> General question: is that BeOS's response or yours?
Mine.
> One point that your analysis tends to overlook is the
> desktop/enterprise
> server to handheld connection. This has been increasingly
> important. As more
> and more data exists in a Microsoft world, the PocketPC has
> an opportunity
> to gain a significant advantage. PDAs need to share data,
> transfer media,
> and perform functionality (sometimes limited) along with
> other computers in
> order to truely be useful. Palm has done an alright job with
> HotSync thus
> far. The ability to easily transform data will increasingly
> play a key role.
Agreed. M$ dominance of the desktop and their recent release of SQLServer
for CE gives them leverage to pull in SQLServer customers to WinCE.
However, an interesting note is that many shops don't use SQLServer, it's
not on their standards list, and won't be in the forseeable future, and
since SQLServerCE needs SQLServer on the desktop, WinCE isn't an option...
My experience leads me to believe Palm and its partners (specifically
IBM/ExtendedSystems, PumaTech, and Sybase) have a more
compelling solution than the "M$ from server-to-desktop-to-pda" mantra of
SQLServer.
I'll also echo Dave Lippencott's comments about not selling color devices:
most enterprise customers I've run across don't give two shakes about color.
They want a device for a specific function, and it's all about ROI. 8MB B&W
PalmOS devices are cheap, have great battery life, and have more than enough
memory. For all the individual early adopters out there who have to get the
latest and greatest (paraphrasing someone else on this: to play w/ for a few
months and then leave on the shelf) sure, they're all buying iPAQs because
that's "cool" and <sarcasm>"You can watch movies on it!"</sarcasm> but
they're the ones carrying a bulky PDA everywhere, while my Palm V humms
along in my pocket.
-DGA
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