Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Providence, RI
Posts: 78

My/Your Last Visor?

I was just surfing some Palm-related sites and I came across some photos of the old Palm III and I was shocked how it similar it looked to the Handsping Visor/Deluxe/Platinum/Prism. Then I though of the "new" Visor "Neo" and "Pro" models Handspring has released, and I realized that Handspring's innovation has stopped almost completley in the handheld market. Last week, I purchased a Palm M100 for my wife for $99, and it came with a free (and great-looking) BodyGlove case. When I set up the M100 for her, I noticed that her screen was slightly smaller than my Deluxe, but useable, and the icons were much sharper. The form-factor of the M100 is incredibly comfortable. When the case is on and the cover is closed, the entire device is incredibly compact and rugged and fits in her purse easily. The clock can be seen while the cover is down, even while the case is on it. I though, "Wow", Palm has beaten Handspring at its own game: Innovation!.

Look at what Handspring gives us...the Neo and the Pro. These are basically Deluxes with slightly better screens, more RAM and faster processors. Yet the design is identical... a Smithsonian-worthy Palm III rip-off. And do not bring up the Edge, which is thin and a good start, but it is expensive and it seems to lack as much innovations as the Palm505 or the Ipaq. The Treo is a good idea, but the catch is that it will not support high-speed wireless networks (3G) (Have you ever tried to browse ESPN.COM with your VisorPhone...you could eat up about 10 minutes of cell time just loading the front page fully w/out images!!) Handspring PDA units fit awkwardly in your pocket or purse andd have terrible form-factors, a-la-PalmIII.

Handspring is stifling and I am becoming more and more convinced that my next handheld will either be a Palm or a PocketPC device (the Toshiba unit looks incredible). The Palm-OS is a simple OS. There is no reason why Handspring cannot design a PDA that is slimmer, sleeker, smaller, faster, and more colorful at an affordable price such as the M100. If it takes giving up on the Gameboy-esque Springboard-slot, then fine. Handspring should adopt the flash technology that its PDA competitors are adopting because of their smaller space requirements. The point is, I'm carrying around a damn Gameboy-looking Device all day, while Palm users and Ipaq-users are cruising along with modern devices. Is this innovation? Wake-up Handspring!