Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Colorado Springs, Co
Posts: 23

Hmmm where to start? Well, the writer said that there are fewer business app for the Visor than the Palm. How can that be? They are both running the same OS. The writer also wants to know why Palm just doesn't incorporate the springboard, why do we need another device for that? Well, if 3Com would have accepted the design I don't think the Co-founders of Handspring would have left. I am looking forward to my Visor and all it's possibilities.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 3

I'm glad to read this article. I welcome all reviews, both good and bad. Overall, it makes for a better PDA market. Thanks....

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: San Francisco, CA U.S.A.
Posts: 42

What a baby! I mean, does this guy not realize that his problem is more with the current makers of the Palm Pilot than it is with the new makers of the Visor? He chooses to raz on Dubinsky and Hawkins as if the Visor is their be-all-end-all vision. Come on. What more does he expect from a company that's only a year old? Why does he evaluate the Springboard simply on the golf game. And why does he choose to not recognize Handspring's statements that they're not confined to the Palm OS?

If he's got something personal against Dubinsky & Hawkins, then he should have saved his comments to be directed at them, not their first-born project that's a direct result of its developers not wanting to be part of the 5-thousand pound gorilla, in this case 3Com.

As excited as I am to receive my Visor, I realize that most of my anticipation is for what its release will bring to the PDA industry as a whole. If a company other than 3Com happens to have more vision and a sense of what the consumer wants, then so be it. Competition and diversity will bring progress.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 74

I'm sorry, what review are we talking about. I don't see it mentioned.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Rio Rancho, NM, USA
Posts: 129

Hrrmmm... okay I read the article and I'm glad to see a negative review (if only to show that the good reviews aren't ALL press release hype).

I'm very surprised at how much this guy seems to have missed, but part of me wonders just what Handspring is providing to reviewers with the Visor.

I agree that the lack of business apps seems like a strange statement, due to the common OS between the two PDA's. Of course, if you include hardware that connects to the Palm as an app, then the Visor does indeed lack in that area... perhaps because it's a new design?

As for his statements about the price point, it seems like a majority of us are going for the Deluxe, which offers a much better price-point improvement over the comparable Palm. If you look at the low-end units, he's right.

I'm willing to give this review a 2.5 out of 5. Either this reviewer has no vision (or has been through the vapor-ware years like many of us) or the press materials from Handspring need some tuning.

Now, I have to admit that I'm really psyched that you can insert Nintendo carts into the Springboard!!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Posts: 151

I might get booed or flamed off this site by making this statement, but I have to say that in some respects I aggree with Dan Briody (author of this review in InfoWorld). It's only because I look at the Palm V and say, why couldn't they have introduced a Visor that looked like that? Maybe they will some day. Apparently the key here is that HandSpring is a start-up and they're introducing their first device. Hawkins wants to enter the mass market of general consumers. And consumers are buying up transparent/colored cases for the iMac like hotcakes.

Frankly, the Visor reminds me of the first PalmPilots when they came out. Next year we'll probably see some REALLY cool devices, at least I hope.

Otherwise, I think Briody is like lots of reviewers out there, they don't know enough about the devices or the creators to make a truly intelligent statement on Palms/Visors.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 11

And to add to all the other blatant mistakes, he completely forgot about Visor having 4X THE MEMORY!

Not only that, he is comparing apples to oranges. In one sentence he states that it is $50 less thanthe cheapest Palm, but in the next sentence compares it's AAA's to Palm V's Li-Ion and metal case. Now WE know the difference, but he is clearly leading average consumers to the conclusion that the Palm V is only $50 more.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 9

Think about this whole scenario logically. 3Com spins Palm off into it's own independent company. Palm let's another company trump their own hardware. Why? Because Palm wants to dominate the PDA operating system market! I would bet that Palm won't even make any handheld devices in 24 months except for maybe one, top-of-the-line, I-can-afford-it-and-you-can't device. First, we have Handspring. I also saw an Apple branded Palm that looked much like the Visor. With all the money rolling in from their open source OS, why would they even want to deal with hardware? I think they are trying to be the Microsoft of PDA's, not the Apple. (no flames please, I am a Mac user).

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 106

All technical issues aside...I read his review and it (as the ol saying goes) compares apples to oranges...just as previous responders have indicated (when he talks pricing, he talks low-end palms, when he talks flash, he refers to Palm V). He would do better to spend a few hours reviewing this site. Don't get me wrong, this probably is not the best thing to come along since slice bread...but I would put in the catagory of "bread machine".

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Urbana IL
Posts: 144

After having read Dan Briody's column, I have to say that I do not have a very high opinion of him. While I feel fairly positive about Visor, I'm certainly open minded. However, his article seemed to be based on unsubstantiated and infantile logic. As one post above said, he compares apples to oranges, and then makes obscure statements like saying that USB does not have a place in the business world.

I think that there is some room for valid criticism on the Visor; the lack of flash ROM and incompatibility with Palm styli are things I can think of off the top of my head. Unfortunately, Dan was obviously too incensed at the prospect of unprofessional game-springboards to notice these important omissions.

All in all, I think that the article contributed more to me having a negative opinion of Dan than anything else. I hope Info has some better columnists than he.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 28

I just finished reading it and I was *appalled* by his review. He sounds more like Andy Rooney griping about those piddly little things Andy Rooney gripes about than he does like a columnist reviewing a technical product. I'm aware that it's an "opinion" column, but I think he's done a serious disservice to his readers by taking out on the Visor *product* what is essentially his resentment at it's creators and at 3COM.

So i wrote him a letter. Here is is. I'll post the response if and when I get one, and if he agrees to let me.

Dear Mr. Briody,

I just read your review of the new Handspring Visor at http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/di...iody/briody.htm

and I was trying to figure out what you really think of the Visor as a product. Having read various
reviews of the Visor, I too was underwhelmed, as I was expecting something more...revolutionary.
However, from what I've read, it still seems a better product than the Palm line: It's lighter, smaller
(than the III series), has much more memory, expandable, considerably cheaper, and compatible with
existing Palm software. The Palm V has a smaller size & weight, but these apparently aren't major
issues for you since you don't even mention them in your column.

In one paragraph you state: "the Visor has even fewer applications in a corporate setting than its twin
brother does." Could you expand on this? I'm assuming you are not referring to software because it
should all be compatible. And what's the problem with a USB connector? I find that to be an
advantage, not a detriment; I don't see how it makes it less useful as a business tool.

In fact, in many ways, your column seems to say, "Sure the Visor is better, but I still don't like it."

As I consider whether to choose a Palm or a Visor I'm more concerned about which will serve me better,
and you don't really address this issue in your column.

Despite your resentment of "new coke" type products, are you saying that the Visor is not as good a
product as the Palm? And if not, why?


Yours,
David

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 81

I'd be the first to agree that the Visor ain't perfect, but this guy's just confused.
Either that, or -- given how positive most reviews have been -- he wrote an intentionally contrary review just to get more hits. It happens.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Posts: 151

BINGO! You've just described Dan Briody's modus operandi in a nutshell. He's done the same thing in previous reviews of the Palm Pilot.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Valparaiso, IN
Posts: 146

Ignorant? You decide.

Alright, that was a bit of a personal slam, sorry. Now on to the topic of Dan's review. Unlike his Coke analogy, this product doesn't "taste" different. It operate with the same OS, same Graffiti, same buttons, nearly the same everything.

The only changes that were made were good changes (except for the cover and stylus!). The USB cradle is the best idea yet. Dan, what are you thinking when you say USB has no place in the business world. Did it ever occur to you that the new cradle will reduce overall sync times? In the business world the rest of us know and love, faster is better.

Well, I'm done! I hope I haven't offended anyone.

[This message has been edited by Hawkeye (edited 09-24-1999).]

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: New Mexico, USA
Posts: 112

Hawkeye writes re: clueless InfoWhirled columnist:

...edit...

Okay that was REALLY inappropriate, I know. I take it back (smiley)

...

Well, I'm done! I hope I haven't offended anyone. (smiley)

end quote.

First, obligatory PC question. What would his sexual orientation have to do with his cluelessness?

Second, comment on smiley usage. Usually, in online communication, the smiley directly follows the humorous or ambiguous statement, so that readers will know that the preceding statement was intended as an ironic or humorous jab.

Therefore, I would suggest placing the smiley after ...original comment... rather than after "I take it back" or "Hope I haven't offended anyone".

(In many forums, I'd let this go. This one's new enough and still in formation, so I spoke up. Hope I haven't offended anyone. No smiley.)

Now back to our regularly scheduled Visor Vigil.

(slightly editted)
------------------

john

[This message has been edited by john (edited 09-25-1999).]

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 33

I wonder how much Palm paid Don Briody to trash the Visor? It's so easy to be an armchair critic isn't it?

So Don, how many patents do you have? I bet it's not 9 or 10 like Jeff Hawkins? So Don, how much money have you got in bank? I bet it's not the millions that Jeff, Donna Dubinsky and Ed Colligan have.

Don, you are just jealous that you didn't come up with the idea of the Palm and now the Visor. It's a product ahead of it's time and you are too stupid to recognize it. Go crawl back to your cave and let the rest of us enjoy the fruits of the great innovators and their inventions.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 28

nah, i won't let you get away with that one, hawk. John is not just being pc, but just plain correct: how is his sexual orientation relevant? But my biggest problem was that implying that he's gay is a "personal slam." Kind of offensive, even if you didn't mean it that way. Please consider editing your message.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Tucson, AZ, USA
Posts: 13

Hawkeye...

I laughed out loud. Thanks for the chuckle to start my day!


------------------
Dan

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Posts: 151

Hawk man, let's keep it clean out there. I think Briody is a bottom feeder but sex has no place here except in discussion of the Palm V advertisements. Gotta love 'em.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Valparaiso, IN
Posts: 146

John,

I see what you mean about the smiley usage, however, my point was just to show that I wasn't trying to be malicious, but rather lighthearted.

However, out of respect for others in the forum, I edited the message.

I know that sexual orientation has nothing to do with his knowledge of the subject matter. My pupose in removing the comment is to avoid offending viewers of the forum, as well as any who may, in fact, be inclinded toward that sexual preference.

Of course, I think at this point there's no way that I will get out of this unscathed, but hey, I can take a good kick in the butt every now and then. (hope the smiley is appropriate here)