Palm OS Celebrates Its Eighth Birthday

[Ed Hardy]

As the Palm OS gets another year older, Brighthand looks back over its history and discusses the challenges that it faces in the future.

Read more at http://www.brighthand.com/article/Pa...Eight_Birthday

[Timothy Rapson]

I have not been here for most of those eight years, but what a roller coaster ride.

The Palm V has to be a real highpoint. I remember seeing someone whip one out at a meeting. When I think of how little that model could do compared to the latest it is kinda' funny to think how I wished I could have spent $400 on one.

I used to think any PDA/organizer over $100 was too much, but after using one everyday for over two years, I could not get by without. I think the $300 or more I will spend next month on a new TH55 or Tungsten E2 will be an incredible bargain for all the use I get from it.

But, for all the ups and downs of the Palm OS market from a consumer standpoint, it is even more hot/cold from a Palm stockholders point of view.

One can only wonder what the next 8 will bring.

[gfunkmagic]

Well the soul of the platform now is PalmSource. It's already been reported eslewhere that PalmOne may even be considering other OS's in the future. PalmSource is such a small company with a small capitalization that I would be suprised if we didn't see as a take-over target some time in the future. IMO, for PalmSource to survive, it must aggressively and quickly recruit many more lisencees, especially in the smartphone segment, in order to increase its market converage and separate itself from the reliance of lisencing revenues from PalmOne which probably account for most of its revenues today. In fact they really need a coup with a big name OEM like Sony Erricson or Sanyo...enough with the Percomm's and Aceeca's. Secondly, OS 6 better deliver the goods and nullify any perceive weakness in the platform...

[imported_Karl]

funny.

although im a big pocketpc person, i still have and use my original US Robotics palm pilot.

I think i paid close to, if not more than $300 when it first came out, and to this day it still runs like a champ, all 512K of it.

although the backlight is kindof dim, and the lcd is getting faded, and i use it mostly for its calculator function and phone numbers. it has serverd me well, and to this day i can honestly say is the best $300 ive ever spent.

i've also used it just about every single day since ive had it. its my old reliable. I could swear though, its been more than 8 years, i dont remember when i got it originally, but i thought it was longer than that.

I also cant believe after all this time, i havent lost it or it hasnt broken, all i do is change the batteries every once in a while.

I think i've owned 7-8 pocketpcs over the last few years, but this palm pilot has been with me forever, and when i need a calculator, its the first thing i reach for, I just press the memo button (remapped to calculator) and its on.

[rsc1000]

>> In fact they really need a coup with a big name OEM like Sony Erricson or Sanyo...enough with the Percomm's and Aceeca's. Secondly, OS 6 better deliver the goods and nullify any perceive weakness in the platform...

Yep - i agree. after the rave reviews of the treo 600 (almost every mainstream media source that bothered to run a peice on it loved it; check this Wall Street Journal article comparing ms smartphones to the treo 600: http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20031211.html ) i would think someone would come knocking with big visions of the future world smartphone market dancing in their heads. Seriously - the market crash has gone too far the other way - palmsource is a good buy at a good price (even if you consider it a long shot, its a very good long shot).

[imported_palmhiker]

Originally posted by rsc1000
>> palmsource is a good buy at a good price (even if you consider it a long shot, its a very good long shot).

Were it not for the large shadow cast by Microsoft, I would agree with you. PalmSource's direct competitor is a rich giant that has a habit of pretty much squashing direct competitors.

PPC's are getting much better these days, but as long as Palm OS continues to meet most of my needs, I will continue to support it, if for no other reason than Palm must be a major fly in MS' ointment.

I can't think of any other direct competitor that has been able to stand up to them for so long. Whether they can continue to do it, who knows, but they have a lot riding on OS6, that's for sure.

[altema]

Originally posted by Karl
although the backlight is kindof dim, and the lcd is getting faded, and i use it mostly for its calculator function and phone numbers. it has serverd me well, and to this day i can honestly say is the best $300 ive ever spent.

Now you're getting me nostalgic (sniff)

I still have my first, a Palm IIIe which had a bad digitizer. I paid $60 for it used, but when the previous owner found out about the problem and never cashed the check. I gave the IIIe to my wife who hated the bad digitizer. She upgraded and the IIIe went to my son, who dropped it within 48 hours! On the good side, replacing the screen got rid of the problem... until it was dropped again. It's in my office drawer, and I may replace the screen again just for old times sake.

[imported_Edward Green]

I traded in my first Palm III for the IIIe when it went wrong (it was a returned device). Then upgraded to the IIIc the day it came out (still going strong in a friends pocket) and ordered a n770c Clie as soon as they were available. That has to be my favourite PDA of all time due to the seperate MP3 chip meaning I could play a game and listen to an MP3 wothout slowdown.

However since using the Treo600 I dont think I will ever go back to a standard PDA again. I like the implimentation of PalmOS, but when I come to upgrade after a year I may well just choose symbian or PPC if there are better offerings.

[altema]

Originally posted by Edward Green
...Then upgraded to the IIIc the day it came out (still going strong in a friends pocket)...

I went to the IIIc from the IIIe as well. That was sweet for it's day, and I was able to squeeze about 14 hours out of that thing if I never played games or turned the backlight up too far. Fortunately I was a late adopter, so when all the accessories dried up within weeks of purchase, the store took it back for an upgrade to the M505. They (Staples) also told me not to come back! Little did they know I would purchase 5 new top-of-the-line devices afterwards, but just to honor their request, I bought them at CompUSA.

With the M505, I broke my own "wait and see" policy, and had a few regrets as a result. Since then I have always waited for a couple of weeks before buying a new device (waited a long time before getting a Jornada). I had told myself I was going to wait for the T3 as well, but found myself at the store at 9:15am on October 1st. No regrets this time though