Every time Palm (or another company using the Palm brand) releases a "special edition" handheld with special casing, it seems like they're bashed MERCILESSLY by people on this site--particularly the Sony users (heck, I'm a Sony user and I still find it annoying).

Wonder what the bashers will say this time around. Here's hoping the end of anonymous posting will keep these people quiet.

That said, the orange is, well, "interesting." Personally, I wouldn't buy it, but more power to someone who does. Variety is what we need in PDAs now--not only of features, but of looks. This is what always amazes me about the current PPC offerings--pretty much cookie-cutter iPaq clones. Sure, they're getting cheaper, but lower price only takes you so far. What I like about PalmOS is that there's a nice variety of devices available, with many others still to come. Maybe this variety will eventually get rid of the tired "My PDA can beat up your PDA" attitude.

That is a very good point, and part of the reason for that is Microsoft's hardware/liscensing requirements. It's almost like the PPC market is turning into a PC "white-box" range with the similarity between devices. I think most people would agree that the more variety the better and that is on of the stregnths of the palm os platform

http://mypdacafe.upasia.net/members/iPAQfreak/1910.bmp

Well, I wouldn't necessarily say they're the "real deal," but the point is that there is no "real deal" anymore, or at least shouldn't be. Handhelds are maturing as products, which basically means that there are more factors than simply "what's under the hood" to take into consideration.

Let's take the "more features + lower price = everything" argument into desktops. Based on this reasoning, I should get the most basic-looking tower with the fanciest components that my neighbor can build after shopping at Fry's for an hour. This would be the cheapest, most feature-packed machine possible. Why don't people do this? Because they want variety, which includes the look of the casing. Same thing applies to laptops, cell phones...name the product.

Am I evangelizing PalmOS? Hardly. But I think this is a strength of the platform. I also think PPC was good for handhelds, if only because it raised the bar on features. However, Microsoft's micromanagement of the hardware has sanitized the PPC line. PPC 2000 was far more interesting in terms of hardware. PPC 2002 is trying to make iPaq clones as cheaply as possible, which lowers prices, sure, but which also eliminates variety. I think that's a mistake.

At any rate, enough of the PPC talk. This is PalmInfoCenter. If you want to evangelize PPC, go to a PPC site. I think this is a nice development, even if it's not exactly revolutionary, for Sony, and I hope more PalmOS licensees take these things into consideration.

current generation: 2 companies and 3 models as of now...so much for blooming diversity

YOU ARE TOTALLY WRONG!

How long after the product first released did Palm make a "speciali edition"? 18 month!

How long after the product first released did SONY make a "speciali edition"? 4 month!

No wonder palm was bashed, because they could not come up with new modle with new spec !!

------ achen@clie.info ------
Why get Palm when you can get a Clie?

Handhelds are not really like PCs at all, where the market has become 'commoditised' (if that's a word!), and people do look for the most 'bang per buck'. Handhelds are all about 'doing things' and are consumer tools. Companies like Sony and Nokia understand this. Nokia's best selling phones are not their most expensive (nor even their mid-range), but the ones that are most customisable. People like to feel ownership with their portable devices -- because they are with them constantly, it is an extension of themselves in much the same way that the clothes they wear are. This is particularly so for the teenage market -- the next purchasers of PDAs.

Now, if you are of a (slightly) older generation, more used to conformity (maybe you all wear the same dull blue or charcoal suit to work), the similarity between PPC devices and the standardised 'corporate' look is comforting. The market for PDAs is pretty stagnant at the moment -- maybe this is due to people holding off buying until the Palm OS 5 devices arrived; but more likely it is due to the majority of consumers feeling that they don't need a PDA, or that it is too geeky, or one doesn't fit their lifestyle needs.

Okay, so Palms are a little expensive at the moment (I guess they are trying to recoup some R&D costs quickly from the early adopters); but variety and a consumer focus is what is going to expand the PDA market. PPC clone manufacturers would do well to head this.

FBN.

Please Ryan do somenhing about people like these.

Well at least Fzara2000 is not as annoying in this forum as in brighthand where he constantly bashes palm Os users.

What would I do for one of these!

Seems pretty damb inovative to me!
Much more than my m130. I don't need the best Palm out there but I sure as hell need something better than what I have!

------ achen@clie.info ------
Why get Palm when you can get a Clie?

Also check out the deals on reburbs in the "Clearance" area.

- Dan

It would be great to have a mid end O% handhleld with the same form factor as the SJ30 (exept for the tickness, .5" would be much much better).

Sorry a typo, I mean OS5.

a $10 cut doesn't make me want to run out and get one.
Whatever these prices are, I don't have a clue what they would be in Canadian, I guess a hell of a lot more.

Still, I prefer the metal case of a T Series or Tungsten over the SJ's plastic.

FBN

the VG area is half as tall as it is high, whereas normal graffiti is about one third.

BTW, we did get authorization from Sony to post this article with info on the SJ30 before they did. Heh, how's that for a scoop?

- Dan

Of course, with Sony's past history, it probably won't be too many months before we see new models.

- Dan

Looks to me like they're trying to entice more Halloween shoppers, but they've only got a couple of days to do that.