/data connectivity. I think that we're still at least a couple of years away, though.
Why would devices which can play Divx movies, emulate gameboy advance games/snes/nes/genesis, read ebooks, browse the internet wirelessly die as a marketable category? If PDAs aren't enough for entertainment and organization, I don't know what is.
Re: Re: The death of PDAs has been predicted for years
I disagree....convergence is another overhyped concept. Look at all the phone/pda devices on the market today. They are either phone centric or pda centric. The Handspring Treo 270/300 was PDA centric with a phone same for new color Blackberry whereas the new Treo 600 is phone centric with a PDA. I very much doubt it someone will find the magic bullet to make the perfect phone/pda hybrid, That's why I'll be sticking with 2 devices for the foreseeable future.
I disagree....convergence is another overhyped concept. Look at all the phone/pda devices on the market today. They are either phone centric or pda centric. The Handspring Treo 270/300 was PDA centric with a phone same for new color Blackberry whereas the new Treo 600 is phone centric with a PDA. I very much doubt it someone will find the magic bullet to make the perfect phone/pda hybrid, That's why I'll be sticking with 2 devices for the foreseeable future.
It all boils down to personal preference. Some want the expanded functionality of a PDA device which offers phone functionality. I have Nokia and I have been generally happy with it. But I also carry around a Palm or PPC depending on what mood I am in. Some of the new smartphone designs and this new Treo 600 may convince me to keep just one device. I for one will stay in a holding pattern until something strikes my fancy.
Re: PDAs are like Model Ts
Yeh, I think this is it. The only problem being that Steve has said they don't have much to offer the phone market so they won't go there - I hope he meant "currently" and not "in the future".
CF harddrives have already reached 4gig. It's not going to be long before someone sticks one in a phone and starts adding a "music" menu under the "contacts" entry (you could probably even eventually browse your home network iTunes db..how 'bout that?). If Apple doesn't develop VoIP, and push their handwriting recognition, networking, and other assets to atleast a partner phone company they'll get swept away by the tide (yet again...).
The iPod is a prime contender for getting whipped by a phone with a load of memory. More HD capacity in the 'pod isn't going to cut it much longer, as nobody will be able to afford to buy enough music to fill the things.
Some of these 3G phones are advancing so quickly that it's plain scary - especially seeing as their uptake is so slow.
Yeh, I think this is it. The only problem being that Steve has said they don't have much to offer the phone market so they won't go there - I hope he meant "currently" and not "in the future".
CF harddrives have already reached 4gig. It's not going to be long before someone sticks one in a phone and starts adding a "music" menu under the "contacts" entry (you could probably even eventually browse your home network iTunes db..how 'bout that?). If Apple doesn't develop VoIP, and push their handwriting recognition, networking, and other assets to atleast a partner phone company they'll get swept away by the tide (yet again...).
The iPod is a prime contender for getting whipped by a phone with a load of memory. More HD capacity in the 'pod isn't going to cut it much longer, as nobody will be able to afford to buy enough music to fill the things.
Some of these 3G phones are advancing so quickly that it's plain scary - especially seeing as their uptake is so slow.
Re: Re: Hmmm I think not.
Short answer no with a but....
MS doesn't make a version of ActiveStink for OSX and trust me this is, as martha says, a good thing TM Activesync is the worst pile of crap ever to escape the anus of Microsoft. Its been on version 3 for 3.5 freaking years and we are still only on version 3.7 and it ain't any better then version 3, 2, or even 1. The software is bloated, no surprise there, and sometimes requires a soft reset of the device to sync. This is one of those instances where I thank god MS didnt bother to contaminate the Mac with this crap. Instead some innovative clever Macite created a conduit to iSync.
The only problem with The Missing Sync for PPC is that it doesn't allow you to install programs which brings the PPC down to a glorified contact\calendar\schedule manager. $300+ is a whole heck of a lot to pay for that. There is a another option Pocket MAC This software has the ability to uncompress the cab files, files the most progs on the PPC are stored in prior to install, and install it to the PPC. However from what Ive read not only is the software WAY overpriced, IMHO, at $70 but it also sucks at least ver 2 did. Ver 3 is on it way so who knows.
That wasnt a short answer was it.
[edit: Looks like i was wrong with the missing sync and installing apps.]
Short answer no with a but....
MS doesn't make a version of ActiveStink for OSX and trust me this is, as martha says, a good thing TM Activesync is the worst pile of crap ever to escape the anus of Microsoft. Its been on version 3 for 3.5 freaking years and we are still only on version 3.7 and it ain't any better then version 3, 2, or even 1. The software is bloated, no surprise there, and sometimes requires a soft reset of the device to sync. This is one of those instances where I thank god MS didnt bother to contaminate the Mac with this crap. Instead some innovative clever Macite created a conduit to iSync.
The only problem with The Missing Sync for PPC is that it doesn't allow you to install programs which brings the PPC down to a glorified contact\calendar\schedule manager. $300+ is a whole heck of a lot to pay for that. There is a another option Pocket MAC This software has the ability to uncompress the cab files, files the most progs on the PPC are stored in prior to install, and install it to the PPC. However from what Ive read not only is the software WAY overpriced, IMHO, at $70 but it also sucks at least ver 2 did. Ver 3 is on it way so who knows.
That wasnt a short answer was it.
[edit: Looks like i was wrong with the missing sync and installing apps.]
neither palm nor microsoft have gotten the pda thing completely right. now is the time for apple to step in and make the device live up to its potential
Re: Re: Re: The death of PDAs has been predicted for years
I think is more a case of each manufacturer promoting thier "world view" with respect to portable devices.
You're right - convergence is often overhyped (stills camera/phone....yessss), but it's quite logical to combine a way of storing information about your aquaintences with the ability to communicate with them. Kind of like the old filofax which everyone used not that long ago - adress book/note jotter/sketchbook/middle of the night idea pad/diary. All in one place, all related to each other, all easily sorted (unless you're me).
That's quite a complex set of tasks that used to be facilitated by some A5 sized ring-bound paper, with a leather case that had a few pockets. If anyone can sort out a proper digital version, it's Apple. They have the technology, the design, the interfaces.....I'm still baffled why they don't just do it. (Newton flashbacks I guess).
I think is more a case of each manufacturer promoting thier "world view" with respect to portable devices.
You're right - convergence is often overhyped (stills camera/phone....yessss), but it's quite logical to combine a way of storing information about your aquaintences with the ability to communicate with them. Kind of like the old filofax which everyone used not that long ago - adress book/note jotter/sketchbook/middle of the night idea pad/diary. All in one place, all related to each other, all easily sorted (unless you're me).
That's quite a complex set of tasks that used to be facilitated by some A5 sized ring-bound paper, with a leather case that had a few pockets. If anyone can sort out a proper digital version, it's Apple. They have the technology, the design, the interfaces.....I'm still baffled why they don't just do it. (Newton flashbacks I guess).
It's already done.
http://www.vindigo.com
Works on PDAs (palm, PPC) and a variety of cellphones, and does just what you describe.
Actually, all these luggable devices - mp3 players, digital cameras (still & video) cellphones, pdas will converge, and the result won't look like any of them, but will probably be about the size of a pen, with say a flexible 5 x 7 inch roll-out screen at 1024 x 728px and either comprehensive voice recognition or a projected holographic keyboard/trackpad (plus maybe a stylus if really still needed).
And it will be three times faster than a g5 with 100gb of storage, probably similar to flash memory.
All of these technologies are in development right now. The problem is simply one of maturity. Just wait till 2013 and you'll see what I mean.
If its digital, it WILL converge eventually, at least in the portable arena, because you won't tolerate arbitrary distinctions between data, and you won't want to carry more than one device if it CAN do everything well.
Now in the home, quite the opposite effect will happen, because you don't want to carry ANYTHING, you will want your data to follow you around on its own, so low cost hi speed ubiquitous "devices" will proliferate and interconnect wirelessly to bring you whatever you want wherever you want. And those devices wil probably look like a wall, or a coffee table.
Re: Re: Hmmm I think not.
Yes. I am using an iPAQ 2215 and I can sync it with iCal. There are two OS X apps that can do this for you.
1. Missing Sync www.markspace.com
2. PocketMac www.pocketmac.net
Very nifty programs. As much as it pains me, Pocket PC is a superior PDA. However, I think a PDA, with a screen like my iPAQ, running a small version of OS X would absolutly awsome! Imagine tapping an app with your stylus and seeing the genie effect as it opens. That would be too cool.
The question I have is whether I can use my PDA via bluetooth and connect to the internet with my new Powerbook (whenever they come out)? I am using a Sprint CF2031 flash card to connect to the internet anywhere. Very cool device, but they don't have OS X drivers. But if phones can be used via bluetooth why not PDAs? Any suggestions?
Yes. I am using an iPAQ 2215 and I can sync it with iCal. There are two OS X apps that can do this for you.
1. Missing Sync www.markspace.com
2. PocketMac www.pocketmac.net
Very nifty programs. As much as it pains me, Pocket PC is a superior PDA. However, I think a PDA, with a screen like my iPAQ, running a small version of OS X would absolutly awsome! Imagine tapping an app with your stylus and seeing the genie effect as it opens. That would be too cool.
The question I have is whether I can use my PDA via bluetooth and connect to the internet with my new Powerbook (whenever they come out)? I am using a Sprint CF2031 flash card to connect to the internet anywhere. Very cool device, but they don't have OS X drivers.
But if phones can be used via bluetooth why not PDAs? Any suggestions?
You mean this:
Earth: Final Conflict was the bomb.
www.mpica.org/LCA5/efc03.jpg]Global
www.mpica.org/LCA5/efc02.jpg]Global II
[edit:
BAH! :
iscussed:: Google sucksanyways what you are describing is the global from earth final conflict. The coolest device to hit scifi since the communicator]
Ballast functionality
Considering that the latest mobile phones have most of the functionality of the average colour-screen PDA I am not surprised to read that their future is bleak. Having said that, I will continue to be one of the minority who does not use mobile phones as I find them completely unecessary. For me a PDA will continue to be the easiest way to cary my whole address book and take notes on the road. As for all the new PDA features like music/movie playback, digital photography, wireless networking, etc, I see them as extras that I neither need nor want to pay for.
Considering that the latest mobile phones have most of the functionality of the average colour-screen PDA I am not surprised to read that their future is bleak. Having said that, I will continue to be one of the minority who does not use mobile phones as I find them completely unecessary. For me a PDA will continue to be the easiest way to cary my whole address book and take notes on the road. As for all the new PDA features like music/movie playback, digital photography, wireless networking, etc, I see them as extras that I neither need nor want to pay for.
Re: Re: PDAs are like Model Ts
Good point. Millions of people will continue to use PDA regardless of whether analysts see it as a growth market or not. Why? Because a lot of people find them very very useful. Another fundamental force to consider is that storage memory will continue to get smaller and cheaper. When 30gb PDAs or phones capable of mp3 playback hit the street, you think anyone's going to dish $500 for an ipod?
The ipod's been a success because Apple got the size, capacity, and interface right before anyone else. Don't think this is going to last forever.
If Apple are truly cunning and not up their own arses too much, they are viewing the iPod as a stepping stone - an intermediate if you will - towards building their expertise in launching a truly amazing portable multifunction device.
Good point. Millions of people will continue to use PDA regardless of whether analysts see it as a growth market or not. Why? Because a lot of people find them very very useful. Another fundamental force to consider is that storage memory will continue to get smaller and cheaper. When 30gb PDAs or phones capable of mp3 playback hit the street, you think anyone's going to dish $500 for an ipod?
The ipod's been a success because Apple got the size, capacity, and interface right before anyone else. Don't think this is going to last forever.
If Apple are truly cunning and not up their own arses too much, they are viewing the iPod as a stepping stone - an intermediate if you will - towards building their expertise in launching a truly amazing portable multifunction device.