Comments on: PDA Market Continues Contraction, Palm Remains on Top

And yes, before anyone else has the chance to say it, yes, that probably does show that I'm "abnormal".


"twrock is infamous around these parts" (from my profile over at Brighthand due to my negative 62 rep points rating)

Z22:
-SD or microSD slot
-~512mb integrated flash storage
-3.5mm Stereo headphone jack
-Multiple color choices (at least white & black)

T|E2:
-Updated OS/app bundle
-64mb RAM
-BT 1.2 OR BT & wi-fi

A more radical concept that I've mentioned here before would be to drop the E2 entirely OR rebuild it entirely, replacing the Graffiti area with a small QWERTY board (modern Treo 90, anyone?) and target it as a Sony MYLO competitor. Basically, a $100-$150 Centro-style PMP/text messaging/e-mail machine for teens who cannot afford a real Centro + service plan. Or as a PDA for diehards who never got the hang of Graffiti

TX:
-Integrated microphone
-Charge/notification LED
-Higher-capacity battery
-Updated OS/app bundle
-2 or 4gb of internal flash storage ala T5
-Faster (416mhz+) CPU
-User-selectable Graffiti 1 or 2

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

It's got a long way to go yet - but popular interest is there and the SDK will go down a storm.

It'll be really interesting to see where the iPod Touch is in 12 months time, what apps have appeared and whether Apple evolves the Touch to include more PDA-like features (hint - a slot for some flash memory storage perhaps?).

Fingers crossed for a media-centric PDA renaissance.

Oh well, we can only hope Palm changes, and we'll see what the future brings (if anything).

:-/

All good things...

This causes me to wonder. With the Touch now offering 16GB and 32GB, why do you need a slot? No, really, I'm not being snarky here. I have a LifeDrive and even though I have 3GB internally 80% filled, I have just a 1GB SD card, half full. And what's *on* it, media, I hardly ever use. So a 16 or 32GB Touch would be plenty for me without a slot, I think. Even if you packed a ton of movies on it, how many times do you have a two-hour stretch to sit and watch a movie?

I have a 160gb iPod Classic and, despite hating it with a passion, there's no doubt that it packs in a staggering amount of capacity. I have it 2/3 full with my entire music collection in blissfully high bit-rates and still with some room for, say, live gig bootlegs, videos, data storage etc.

Another real-world example I can think of off the top of my head was when I was recently inspecting some property damages at an remote offsite location. I was able to take some pictures that were low resolution & heavily compressed with my "real" digicam but still far exceeded anything the Treo's feeble camera could have done. I then popped the SD card out of my camera into my Treo and e-mailed them to several different parties.

And, of course, a removable media slot allows users to do stuff like have a card full of "personal & confidential" informatioin, or a card full of videos etc. If the iPod Touch had an SDHC slow it could pack 64mb of flash storage instead of 32. Or the iPhone could have 32gb or 48gb instead of 16gb.

No, Apple is like Palmm just with much more R&D prowess and flair...they want to intentionally cripple their devices to keep the overpriced 3rd party accessory ecosystem vibrant and to keep selling users new units that just offer more storage. Why else would Apple continue to resist adding an FM tuner to the iPods as well as user-replacable removable batteries and expansion card slots?

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Verizon Treo 700P-->Verizon 755p

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

PALM's total PDA output has shrunk.

That is to say, for example, if there are THREE equal PDA makers, one drops out, and the other two reduce their own output by 50% then the other two's marketshare has grown from 33% to 50% regardless.

And that's what's happened with PALM.

The process is bottom up. They give us what the numbers say we want. And the numbers prove that we have a healthy appetite for smartphones and NOT PDAs.

PDA brand loyalty on the other hand... well, just look at all of us cranky already-ditched-Palm sourpusses here who *still* waste time, energy, and effort here even after not getting any new models, even after having been burned with upgrades, bugs that won't-be-fixed, etc.

Even those of us that want to see nails in Palm's coffin WANT to see Palm produce another compelling high end, feature-full PDA (with or without a phone).

*THAT* is loyalty.

Or masochism.