Well, shit. Palminfocenter made the same announcement, and the LifeDrive is listed as “end of life” on Palm’s homepage (how clever of them). I didn’t see this coming, but it doesn’t come as much of a shock. The LifeDrive was slow, obscenely expensive, and hard drives just can’t stand up to flash memory where 4 gigs are concerned.
I’m worried about what this means for Palm. Windows Mobile has become a lot leaner, while the format of smartphones and Blackberries seems to be taking over the market. I like using Graffiti, and I also want to keep my PDA and phone separate, but news like this makes it look like these types of things are getting edged out. I like the simplicity of four launch buttons and 5-d pad. What some people see as a lack of innovation I see as something that perhaps only needs a little tweaking.
Still, Palm has a number of problems that the company doesn’t look too interested in dealing with. For example, why can their smartphones have user-replaceable batteries while PDA’s like the TX can’t? Why does battery life suck so terribly in the first place? Is that a problem with the smartphones too? It’s as if they’re content to let their more classic handhelds die a slow death while they focus on their damnable Treos*.
Add user replaceable batteries.
Put the ability to make a directory tree in the applications menu (and put that in Garnet, whenever you finally release that).
Either fix Graffiti2 or bring back the original.
Give the Z22 some kind of expandability, or bring back a mid-range PDA without having some kind of price-jacking wireless (the Tungsten E, for example).
And lastly, realize that changing your company and product names every six months isn’t getting you anywhere.
That’s what I’d like to see them do. Ditching the LifeDrive was probably a good idea, but I fear for the future of the company unless they follow through with a furious maelstrom of housecleaning.
*Treos are respectable machines; I just resent that their development is coming at the expense of maintaining a classic product design
I thought about getting one when they first came out, but the fact that they weren’t obscenely expensive made me very wary. Sure they were $400, but they had so much more memory than anything else in that price range - 4GB vs ~128mb?! - that something had to be wrong with them.
As for batteries for a PDA, they’re all replacable by user. It just happens to be a huge PITA to do so.
I’m sorry, I think it’s my fault. Sony stopped making PDAs shortly after I bought a Clie, and now that I bought a TX it looks like Palm is heading the same way.
Sorry
I think what’s happening is that they’re slowly yielding to Windows mobile. The Treo models have started being released in a Windows Mobile version first, with a PalmOS version limping into view sometime later. PalmOS is doomed, in the long run (and I think that’s a big shame, because I happen to prefer it)
Sadly, I think the Palm OS is doomed long term. They developed multiple versions of a new OS internally but have cancelled them, and now Access is developing one based on Linux. I’d hate to see it, I’ve been using a Palm for over 10 years, but the platform is getting creaky and the software side hasn’t kept up.
I think all it means is the Lifedrive is outdated. I have 4 gigs of storage on my TX by way of two 2 gig SD cards. The TX and the storage cost less than a Lifedrive.
On one hand I hate to see palm die out. I’ve used their OS for years and really like it. That said, I think they’ve missed the boat by not making it easy for someone on a Windows box to use files on the palm.
If one could transfer files to an SD card, pop it into a palm and use those files, Palm the company would be better off. Hell, out of the box you can’t even open a text file natively.
www.pdaparts.com is a good site to get replacements, but changing it out yourself would void the warranty. Still, given the nature of palm’s customer support, that probably wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Truth be told, I suspect my frustration is largely a result of my opinions of PDAs being nearly 10 years out of date. I’m still wary of windows mobile because of my experience with my first generation WinCE palmtop, and respect for Palm from my PalmIII and Visor Deluxe. Now that I’m in a situation where having a PDA is extremely useful if not essential, I’ve been doing a lot of research and finding that Palm is damned near mismanaged these days.
It’s a shame too, since I still feel like they’re the only place where I can get a handheld with MP3 playback and expandability without all the other bells and whistles I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about. For me, cameras are a liability because they just jack up the price, but I know people who work in areas where they’re not allowed to bring in recording devices!
Re: Beowulf and Mangetout, I had forgotten about the thing with Windows Mobile before PalmOS on the Treos. Considering that alongside this thing with the Lifedrive, I’m seeing this all as signs of what’s to come. How does this crap with palmone to palm, tungsten to T, and zire to Z strike you? I see it as an attempt to reinvent the company’s image without doing jack for their products to cut costs. If that impression is accurate, then this is all so much writing on the wall. How do you feel about the issue with these constant upgrades to OS5 without releasing OS6/Garnet?
Bluetooth is cool, and wireless internet would be useful for email even if it raises the price and lowers battery life–at this point. I just want to keep my cell phone independent of my PDA. Do you think we’re coming up on a time where getting a decent one without a built in phone won’t be an option any more?
I’m worried too. I’m in the market for a PDA right now (my T3’s on its last legs), and Palm’s lineup doesn’t look so good. I was excited about the announcement of the iPhone because I was certain that it was going to drive the cost of existing PDAs down and encourage more innovation in new PDAs (since I have no interest in an iPhone, especially considering its closed status in regard to third-party programs). But it doesn’t look like either is happening.
It’s a big crappy mess - I bought a Treo 600 right when Handspring was merged back into Palm and there was all kinds of confusion - I get the impression they don’t really care about their own OS any more - it’s just a product - I don’t sense any ferocity or loyalty.
Palm is a rudderless ship and there are sharp rocks ahead.
I’ve been waiting for something to drive down the cost of PDAs ever since Windows CE hit the market. I suppose such a “something” exists, since it seems that most are priced around $200-300 now versus $400-500 five years ago but that’s still a big investment. In November I bought a refurbished Tungsten E for $100 to get used to a better-than-entry level handheld. I REALLY like it, but I find myself agreeing with complaints about PalmOS and multitasking. On the other hand, most reviews of Windows Mobile handhelds comment that it’s more geared towards smartphones with a thumb keyboard, so it doesn’t seem too friendly to a stylus and 5-way pad interface.
Things don’t look good right now for the reasons we’ve addressed, but some more optimistic blogs have pointed out that Palm still holds onto a huge portion of the handheld market for a single player with a proprietary OS. That’s encouraging, but it’s still speculation at this point as far as I’m concerned.
Palm will never break Microsoft’s foothold, but they could keep from being pushed into obscurity if they get their act together. They’d have my eternal devotion if they would just tweak PalmOS and allow multitasking, put applications into directories rather than categories, and maybe integrate memory cards with the internal memory. My Tungsten (or should I say TE :rolleyes: ) has 32 megs. Why can’t they make it so that it changes to 2032 when I plug in my 2gig SD card? Windows Mobile already has the advantage of out-of-the-box compatibility with office files, but PalmOS relies on 3rd party apps that feel like so much bloatware. Seems to me they oughta do something about that too. I have the distinct impression, however, that they won’t.
I love, love, love the Palm operating system, but I think Palm OS systems are going away sooner rather than later. I’ve pretty much stopped using mine for everything except ebooks and for External Memory Support*. My Zire 71 no longer works to take pictures and it won’t hotsync; and I have to stand on my head and hold my tongue just right to get my Tungsten E2 to charge.
If I could find a good ebook reader that would support memos and maybe address support, I’d probably move that way. I have no need for an expensive cellphone/pda combo.
