Two different strategies: palmOne vs. PocketPC

[Colin Dunstan]

Larry Garfield from Infosyncworld looks at the different design strategies of palmOne and PPC-based vendors, and muses on what it says about the way they think. This is an excellent read and mirrors exactly what a lot of our members have been discussing lately:

Where HP and Dell both think in terms of feature count, palmOne, rather out of necessity, tends to tailor its markets more. That's why, according to palmOne anyway, the T5 doesn't have Wi-Fi[...]That's not to say that palmOne doesn't need a bigger push. Next to the equally-priced non-novel but very flashy X50 Advanced, the T5 just doesn't seem impressive, even if it is one of the most feature-rich Palm OS handhelds to date.

So what does the editor of the article suggest? -- That palmOne is better hurrying up to release a Cobalt handheld that could hopefully compete with the latest HP and Dell PPC devices.

[Brad]

Good article.

I think they are right you need to have enough glitz to stay on the consumer radar and robbing the parts bin like they did with the T5 may produce a competent handheld, but it lacks glitz.

OTOH, Palm seems to have identified a real niche market: the low end $200 and less consumer PDA.

[Bob Russell]

I think the T5 might still work if it's solid. People who buy glitz will put up with more problems than people who buy "plain and reliable". Palm is "plain and reliable" but the reliable part for T5 is in question. Hopefully they will realize reliable is important and take care of patches efficiently and effectively.

[ignatz]

Yes, but the price point for the T5 is much too high. It would make more sense if it were at least $100 cheaper. You pay extra for glitz. Plain and reliable should be more affordable. That's often the whole point.