CEO Talks About Palm's Future

Eric Benhamou, the interim CEO of Palm Inc., did an interview with Cnet in which he discussed his company's plans for ARM/Palm OS 5 models and competition with the Pocket PC OS.

He talked about Palm moving into the second phase of handheld computing. The first phase was centered around PIM apps, like the Address Book and Date Book. The second phase will still make use of PIM apps but will also include multimedia capabilities, like audio and video.

Naturally, the change is being brought about by the move the Palm OS 5 and the switch to ARM-based processors. OS 5 will be able to run on processors from various manufacturers based on designs from ARM Holdings available now in speeds between 70 MHz and 500 MHz. This range gives Palm a great deal of flexibility in what products it can release.

Mr. Benhamou said, "ARM gives us the opportunity to run the same operating system in a very great, low-cost, entry-level offering and a great, high-end, very high-performance offering. We think that will give us significant competitive advantage but will also open up the markets."

According to Mr. Benhamou, Palm will concentrate much more on the enterprise market, with access to corporate email, including all types of attachments, being at the heart of the plans.

However, his company will also create devices on the low-end, as these tend to be first time buyers. He said this is because once someone has owned a device running a certain operating system, they tend to say with that same OS as they buy higher-end devices.

Mr. Benhamou doesn't seem very worried about competition for Microsoft's Pocket PC architecture. He said, "The Pocket PC has been really limited to the high end of the range because of the inherent costs of its architecture."

I barely scratched the surface of this interview, which goes on to cover a wide range of topics. I'd suggest you take a look for yourself. -Ed

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Remember the Zen of Palm

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 1:48:36 PM #
Everytime I read comments like these comming from those at the helm at Palm I get more and more concerned that Palm might lose focus of the Zen of Palm that got the OS where it is today. I took a look at the Zaurus (Linux based PDA) today and, while it is an impressive feature set, it seems to suffer from the same user experience troubles as PPC devices.

Keep your eye on the ball Palm.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 2:21:13 PM #
I totally agree. Palm must be careful to stick to the same basic ideas that made it a success. The earlier failures of other PDAs (including the PPC) occurred because the designers fell prey to the idea that, bigger/more features at the expense of usability, was okay. The problem is that it is sooooo easy to get into this mindset of, "ok, whatelse can I do with this thing?" that the designer starts to trade-off the simplicity (Zen) of the device.

We all want to be able to do "more". And "more" is good, as long as the "more" is subtly inserted into the devices feature-set without sacrificing the simplicity. That is why I don't buy a PPC.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 2:27:40 PM #
Well, I'll agree and disagree with you at the same time. If you pick up a PPC and try to navigate it, you quickly see the advantages of a "simple" Palm interface, whether that be the built-in launcher or some other, such as Launcher III. Most Palm launchers are easier for me to use than the PPC. Therefore, I agree in some respects that Palm needs to continue to make the user experience simple and elegant with as few user gyrations as possible to navigate the device. PPC has already incorporated neat software into neat hardware. However, the device is just too hard to navigate and, from what I hear, too hard to sync.

On the other hand, Palm must also take advantage of the new hardware and incorporate advances in the new devices that brings Palm up to speed with the rest of the market. Sony's devices are very compelling right now, but they are limited by processor power. Once the new processors are incorporated, I will be very excited to see what Sony can do in a small package. Palm needs such "cool tools" as well. If "simple" means leaving the "cool" out of the device, I see Palm's position in the market place stagnating and the company going the way of Packard and Dusenberg. You've got to keep up with the times.

The old company slogan was "Simply Palm." Maybe the company's new philosophy should be "Simply Cool."

JBH

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 4:12:06 PM #
"Simply Yawn" is the more likely candidate seeing what information has been released on 5.0.
RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 9:18:14 PM #
Look guys, maybe your simplicity is important to some segment of the market but what I want is a buttload of features in one small case with long battery life, and I dont bloody care if it runs PocketPC 200x or Palm OS x.0, who bloody cares! Your so-called "similicity" is irrelevant -- having MS Word/Excel skills are pretty time the baseline these days, and none of the apps on any mobile device are anywhere close to complexity of Excel, so I say -- screw notion of simplity, give us a lot of power in our hands with long battery life with open architecture allowing people to write software for it, and thats what we need!
RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 10:02:58 PM #
I agree. The Palm OS interface must be kept simple.

Handhelds are tools, not toys - they are supposed to help us cope with the thousand stresses of everyday life. The last thing a busy person wants is something which gets in the way of getting the job done.

Speaking for myself... well, a bigger screen would be nice. As for all the multimedia doo-dads, if I wanted those I'd use my laptop.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 10:16:57 PM #
Look guys, maybe your simplicity is important to some segment of the market but what I want is a buttload of features in one small case with long battery life, and I dont bloody care if it runs PocketPC 200x or >>Palm OS x.0, who bloody cares! Your so-
>>called "similicity" is irrelevant -- having MS
>>Word/Excel skills are pretty time the baseline
>>these days, and none of the apps on any mobile
>>device are anywhere close to complexity of Excel,
>>so I say -- screw notion of simplity, give us a lot
>>of power in our hands with long battery life with
>>open architecture allowing people to write software
>>for it, and thats what we need!


That's because you're a tech geek. You want power. It's like cars. Camrys and Accords are what sell in huge numbers. Sports cars cost a lot and fill a niche market. That's why these arguments on boards like this are so silly. We go around and around about features/power vs. zen/small form factor. People have different needs. Different strokes...

Clearly, since 1996 zen/smallness has been the winning combo. So when we hear Palm execs talk about turning to the dark side of the force, we worry that they'll destroy Palm chasing after a mirage.

Handhelds will never be able to do what desktops do because the size limitations are so much less. In five years people like you will be bragging about the latest and greatest your desktop can do and complain about how the "Yawn OS v9" falls so short of what you want--which is a feature set that would bloat the physical dimensions of the device to an unreal level.

Get this in your heads, PPC trolls: handhelds will never do what your desktop does. Because it's a race they can never win.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 10:17:44 PM #
Simple or simplistic?

To take one example, I wouldn't be surprised if the front page icons would be too crowded in OS 5.0 just like win 3.1.

With more memory and horse power, more file and apps can be installed inside the machine. After a certain point, the current system of pages of icon would be very complicated, and pull down menu and mini icons will actually be easier to use.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 7:22:20 AM #
I agree with one of the post in the following threads, OS5 should bring better "connnectivity", not necessarily wireless, but wireless should be a viable option at least.

Say for example, you can read all your emails including several common types of attachments on your Palm. Your Palm can synchornize with major business planners/scheduler/workgroup softwares.

Able to read(and even better, edit) Word, Excel docs is important to businesses too, IMO.

Also, aside from memory, processing power is important for some businesses too, as they may custom make some relatively processor intensive apps.

And cause corporation is one of the very important markets to Palm, it does not mean multimedia extras are irrelevant. But I don't think they are so important to the extent that they're all what OS5 is about.

Personally I won't bother watching serious video on such a small screen for a long time, photos are okay, but needs a good color screen. MP3? I would rather get a seperate player for that. Trying to do too many on one device is not a good idea...

Anyway, don't forget what Palm is all about at the first place -- Digital personal organizer, if it loses the usefulness of such(say, by implementating a very very bad interface, and make it very very complicated to use), I would say it's a failure for Palm.

So, I see 3 types of Palm in the future...

1) Basic Palm - For basic needs, with low-end config.
2) Business Palm - For advanced needs, med to high-end config, sans entertainment(not meaning no good color screen).
3) Entertainment Palm - For geeks, videos, audios, whatever you can put into a Palm.

Just my 2 cents comment.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 7:35:08 AM #
Handhelds are close to do like 95% of stuff we do on desktops, the only exception are top end 3D games, and this is probably remain to be so. My main problem its battery life, poor CPUs, poor storage and lack of quality software.

I think the notion of simlicity on palms is overrated and general public is quite computer literate and surely can use both PocketPCs and Palms. Its just a question of features -- just because you ONLY need PIM in palm doesn't mean that same device can't get on boad people who want to watch MP4s on the go, its freedom like on desctop -- you run WHATEVER you want, its your call.

Hey, I own 2 palms and won't buy PocketPC, but I want Palm to compete with PocketPC successfully and for this they need something more than "simplicity" of interface, whatever it is.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 8:10:22 AM #
"general public is quite computer literate"

No offence, but you know how much of the US know why there're 365 days in a year?

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 9:03:39 AM #
And do you know how many people run Windows on their computers in the US every day? All of these millions are literate "enough" to know that pressing on OK button OKays stuff and Cancel actually cancells action, and typing on keyboard would product letters on screen, what else do you need to run PDA? Now, graffiti is certainly not for masses, I bloody prefer to use external keyboard, and yes I am a geek. Problem with PDAs that only so few people want PIM functions, heck, I am using it mainly to read news on AvantGo and books, listen to MP3s and thats about it. And I want device that would do that MUCH better, with GBs of storage, and I want to view movies on the go too. Hell, what you suggesting that there should be special device for all of these fucntions? Think not, Palm is best positioned to get out of PIM only market which is a dead end, and get into something people WANT TO DO. combine all these features in ONE device -- and leave mobiles to mobiles and you got a winner.

You just should not confuse simplicity with ergonomic interface, and maybe windows like interface is not good enough for a small device, but both versions are EASY ENOUGH TO RUN BY A BLOODY SUB-100 IQ person! There is no problem with simplicity at all, problem is in features and software to take advantage of these features to sell bloody devices.

Now I am a geek, but I am also a marketing analyst dealing with sales data on day to day basis in a major computer reseller.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 10:39:42 AM #
I understand your point, but your requirements seem very special ... Avantgo, MP4 but no PIM? I'm not sure if there are many people who have such particular requirements.

Think what this means for Palm, business wise - hypothetically, they spend bags of money on R&D and they knock your socks off - yours and about 100 others who have such special requirements. Not a good pay-off is it? Next step, Palm is bankrupt ... and the arm chair critics will put this down to lack of innovation!

The millions of other users (17 million and growing every day) probably want stuff which is much more mundane - PIM, work related apps, etc. Yes, I know this bores you, but the multitude of other users have a right to get what they want too.

Put it this way - you want to drive a Ferrari, fine. Just don't ruin things for those who would be happy to drive a Ford.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 10:40:53 AM #
LOL, calm down. I know millions know how to "produce" characters on the screen, how about setting a page break in Word? My experience is that 90% of my friends, family don't know that. Is it difficult? Not, if by my standard.

I think it's important that not to assume, others are as knowledgeable as you and needs what you need.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 10:47:33 AM #
BTW, what does this sentence mean?

"problem is in features and software to take advantage of these features to sell bloody devices."

Maybe we should better distinguish "simple to use" and "simple in feature".

Is current Palm simple in features? Well, with the default apps, and comparing to PPC, yes it's. Is it simple to use? It depends but probably simpler than PPC.

Should Palm add more features in the future? Definitely, if it wants to stay in the business. But by how?

Let's assume everybody knows how to use PalmOS and PPC, but would you take 5 clicks to open your Datebook or 1 click?

Also, it's necessary to consider the technology available. If it's possible to make a ultimate PDA with all the features you want, but it weights 2lbs and is as large as 7" x 4", would you want it? Or if the battery runs out with 5hrs of MP3 playing, would you want it?

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 11:07:31 AM #
To the confused gentleman who wants a "buttload" of features:

Actually, the average American is just *barely* computer-savy enough to effectively manipulate a Palm device, let alone PPC.

You understand very little of what the average consumer feels comfortable with.

The person that made the Camry/Accord reference is *RIGHT* on the money.

I work in an office environment with 2,000+ other employees whom all have college degrees, and use Windows and the internet on a daily basis, and I can tell you this: Very few can do little more (or even care to do more) than type something in Word and indent lines with the TAB key. They can also print and copy. THAT is the average middle-class white collar American.

Palm needs to continue the path it is on: making an effective and user-friendly (I hate the word 'simple') operating system. It's up to the other vendors to do the rest.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 11:12:11 AM #
Handhelds are close to do like 95% of stuff
---
95% of what stuff?


we do on desktops, the only exception are top end 3D games, and this is probably remain to be so. My main
---
You prefer to do word processing on a handheld than on a PC? You want do read Excel docs on a handheld than on a PC?


I think the notion of simlicity on palms is overrated and general public is quite computer literate and surely can use both PocketPCs and Palms. Its just a question of features -- just because you ONLY need PIM in palm doesn't mean that same device can't get on boad people who want to watch MP4s on the go, its freedom like on desctop -- you run WHATEVER you want, its your call.
---
I think you overrated the general public's needs for a handheld.

Just because you need to watch MP4s on the go doesn't mean that broad people should pay $500 for a device they use for PIM ONLY.


Hey, I own 2 palms and won't buy PocketPC, but I want Palm to compete with PocketPC successfully and for this they need something more than "simplicity" of interface, whatever it is.
---
From my view, Palm is trying to tap the corporation market, and what it takes is more processing power and memory that's enough for most business apps, better connectivity with desktop softwares.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 11:30:24 AM #
> You prefer to do word processing on a handheld than on a PC? You want do
> read Excel docs on a handheld than on a PC?

If I'm somewhere that my PC isn't (like 99.9% of the world) yes I do. Turns out I'm away from my PC a lot. Meetings, commuting, traveling, I can read and make changes to the Office files I need to. It's a gigantic time saver. Sure, I could lug a 6 pound laptop with me everywhere, but does that make sense when I can use a 6 ounce palmtop instead?

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 11:38:47 AM #
Look at PCs -- they have got general purpose CPU that can be used for a variety of purposes - you can plan your day, you can watch video, you can do Excel/Word etc.

Same should apply to Palms if they want to be successful -- give general purpose device, with robust OS and support decent hardware and this device can be used for variety of purposes, it would be a matter of SOFTWARE, not hardware.

So what if it takes 5 clicks to do stuff on pocketpc? If its a PROBLEM then software will be re-written and thats it. If thats REALLY a problem then rewrite it and sell it.

Anyone thought why would expensive, bulky, low-battery life and supposedly bad interfaced IPAQs are selling well? Sure Palm owns 80% of market, but IPAQs are WAY more expensive, and if 20% of market opted to get TOP END then surely other 80% would be reasonably happy to get cut down version of same device, provided they are reasonably backwards compatible. Like it or not -- market chooses more features in one device.

So, you saying playing MP4 is a special requirement? How about watching DVDs, do you know that is the price of a portable DVD player? Its well above $1k, and they sold reasonably well (for these sort of devices), so give this FEATURE in PDA, and tell people that they can play their DVDs on the go, AND do lots of other things, and hey, you got a unique selling feature. Is playing audio special? All those people who bought walkman's can upgrade to this device, there is nothign special in it!

Now, this is my last post, I am not really not into trying to pursvuade you in anything, just have a look at this: http://news.com.com/2100-1040-883861.html

"The device measures 3 inches by 5 inches, is 0.9-inches thick and weighs about half a pound.

The major difference is that the OQO device, which will come out in the second half of the year for around $1,000, is a complete Windows XP computer. Along with Windows, it will come with a 5800 Crusoe processor from Transmeta, a 10GB hard drive, 256MB of memory, connection ports for FireWire and USB (universal serial bus), and wireless networking connections through either WiFi or Bluetooth"

This could be vaporware, but in 2-3 years something LIKE this will be out, and tell me how Palm is going to compete with x86 PORTABLE device with millions of software titles running on it unmodified? And price issue -- with components shrinking down and prices falling in 2 years something like this CAN be well sold at below $500 mark.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 11:46:38 AM #
Reading and editing is okay, what about writing a 10000-word thesis?
RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 11:51:35 AM #
Able to read and edit Word, Excel files on the road is really a time-saver which is especially useful for frequent travallers.

However, this is not a new function nor requires a new OS/Palm in many cases. All you need is to purchase a copy of DTG or QuickOffice, and often mid/high-end models come with a free copy of one of them. For storage, lots of Palms support external storage cards these days... Palm m-series (SD/MMC), Sony (MS), Visor (with MemPlug modules, SD/MMC/MS/SM/CF), Handera (CF).

Besides more processing power and memory, what I think is more essential to future Palms in terms of hardware is a better screen.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 12:03:28 PM #
Like it or not -- market chooses more features in one device.
------
If it's the case, why in these days US$800-1000 computers are selling more than those US$1500-2000 computers which can do everything from word processing to video editing?

How many needs devices that can do everything?

Maybe your market is different from mine, okay...

So, sorry, please let me state this again...

1) Basic Palm - For basic needs, with low-end config.
2) Business/Advanced Palm - For advanced needs, med to high-end config, sans entertainment(not meaning no good color screen).
3) Ultimate Palm - For geeks, videos, audios, whatever you can put into a Palm.

I guess(guess...) 80% of the Palm market will be consisted of category 1 and 2 devices, if all 3 categories are avaiable.

What I think you've missed the point is that handheld and PC are of different form factors, even they can do the same thing, you would prefer to use one to do something, and another one to do the other things.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 12:04:19 PM #
> Anyone thought why would expensive, bulky, low-battery life and
> supposedly bad interfaced IPAQs are selling well?

They aren't selling all that well. Compaq proudly announced last month that had sold 2 million of them in 2 years. Palm sold close to that number last quarter.

> tell me how Palm is going to compete with x86 PORTABLE device with millions
> of software titles running on it unmodified?

Very few Windows apps will run at the very small screen size this thing uses.

> with components shrinking down and prices falling in 2 years something
> like this CAN be well sold at below $500 mark.

It will never be that cheap. They are trying to make this have all the functionality of a full sized PC. "We see this as 'This is your only computer,'" said Colin Hunter, executive vice president of OQO. If this is supposed to be a desktop replacement, it has to keep up with desktops. That means the company will keep having to upgrade it with newer, more expensive components.

Here's something you left out of your quotes from the CNET article: "Other companies, including a Taiwanese manufacturer called Saint Song, have also tried to promote miniature PCs before."

Those all bombed. Trying to cram a full OS into something that small doesn't work. It isn't usable.

Handhelds will only be successful when they keep their feature set within what is possible and also have an OS that has been specially written for a small screen. That's why PPC has failed and why the OQO is doomed to fail. It's also the reason why the Palm OS dominates the consumer and enterprise markets.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 12:19:37 PM #
What I want to say is, there must be a critical point that people don't want everything sucked into ONE device.

Otherwise the whole kitchen will not have so many appliances. If people want ONE then it would have been on the market and if enough people want IT then it would have been selling very well already.

It's... Supply and demand?

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 12:29:58 PM #
Laptop can *sometimes* replace PC because they're similar in many ways -- Screen size, input methods, architecture...

Handhelds' screen and input method is so large a difference that could never replace PCs.

Handhelds can only remain being as handhelds because of one factor -- Size.

If you make it large and it's not a "handheld".

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 12:39:20 PM #
Tablet PC is quite a good compromise between a full PC and a handheld I think. And why tablet PC aren't popular tells a lot of things...
RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 1:29:28 PM #
------------[QUOTE]-----------------------------------
"What I want to say is, there must be a critical point that people don't want everything sucked into ONE device.

Otherwise the whole kitchen will not have so many appliances. If people want ONE then it would have been on the market and if enough people want IT then it would have been selling very well already."
------------------------------------------------------

I'm not sure I agree with you here. The critical difference is that you don't have to carry your whole kitchen around in your pocket. Sure, Newton and WinCE devices have failed but not because they put too many features in, they failed because they put in all those additional features at the cost of more important things such as Battery Life.

In the end, I believe we will have a "PocketPC" in that, like the PC, the handheld will be able to do all the things that different devices currently do in one unit. I mean, do you really want to carry around a PocketMP3 Player, PocketTV, PDA, Cell. Phone, etc... all around with you if there is a choice of having it all in one?

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 1:39:49 PM #
Thanks, but I would prefer simplier but inter-connectable devices for the following reasons:

- I don't want to loss my TV, PDA, phone, MP3 player all at once when one device breaks
- Not everybody needs everything
- Price price price...

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 2:08:05 PM #
IMO:

I'm NOT against adding features to Palm, but it's to my concern that by adding features we may also add theses:

1) Size
2) Weight
3) Price
4) Usage complexity
5) Battery usage

Of all the above things, I surely will appreciate if my Palm can record and play audio(MP3/WMA...), vidoes, and surf the Internet and even take a photo.

And except taking a photo(cause it will increase the size and weight), I do think future handhelds should support the abovementioned, better out-of-the-box.

In fact, many of the mentioned are not new and already on the market, right?

However, as this stage, those extras come at extra $$$, and usually size and weight. If you ask me what I prefer(provided I have $$$), I would prefer a slim and lightweight handheld, with all the basic PIM functionality, and preferably a high-resolution color screen and a battery that can sustain a few days to a week of heavy use, blah blah blah...

But we shouldn't ignore the basic users, which may be using paper datebook right now and just want an electronic PDA to replace it for under $100.

It would be great if they come all within a slim package and reasonable price.

I just don't think EVERY Palm should be an all-rounder.

Also, I think handheld cannot replace PC in the forseeable future of mine.

RE: Remember the Zen of Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 2:30:35 PM #
Continue:

I agree with the 2nd post in the thread "RE: All we want is POWER and SIMPLICITY".

I hope OS5 and future PalmOS will be able to support more multimedia and high-end features, while also providing possibility for using in lower-end devices.

It's about what the article is about, sort of.

To me, it would not be good if every Palm is like a multimedia hub, I don't want Palm to become Microsoft and Windows.

BTW, for all the cost matter. In many cases, the cost has little to do with the price. The segmentation of models, functions and prices are used to maximum the profit.

All we want is POWER and SIMPLICITY

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 2:45:02 PM #
everything else is Microsoft.
RE: All we want is POWER and SIMPLICITY
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 11:52:32 PM #
Diversity can give you both power and simplicity in varying degrees.

There is room for at least 3 models: (a) entry level (b) power user and (c) business user.

(a) will be pretty basic and cheap - think of the m10x, maybe a little faster with a better screen. As for (b), there will likely be a whole range of units available, with most of them rivalling the PPC in terms of feature set. (Yawn)

The real action will be in the (c) category - what the business user wants is something which is small and easy to operate, with excellent connectivity to desktop apps. The idea is not to produce a mini-laptop or to replace the desktop rather it is to complement them with the emphasis on mobility and ease of operation. Think of the m50x series on steriods - faster, bigger screen, better handling of email, built in conversion of Word, Excell & Powerpoint files, basic web brower ... The hardware is the key - low priority for color, MP3, video, cameras, etc - preferable to focus on connectivity. Built in Bluetooth would be OK, but until Bluetooth becomes more widespread, it would be better still to have a phone jack and soft modem. Bigger screen (and 360x360 resolution) to allow for better editing of docs/spreadsheets.

Picture this scenario - visiting a client - important documents loaded on your Palm. After a presentation, you make some edits to cover client's feedback, plug in a line to the phone jack and send the docs to the client, which the client can read directly using Word/whatever without any need for coversion by the receiving unit.

For the business user, the main game will be to bring out the full potential of the vX/m50x configuration - not producing another multi-media toy.

If this is what Palm aims for, their future will be exciting indeed.

RE: All we want is POWER and SIMPLICITY
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 9:10:56 AM #
ARM devices will allow us to watch MP4s on the go and do other nice things that SELL devices. You can't sell a device with just PIM functions -- original Palm Pilot did it well enough.
RE: All we want is POWER and SIMPLICITY
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 7:39:27 PM #
What we need is for Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to make a PDA, that would be very, very, good.
Mr Mace, are you there?
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/8/2002 5:56:18 AM #
Hope the Palm team saw the 2nd post. You should listen when your customers are speaking!

Take That Handspring...

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 2:51:37 PM #
I loved the (paraphrasing here) "we're moving into the second phase of the handheld industry and those who were effective in the first phase won't necessarily be effective in the second"

Tell me that wasn't a jab at Handspring...

RE: Take That Handspring...
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 4:10:23 PM #
Palm used to tout itself as the "connected" organizer. It all possibility it is more self revelation than poking at other competitor.
RE: Take That Handspring...
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 4:50:23 PM #
> Tell me that wasn't a jab at Handspring...

Benhamou said that right after one of the reporters alluded the the fact that Palm had had a lot of turn-over in its executives in the last 6 months. It was much nicer than saying "We chased off the morons who ran Palm into the ground." It had nothing to do with Handspring.

RE: Take That Handspring...
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 6:55:10 PM #
Benhamou run 3Com to the ground.
And under his watch ( he has been Palm's
chairman), The former CEO run Palm to the ground.

Honestly, he should resign after the split happens.

RE: Take That Handspring...
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/4/2002 7:01:01 PM #
He pretty much said in the interview he plans to turn the company over to Bill Bradley, president of the Solutions Group.
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