Registered: May 2000
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Posts: 194

On the latest news from Handspring.

All I can say for you Visor users out there is... OUCH!

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Why 'ouch'? My visor still works just fine...

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

Ouch because it cuts off the likelihood for future Springboards. It may be a necessary move, but not necessarily a pleasant one. Still, all products have their lifecycle. I've never been naive enough to think that I was going to be using any handheld or product line for years. But in the meantime, my Visor (Prism) works fine, too.

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Eye of Gameboy

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posts: 415

big deal. i have an 8 bit nes. they dont make carttridges for it anymore, but they games i have and the games i could get for pennies in the buy-n-sell work just fine.

it's not like handspring is making cars, and all of the sudden they say they are going to get out of the car business, cause jet's are all the rage, and that everyone is going to stop making gas for your car.

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 41

Visor future

While I also enjoy my Prism, I agree that this is going to limit the development of new springboard modules. I would have thought that Handspring would have realized that the springboard modules are what set it apart from its competitors. Now it is going to be just another cell phone company.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 45

inevitable

I have a platinum with 4 modules. After awhile it has become quite evident that the springboard "economy" never quite materialized the way Handspring intended. I don't think the expansion economy for organizers in general will ever be really viable as anything more than a marketing tool for the manufacturers to push more organizers (and not for the expansion module manufacturers themselves.) Having said that, my modules work just fine, and -I imagine- will continue to do so for quite some time. I am dismayed that my modules will be obsolete (useless, that is) sooner than I had expected as any future ARM-based Palm OS device probably won't have a springboard slot.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. I'm glad I stuck to my rule of thumb and refused to purchase a module that was over $150. Adhering to this rule still got me an MP3 player, a GPS device, a land-line modem and a backup module. All great bang for the buck.

Cheers, all,
-Jake

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 142

Goodbye HS

Well, I will keep my Platinum and all of its accessories to a minimum usage! I just placed an order for the Clie PEG-T615C/L this morning.

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Bay Area, Cali
Posts: 16

Gypped

I just bought a Prism, and a 128mb Minijam module, and a Stowaway and PocketKeyboard, as well as a Vaja case.

Was thinking of getting the Magellan GPS module too.

At this point, I'll only do that if I can find it on discount from Office Depot.

I'm a bit ticked to say the least. I had my VDX for over a year, and finally upgrade, and I do it a few weeks too early.

I'f I'd known this bull-poop was going to happen, I would have bought a Zaurus or a Clie.

I certainly understand that no device lives forever, but the idea that these peripherals which should be able to be passed onward to the next Visor I would have bought in a year is a little disheartening.

FWIW, I see people talking about how the springboard economy never materialized, and I disagree. When I first got my VDX, there was nothing for it (that was worth having, in my opinion), but at this point, with 3 GPS options, 2 cell phone options, 2 mp3 options (with a 3rd supposedly on the way from the Matchbook people), plus innumerable memory options, from Backup to Flash Modules to CF/SM/SD/MMC/MS adapters, the landscape is a lot different than it was a year ago.

I think the springboard economy arrived as quickly as it could, given that it is a proprietary add-on that is useless to other organizers. Now if someone else made a springboard adapter, they'd probably get a bunch of converts. Or maybe not. Maybe I'm the only one ticked off at this crap.



rar.
-adi

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everything was beautiful and nobody hurt.

Registered: May 2001
Location:
Posts: 70

Hmm

Me thinks everyone is over reacting on the news. How many years has Oldsmobile been going out of business? Two if my math is correct and you will still be able to pick up parts for years after the show room goes dark Palm discontinued the Palm III, V and VII and they say they will support them for a while. A PDA life cycle is only a couple of years before the next great thing comes along. What do you think Sony will do if its Stick doesn't catch on? My prism works great and I plan on replacing it next year, who knows what will be out there then.

Registered: Aug 2001
Location:
Posts: 143

Sad

It is still sad news. I have been using a Prism since they came out. I still love it, but it is getting worn out (cracked case, paint rubbed off, faint scratches on screen). I kept hoping for a Prism upgrade, something with more memory and a screen I can read in the sunlight, but with HS getting out of the organizer business, it looks like all I will be able to do is replace my prism with another one.

I had hoped to use my modules in an upgrade. I have a significant investment in Donna's product:

Prism, serial cradle, eyemodule2, MagellanGPS, flashplus, thinmodemplus, InnoPak/2V, two backup modules, two 8MB flash modules, 16MB flash modules, backup/8MB flash module, presenter-to-go, stowaway keyboard, purple data cable (serial hotsync), travel charger, usb hotsync cable, cases, flip lid, styli, etc.

And now she's dropping me and my faith in her and her product? Sad. I guess she has to do whatever it takes to get the shareholders' stock values up again.

Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

Re: Sad

quote:

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Originally posted by HindeR
[...] I guess she has to do whatever it takes to get the shareholders' stock values up again.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location:
Posts: 143

This is what the stock has done today according to MSNBC. What's your point? It used to be $50-$90 a share.


Business � Change my business choices � Remove business from my page
Stock data from CNBC on MSN Money
Click symbol for chart, news, and profile


SYMBOL LAST CHANGE PREVIOUS LOW HIGH VOLUME
� HAND 6.78 -1.00 7.78 6.57 7.00 3,628,800

� PALM 4.21 -0.27 4.48 4.10 4.26 5,948,300



Quotes supplied by S&P Comstock and delayed at least 20 minutes
NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ index data are provided real time � Investment toolkit

Latest MSNBC and wire stories for your stocks
� HAND: Handspring posts $19.8 million loss
� PALM: Handspring reports wider Q2 loss; revs off 39 pct
� View all news stories for your stocks

Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

quote:

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Originally posted by HindeR
This is what the stock has done today according to MSNBC.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location:
Posts: 143

Toby, I understand now. I thought you were saying it looked great compared to the $1 value it had recently.

Registered: Sep 2001
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Posts: 123

Re: Visor future

quote:

---

Originally posted by halldp
While I also enjoy my Prism, I agree that this is going to limit the development of new springboard modules. I would have thought that Handspring would have realized that the springboard modules are what set it apart from its competitors. Now it is going to be just another cell phone company.

---

Not even a good one... They make good PDA (with Springboard), but cellphone market is another story. In US the cellphone market is small comparing with Europe and Asia.

Handspring does not know this market! I have a Prism with Bluetooth (Red-M) springboard, and a Ericsson T39. I'll replace my Prism with an iPaq 3870, as soon as they stop making Visors.

I had a VP for a while, and I'm not going back there. Poor software, poor interface, big.

Sorry....

Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

quote:

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Originally posted by HindeR
Toby, I understand now. I thought you were saying it looked great compared to the $1 value it had recently.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 106

As I see it, the refocus is about the next evolution of information devices. From Ledgers, Daytimers, Organizers, Palm-Sized computers, to Palm, . . . The current "cash cow" of information devices are the Palm and Pocket PC-based devices that provide limited (though often amazing) power and rely on a larger computer to provide them their information.

The next generation infomation devices will provide information on the fly. Information encompasses a broad range of topics from news to entertainment to communications to investments to navigation to you-name-it. The "communicators" Handspring mentions in this announcement will still possess all the functionality of your current Palm-based computers, but that will only account for a fraction of their overall capability. Trust me, it's gonna get better.

As for the Springboards - their useful days are probably numbered - but that number is years, not weeks. It was a good idea at the time Handspring was formed, but new technologies will lower the Springbord's overall utility (and springboard maker profitability), so a change is likely in the cards.

Kupe

Registered: Dec 2001
Location:
Posts: 10

Burned Springboard Developers

Assuming that these statements are true, and that their time frame is months and not years, they have just fried the Springboard market.

I am lead programmer on a Springboard project, the SM2496 from Shine Micro http://www.shinemicro.com, we are currently in beta test of our product and it now looks like we will have to redesign for another platform or cancel the product entierly.

These comments (and they are true, I just listened to the audio of the conference call. ) are a huge mistake. Are consumers going to want to buy a product that they know is going to be unsupported sometime in the near future? Yes, she said that they are exiting the PDA market - "but not today". That provides no reassurance that it will be around for any measurable amount of time.

I am exteremly dissapointed in Handspring for the direction that they are taking. They have a good PDA product and they should stick with it.

Brian Lane
Lead Programmer
Shine Micro
www.shinemicro.com
SM2496 Visor DSP module

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 1571

Re: Re: Visor future

quote:

---

Originally posted by freitasm


Not even a good one... They make good PDA (with Springboard), but cellphone market is another story. In US the cellphone market is small comparing with Europe and Asia.

Handspring does not know this market! I have a Prism with Bluetooth (Red-M) springboard, and a Ericsson T39. I'll replace my Prism with an iPaq 3870, as soon as they stop making Visors.

I had a VP for a while, and I'm not going back there. Poor software, poor interface, big.

Sorry....

---

Registered: May 2000
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Posts: 194

Re: Burned Springboard Developers

quote:

---

Originally posted by brianlane
Assuming that these statements are true, and that their time frame is months and not years, they have just fried the Springboard market.

I am lead programmer on a Springboard project, the SM2496 from Shine Micro http://www.shinemicro.com, we are currently in beta test of our product and it now looks like we will have to redesign for another platform or cancel the product entierly.

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