Registered: Oct 2001
Location:
Posts: 203

Handspring plans to exit "traditional organizer" line

Handspring CEO Donna Dubinsky today stated that Handspring eventually plans to stop making traditional organizers, focusing solely on wireless.

http://www.visorcentral.com/content/Stories/1374-1.htm

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 248

DORELSE plans to exit "Visor Organizer" line.

GoodBye HS...I wish we'd never met.

Hello PPC or Clie.

Registered: Sep 2001
Location:
Posts: 1

So that is why HS has not come out with any new color visors. Well, it was fun while it lasted...but perhaps the crew at HS does know what they are doing. I, for one, would like an all in one solution for PDA and communication.

Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 366

I guess my next PDA will be a Clie. I will still keep my VPL though so I can still use my camera. Really sad day though.

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Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Not so sunny, San Diego, CA
Posts: 51

"Traditional" is the key word

Remember, Ms. Dubinsky said they are getting out of the "Traditional organizer" market.. i.e. out of disconnected, electronic-dayrunners with no communication capabilities. And honestly, who can blame them? These are neat little gadgets. They are incredibly useful. But the future of handheld computers has got to go the same road that PC's went... Online, 24/7 if possible and with as fat a pipe as it will carry.. the days of the standalone handheld are just as numbered as the days of the non-web enabled PC.

SO, one can read that following the smashing success of the Treo units (parallelling the original intro of the Palm..) we'll still see 'visor' units, but with built-in wireless capability (cell, Bluetooth?, etc)

If ya'll want to see where PDA's are going, catch an episode of Earth: Final Conflict. Everyone's got a "Global".. a global videophone, datalink, handheld PC, etc, with full color video screen that collapses and fits into a chic coat pocket. Just Science Fiction? Think about what cell phones used to look like in the 80's... and how they're now being bult into gameboy-sized computers..

The future's so bright, I gotta wear

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"It's hard to find my guiding light with this lantern in the way..." Diogenes

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Petersburg, AK
Posts: 131

My first reaction was almost horror. Assuming that "wireless" standards can become - well - more standard, this may not be that bad of a move. But if Handspring abandons the Springport and doesn't give options for folks like me (only one cellular provider and terrible coverage because of mountans) then I'll be moving on too. I'd rather not sell my Prism and 7 springboards and accessories... that was the whole idea behind "infinitely expandable" right?

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 248

Well that's all well and good, but I don't want an integrated solution at this time...I like having a cellphone and a PDA. If I wanted that solution, I'd have kept my VisorPhone.

I'm not totally enthrawled with my Jornada 567 yet, just b/c it seems like almost every function is 5 taps away vs. 1-2 on the Palms, but I'm getting very very frustrated with HS. Springboards cost big $$$, and there are only a handful of really useful ones.

They've only made incremental models since the Edge came out almost a year ago now...which I happen to own...so my frustration is compounded by their apparent abandonment of their 'mistake'...I was shopping for a new PDA anyway, Donna has helped me make my decision.

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Silicon Valley, California
Posts: 173

ARGH!

I LOVE my Prism!!!! I don't WANT a Clie or PocketPC...I WANT a VISOR...with access to a CF card to expand the memory!

If there's built in wireless, I guess you won't need a modem, but come on...we NEED more than 8 or 16 megs of memory!!!

This is a sad day for me...I guess we won't see too many more springboard modules now....

Guess I can just get a $200 refurbished Prism before than run out...ought to keep me happy for the next few years...

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

It's a smart move. They don't have the pockets of Sony. Even if they managed to pull innovation out of their ass, Sony would have it matched or beat within 3 months. Not an arena I'd want to compete in, either.

Although, if they're betting the farm on the Treo, CDMA better be just around the corner.

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Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: San Diego, California
Posts: 441

After reading this, this is the first time since my original Blue Visor Deluxe that I've even thought about ditching the Visor line completely for another company. . I wonder if I can get all the same stuff...

Hopefully communication device means future models with CDMA and springboards. Who knows maybe the Treos are just devices to test the market. If they succeed, we'll probably see more treos on the way with expansion capabilities.

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You know it's bad when your Calculus Professor uses the word "Unpossible"

"It's a long way from my thoughts to what I'll say, It's a long, long way from paradise to where I am today." -Switchfoot, Home

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 248

Well I'm sure the business model is there, and I don't totally disagree with the logic either...but that doesn't mean I, a pretty die-hard Visor suppporter, have to stick with them if they're not sticking with me. So I must depart. I don't want a 'always on' wireless pda device...just another access charge to pay.

My 2(meaningless cents).

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: WoodStock,GA
Posts: 7

Now im so glad i got a prisim for christmas...Not.....it is definitly gonna scare off any potential springboard module makers or present...1 year and it will be scariss 2 years and you wont be able to find em exsept for ebay......Gee thanks Handspring for waisting my time and money, a deluxe , neo and Prisim owner, well atleast at the moment

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 175

The "success" of companies like Omnisky and YadaYada certainly point to the great clamoring for wireless access. On a consumer level, it just ain't there yet. Service is still spotty for the most part and pricing is ridiculuous to the average person (and everything I've read is that the providers are going to stop the price wars this year).

On the enterprise/corporate level, it's probably a whole 'nother story.

Oh well. My Yadayada Minstrel S was free, as was my Audible Advisor. I've probably gotten my money's worth from my Minijam, and the MMCs from that and CFs from my Innopocket Flashplus will be usable elsewhere. That just leaves the Stowaway and Thumboard. So another year with my Platinum and I can leave it all behind.

Not really much to say, just babbling so I can make it to post 200 before Handspring goes away....

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Atlantic Rim
Posts: 570

For Crying Outloud

This commentary was carefully construed for its shock value. Handspring and the like will always have products that closely match today's form factor. Why? Because the shape of the shirt pocket is not going to change anytime soon.

What will change is the way we "hotsynch". With 3G wireless it will be possible to keep your PDA in synch with your desktop without a cradle. Yipee. Cut that cord anytime Donna.

What does this mean for the current Visor line? Not much that couldn't have been predicted yesterday. Thats right. The Prism you bought today (or last year), not to mention the Visor Neo, Pro, VDX and Edge...will all be....sooner more than later....obsolete.

A couple of birthdays from now, you will find yourself sitting in a board room, with a couple of high and mighty types, who will be weilding the latest wireless enabled (we will no longer even bother to specify "wireless enabled") Palm-based devices, and you will feel dangerously outgunned. The meeting will end, and you will swing by Circuit City for that long overdue PDA upgrade.
You will wonder how to explain the $350 investment to your spouse on the way home....but at the same time you will have the deeply satisfied feeling of a gunslinger with a brandy new Colt Revolver.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Not so sunny, San Diego, CA
Posts: 51

DoomMongers Unite!

Hmm.. Well, at least Keefer had a moderately positive attitude about the news..

Ya'll are reacting as if HS said they were SHUTTING DOWN! They are taking an evolutionary leap in their product line, not abandoning the handheld market. While the terminology is now "communicator" (Beam me up Scotty, no intelligent life here...) vs "organizer" the device will still largely be the same..

Will your Prism,Neo,Pro,Single,Word,Palm become totally obsolete? Lemme see.. Obsolete: no longer capable of being used as it cannot function in the current environment.. Gee, doesn't sound much like that's gonna happen anytime soon to our devices.. ask anyone still using a VDx, like, say, ME!

I can still use the thing. Apps are still being written that work on it. Except for some newer features that require updated OS/hardware, it's still working just as well as when I bought it.. Ok, so I can't use the latest features.. That is NOT obsolescence.

So, what are we talking about here? The end of Handspring and Palm devices? NO! The end of Springboards? That hasn't been said, and until HS says so, is merely speculation. While the current form factor may be abandoned, the capability to add peripherals to your handheld will remain.. either as a SD or CF plugin for now, or perhaps a new device specific format. But your current springboards will continue to work with your present Visor flavor of choice.

Seems to me what Ms. Dubinsky DID say is that HS is gonna be focusing on wireless enabled handhelds, meaning some REAL INNOVATION like all you whiners have been puling for lately. She practically butters your bread for you, and you complain cause its wheat and not white..

'Nuff said.

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"It's hard to find my guiding light with this lantern in the way..." Diogenes

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: San Diego, California
Posts: 441

Builtin wireless is fine with me as long as I still get my springboard. Maybe higher res screens are in the mix? Treo 270 perhaps?

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You know it's bad when your Calculus Professor uses the word "Unpossible"

"It's a long way from my thoughts to what I'll say, It's a long, long way from paradise to where I am today." -Switchfoot, Home

Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 1

No more "traditional " devices.

Handspring may be missing the point. There are two markets here. Some people want a convergence device / communicator. I want a more powerful pocket computer to eventually replace most of my laptop functions. If I can stick a CF card in it and access the internet, great but its never going to replace my very small cell phone. It looks like Sony or a PPC device like the new Toshiba are headed in the direction I want to go, a true pocket computer not a souped up cell phone.

Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Pembroke,MA
Posts: 307

Re: DoomMongers Unite!

quote:

---

Originally posted by WorldCTZen
Hmm.. Well, at least Keefer had a moderately positive attitude about the news..

Ya'll are reacting as if HS said they were SHUTTING DOWN! They are taking an evolutionary leap in their product line, not abandoning the handheld market. While the terminology is now "communicator" (Beam me up Scotty, no intelligent life here...) vs "organizer" the device will still largely be the same..

---

... but no springboard!!!

Heck, I'll admit it. I bought into the idea of the springboard module. Handspring was innovative and had promised more and better things to come with that format. Now, I've spent better than $1000 on SB mods, thinkin that I'd still be able to use them in the next innovative device that HS would keep coming out with.

Folks, I feel we've been duped. I feel sorry for the poor companies have have faultered on the heels of a new and improved technology. HJow may of these companies are still in business, or still make SB modules (after the beating they mopst likely took).

The best that HS can do right now with SB Tech is the Pro?? There's absolutely no new tech other than the 16mb chip (whoooaaa! awesome). People (including me in the immediate future) are bailing to Sony or PPC because they have the innovation that HS had us buy into a couple of years ago. If they weren't handing the non-communicator PDA market to Sony, which they appear to be quite handily doing, then they would announce that the SB module isn't dead. Doing so means they dont have to be announcing a new PDA, only saying that there's something definitive in the works.

I guess it's hello eBay for me. Anybody want a Prism, Deluxe, 4 cradles, EM2, MJam w/256 & speedloader, 2 Bkup SBs, GPSC, VPhone w/standalone keyboard, Stowaway, Memplug w/192, vaja, EBslip....??

Registered: Sep 2001
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 14

When I first saw this, I was shocked. I just got a Visor Prism for Christmas, and now it's over?

Then, it hit me. Why not? Let Palm have the standard organizer market, while Handspring can focus on 'PDCs' (Personal Digital Communicators) and carve out a new (albeit niche) market using the respected PalmOS.

However, the current Treos don't cut it for me. Maybe in two or three years, I'll replace my Prism. But I would need a PalmOS unit with color, wireless & SD or SM card support. As to Springboard, I have a feeling that HS might want to use the port from the Visor Edge. A standart SB slot would make the Treo's extremely bulky, but the Edge slot wouldn't add much to the form-factor.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 100

Maybe they forgot where they came from?

I thought the whole point of Palm (and subsequently Handspring) was simplicity? Jeff Hawkins talked up how people didn't want a tiny version of a laptop, but a handheld that did things simply, and did them well. I realize HS needs to be competitive, but I am afraid this announcement (hopefully just a red herring or a trial balloon?) sends the wrong message: "We are abandoning our original mission of pursuing simplicity and are now going to go for a everything-in-one product instead."

I think HS has two very discrete and disparate audiences with a smaller overlap than they think: the cutting-edge wireless-everything crowd, and the original owners who fell in love with the simplicity and effectiveness of the organizer. I guess they've decided they would rather spend their R&D dollars on just one area. Too bad -- I am not interested in a wireless solution. I have a separate cell phone, and I have a 'net connection both at work and at home; I don't need one in my purse, too.

*sniff* I've been SUCH the HS evangelist, too. This is disheartening. I've been a proud non-Palm owner but I am willing to switch if they are going to abandon me.

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