My Mobile Companion

Are today’s PDAs and smartphones less capable than the ones from 5 years ago?

For a long time, my Palm has been my mobile companion.  But I’ve found my last few devices less capable than my older handheld PDAs because of spotty support for portable keyboards.

When I start starting using my Handspring Visor Prism the first accessory that I purchased for it was a portable keyboard.  Armed with Documents To Go and my new Stowaway portable keyboard I found myself taking meeting notes and composing all sorts of work-related documents on my portable device.  When I added a 56k Springboard modem to the Visor, I was able to quickly compose and reply to messages without having to lug around a notebook.

As my needs grew I changed out my Palm OS device, but I always kept the handheld and keyboard duo as it afforded me a great deal of flexibility to get work done where ever I happened to find myself.  Back then, portable keyboards connected to handhelds by way of a hardware connection.  The handheld would dock to the keyboard using the data sync port. I liked this solution for a few reasons.

First was having the ability to wake up a sleeping device by pressing a key on the keyboard.  I found this especially helpful when taking meeting notes.  I would take down an important point and then save the document.  While the subsequent discussion was going on, I either pressed the power button on the Palm or it when to sleep by itself after the pre-programmed two minute delay.  When I wanted to take another note, I would just press the space bar and started typing again.  The technology just worked.  I was able to focus on the meeting and the technology just didn’t get in the way.  The process was fluid, just like picking up a pen and jotting a note down in a paper notebook.  I really value technology products that are engineered in a way that delivers on easy of use and doesn’t bog the user down in having to jump through hoops to get it to work correctly. 

Secondly, I liked the way that these hardware interface keyboards held on to the device.  With a hardware connection to the keyboard, the handheld always stayed put, even when I moved the keyboard around on the table.  I never had to worry about the Palm shifting while perched on the keyboard and getting out of alignment with the IR port on the device.

When I purchased my Tungsten T3, I also purchased a new keyboard to go with it.  The Tungsten worked great.  The keyboard, not so much so.  Unlike the keyboard that I had used previously, the one with a hardware connection, this new keyboard was based on Infra-red, and relied on a wireless interface for communications with the Palm.  I understood why hardware companies would want the wireless interface (one piece of hardware for multiple devices; lower manufacturing costs, reduced marketing costs) but I found that the technology kept getting in the way of my using it effectively.

Right way I noticed that I was changing the way I worked when I started using the wireless keyboard.  I had to make sure that the IR port on the Palm lined up just right with the IR wand on the keyboard.  If the table was knocked or I repositioned the keyboard on the table, I had to fiddle with the keyboard, rather than paying attention to what was going on in the meeting, to try and get the IR ports aligned again.  Waking the device up was another problem, in my opinion.   Because the hardware connection was gone I was no longer able to start typing to turn the device on.  I had to reach up to the top of the T3 and press the power button.  And, yep you guessed it, that would knock the Palm out of alignment and I would have to go back and realign the keyboard with the Palm again.  The technology solution had gone from empowering to annoying in just under a few days.  So much for technology not getting in the way.  In the end, I went back to pen and paper but I never gave up on the idea of the ultra-mobile device and a portable keyboard.

Each time I upgraded my device I would come back to the idea of pairing up my new device with a portable keyboard to get back to that level of productivity I had experienced with my Visor Prism.  And each time I tried, I eventually when back to pen and paper.  In the end, I usually go back to my desk and type up the important information in Word and then sync the file down to my Palm using Documents To Go.  When I needed to refer back to the information, I would search for it on the Palm and view the data in Documents To Go.  In my opinion, this was only half of a solution since I was required to enter the data twice: once on paper and then again in digital form.

When I learned of the Foleo I was very excited about it.  Sure it seemed like a great platform for the mobile professional, but I saw it as a perfect to my dilemma.  The Foleo was, essentially, an ultra portable Linux notebook computer with a full sized keyboard and a 10-inch screen.  It was much smaller and lighter than my company issued notebook.  By shedding the pounds, I would be willing to carry the Foleo and Treo around with me all day.  The issues with IR ports would have been a thing of the past.  The only time I would need to enable a wireless connection would have been to transfer files to and from my Treo.  The 10-inch screen would also have been nice because it would have enabled me to see more of my document that was ever possible on the Treo or even the Palm TX.

In the Foleo, all of my desires for empowering technology seemed to be coming true.  The Foleo had a small form factor, instant on, a quiet  keyboard, and reportedly great battery life.  The full keyboard and large screen were icing on the cake.  Too bad on September 4, 2007 Palm slammed the door shut on me. (I did have an opportunity to play with a Foleo before the project was moth balled.)  With the Foleo out of the picture, for now at least, I decided to try the Palm/keyboard solution again.  I went out and purchased the iGo/ThinkOutside Sierra Bluetooth wireless keyboard.  I figured that with a Bluetooth solution, I would at least eliminate the issues of having to line up IR ports.  How wrong could I have been?

The Sierra keyboard and the Palm Treo 700p was a complete disaster.  There were so many issues keeping the two devices paired up it wasn’t even funny.  If I thought IR keyboards got in the way of my productivity, my Bluetooth keyboard and Treo were doing everything to ensure there was no way to be productive.  For 18 months that keyboard sat in the bottom of a desk drawer.  As some of you know, I recently purchased a Treo 755p and once again, history repeats itself.  Except this time, I’m hoping against hope that the Sierra keyboard, the latest software updates from Palm and iGo, and the Treo 755p play nice together.  A test over the weekend seems to indicate that this time things will be different.  Only time will tell for sure.

And so I’m about to try getting back to the sweet spot I found myself in the early part of the decade.  I have to wonder how several years later, it seems that I have taken a big step backward.  With any redesign of the Foleo still years away (late 2009 at the earliest is my guess) what options do I have?  I can keep using the pen and paper approach.  Going back to a hardware keyboard and my Tungsten T is an option, but I can’t see myself going backward to try and move ahead.  The Treo is superior to the Tungsten in so many ways that I’m not willing to move back to an older device even part of the time.

Since the Foleo was put on hold (I don’t believe that Palm has abandoned the idea of the Foleo) last year, a small number of ultra-portable notebooks have entered the market, most notably are the Asus Eee PC, the Everex CloudBook (arriving later this month), and the latest entrant, the Apple MacBook Air.

These new sub-notebook devices offer many of the benefits of a smartphone and portable keyboard.  And because these devices are full computers in a smaller form factor they can do much more than a smartphone can.  But I really liked the form factor of the Foleo.  Only the expensive MacBook Air comes close to something that is lightweight and easy to use.  (Sorry folks, Linux as a desktop operating system just hasn’t delivered on the promise of being a credible alternative to Microsoft Windows for the masses in my opinion.)  The question is will any of these devices gain anything more than niche markets?  And will a Foleo II be received any less harshly than the first?  A lot can change over the next 12 months.  As for me, I’m going to have one more go at getting my Palm and portable keyboard to play nice together.  I’m cautiously optimistic.

What do you thing about this early stage of ultra-mobile computing?  Does it stand a chance of appealing to more than just a niche market?  Will a Foleo II better received now that there are companies validating Jeff Hawkins’ vision with their sub-notebook designs?  And is there really a productivity gain by using these types of devices in meetings?  Let us know in the 1SRC forums using the Discuss link below.