On 12-May-2000 Mike Davis wrote:
> Users want this and users will get this. Anyone who thinks the world
> will stay with a small b/w unit, when they can get the same
> footprint, with color, larger screen and sound, is burying thier head
> in the sand.
In my opinion, people don't care about those details. They want these
gadgets to live up to the promises of making their lives better. You can add
fancy hardware features all you want but if the device makes you; stare at an
hourglass, swap batteries or charge everyday, hold it up to a window to get
reception, or is so bulky that it breaks instead of bouncing then that is the
problem.
If we are talking wireless then it is reception, battery life, and monthly
cost. The battlefront now is in how the user interacts with a wireless
device. Palm is missing a decent "always connected" paradigm and that is
where wireless is really exciting.
I'll give you an example. Let's say I want to do something normal like trade
stocks wirelessly. This would be great because then I could be anywhere and
buy/sell/buy/sell and not have to be chained to my desk all day. That is a
feature! Unfortunately all currently available software/hardware options are
unacceptable. I wish they would hire a daytrader like Gary B. Smith or
someone and design a turnkey system.
> Right now the Pocket PC is about the same size as a palm (slightly
> larger). It is a competitor to the Palm IIIc which costs about the same.
> Eventually, all b/w devices will go away. How many laptops do you see in
> b/w now? NONE! Because users will demand color. I doubt that the
> PocketPC will ever have a b/w unit.
I've been bitching about laptops for years. I can't think of a less useful
device that I own. It was always a great source of stress while travelling
and I've found the things to be extremely unreliable. The one exception was
an IBM Thinkpad 350 which I found had a good mixture of features; clear B/W
screen, SIMM RAM, 3hour battery, 3week standby, and the BIOS setup was all
firmware including the peripheral setup (they busted that in the next model).
It was always instant-on when I needed it and it was beat-up enough that I
didn't mind tossing it from place to place.
I think it is really shortsighted to think that mundane features like color
and resolution are the driving force for mobile devices. Basically the
device won't do squat for you unless it is designed around your usage
pattern. If it is something that you are carrying with you all the time then
you have to justify why you need to carry it.
For me, carrying a pager is something that affects my livelihood. If I don't
get my stock alerts or my information in a timely manner, I am toast! Now
that is a feature! That is the type of driving force that is needed to sell
these products. No gimmicks, it just has to solve a common sense problem in
the best and cheapest manner possible.
/* Chris Faherty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> */
/* Your Stock has crashed - you must now restart your system */
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