1SRC Podcast Nine

[Jeff Kirvin]

The Cingular Treo 650 is out! But it's crippled! But there's a patch! Also, debunking PalmSource doomsayers, why I don't do analog, and thoughts on PDAs and air travel. [details (http://www.1src.com/?m=show&id=807)]

[jjesusfreak01]

Note: The following was written when I was listening to the podcast.

Hello, Hi, Hi

These are the first words from the three podcasts I have on my PALM right now. Mix it up some.

Good points on the 650. We are all abusive users, bad bad people.

Have you seen the TH-55 screen? Its very nice, not to be undone.

There is NOT a patch. There are a ton of patches. Shadowmite affirms that his personal ROMs are fairly safe, but has yet to release his custom ROM creation program, probably because of the safety problems, stupidity of humans and all.

I heard Samsung is releasing a PALM OS smartphone. But, you didnt hear that from me.

[mrklaw]

Another reason that I use my clie instead of a notebook for most everything is the fact that I get a backup when I hotsync. I have lost a bunch of notebooks and had no way to get my data that I had lost. When my Palm IIIx died, I was able to retrieve all of my data from my most recent hotsync.

[DennisOS2]

The Cingular Treo 650 is out! But it's crippled! But there's a patch! Also, debunking PalmSource doomsayers, why I don't do analog, and thoughts on PDAs and air travel. [details (http://www.1src.com/?m=show&id=807)]You may be correct, but the actions of PalmSource over the last 18 months looks suspiciously like a harvesting strategy. Someone there looked at writing on the wall (if not THE writing on the wall) and interpreted it as the end of the road for Palm.

Why? Because as everyone is saying ......... they haven't brought out a significant product in how long? As nice as the T650 is, it is not a breakthrough product. Easily brought out with minimal resource allocation. The T5 ........... I've used it, its OK, but absolutely a 'more of the same' unit.

So, bring out mediocre products that cost little to develop and see how many will paying high prices for these re-worked older products. Milk the profits as long as possible ........ till people wise-up and refuse to pay high prices for minor, upgrade type devices. Swallow the profits ........ fold your tent when income falls below a pre-determined limit.

How do you tell if its a harvest strategy? Monitor spend on promotion and if a significant product does emerge this year. No promotion, no product = harvest. No promotion, significant product = stupidity or questionable sanity.

This is maddening. I've been such an ardent supporter and to see this happening does not bode well.

[Jeff Kirvin]

Note: The following was written when I was listening to the podcast.

Hello, Hi, Hi

These are the first words from the three podcasts I have on my PALM right now. Mix it up some.

Good points on the 650. We are all abusive users, bad bad people.

Have you seen the TH-55 screen? Its very nice, not to be undone.

There is NOT a patch. There are a ton of patches. Shadowmite affirms that his personal ROMs are fairly safe, but has yet to release his custom ROM creation program, probably because of the safety problems, stupidity of humans and all.

I heard Samsung is releasing a PALM OS smartphone. But, you didnt hear that from me.
Hey, I stole that opening from Engadget fair and square!

The Samsung phone will run Cobalt, btw.

[Jeff Kirvin]

You may be correct, but the actions of PalmSource over the last 18 months looks suspiciously like a harvesting strategy. Someone there looked at writing on the wall (if not THE writing on the wall) and interpreted it as the end of the road for Palm.

Why? Because as everyone is saying ......... they haven't brought out a significant product in how long? As nice as the T650 is, it is not a breakthrough product. Easily brought out with minimal resource allocation. The T5 ........... I've used it, its OK, but absolutely a 'more of the same' unit.

So, bring out mediocre products that cost little to develop and see how many will paying high prices for these re-worked older products. Milk the profits as long as possible ........ till people wise-up and refuse to pay high prices for minor, upgrade type devices. Swallow the profits ........ fold your tent when income falls below a pre-determined limit.

How do you tell if its a harvest strategy? Monitor spend on promotion and if a significant product does emerge this year. No promotion, no product = harvest. No promotion, significant product = stupidity or questionable sanity.

This is maddening. I've been such an ardent supporter and to see this happening does not bode well.
First off, keep in mind that PalmSource != PalmOne. They are NOT the same company. PalmOne makes the devices you're talking about. PalmSOURCE makes the Palm Operating System.

Now the CMS deal is complete, PalmSource will be building some killer technology for phones. PDAs will still be out there (and Palm OS for Linux looks REALLY cool) but PalmSource will probably make most of their money putting the core Palm OS user interface and PIM applications on devices just like today's camera phones. Imagine a $100 camera phone that can do most of what a Zire 31 can do, including HotSync. That's the next big market.

PDAs will continue to be a niche product for those of us that want more horsepower than a smartphone but less size and complexity than a UPC. I hate to say it, but PalmOne might find themselves a relatively small player in the overall market, but the Treo will remain a nice upgrade path for people who want to step up from their Palm Powered camera phones to something that can run third party applications.

[DennisOS2]

First off, keep in mind that PalmSource != PalmOne. They are NOT the same company. PalmOne makes the devices you're talking about. PalmSOURCE makes the Palm Operating System.

Now the CMS deal is complete, PalmSource will be building some killer technology for phones. PDAs will still be out there (and Palm OS for Linux looks REALLY cool) but PalmSource will probably make most of their money putting the core Palm OS user interface and PIM applications on devices just like today's camera phones. Imagine a $100 camera phone that can do most of what a Zire 31 can do, including HotSync. That's the next big market.

PDAs will continue to be a niche product for those of us that want more horsepower than a smartphone but less size and complexity than a UPC. I hate to say it, but PalmOne might find themselves a relatively small player in the overall market, but the Treo will remain a nice upgrade path for people who want to step up from their Palm Powered camera phones to something that can run third party applications.
My brain fade ........... sorry. Meant PalmOne. The OS may remain .... and go into refigerators for all I know (and the PalmOS over Linux is a stroke of genius). My comments about PalmOne (not PalmSource as I wrote) still stand. Little advertising, no significant products in recent past. Harvest strategy till I see something from them. They cannot survive (as great as the T650 is and basically good the T5 is) in the market place with their current strategy. You know something about a revolutionary new Palm Toaster Oven on the horizon? You dog you ............. c'mon, give it up!!

[DennisOS2]

My brain fade ........... sorry. Meant PalmOne. The OS may remain .... and go into refigerators for all I know (and the PalmOS over Linux is a stroke of genius). My comments about PalmOne (not PalmSource as I wrote) still stand. Little advertising, no significant products in recent past. Harvest strategy till I see something from them. They cannot survive (as great as the T650 is and basically good the T5 is) in the market place with their current strategy. You know something about a revolutionary new Palm Toaster Oven on the horizon? You dog you ............. c'mon, give it up!!This
http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=7573
is the kind of work and promotion that is meaningful. Now let's hope there is follow-through with these concepts!