The Sony-Is-Missing Effect

Colin Dunstan · 10-06-2004, 02:47 AM

When I read RT's comment "I Was Naive!" at PalmAddict this morning, I felt as if the author was speaking out of my mind. Long before Sony joined the PDA euphoria, palmOne (at that time still called Palm) had been the only big PDA player, and definitely the only one with PalmOS-based handhelds.

Do you remember the Palm V (and later Vx)? For how long had it been Palm's #1 model? I can tell you: for many years - until Sony entered the game! Sony came and slaughtered the market. And henceforth Palm was forced to actually invest some money in new hardware design. The m500/m505 came, and it didn't take long for the T-line to approach.

Then Sony left the spectacle again - and with it an overly disturbed PDA market with dozens of PalmOS-based handhelds called Clie. What a relief for palmOne. Its management probably took the entire research & development budget to spent 6 luxurious months lying on the beach of Virgin Gorda. Then it must have noticed that their wives were running out of money and so decided to refurnish the Tungsten E and call it Tungsten T5.

Competition is the whetstone of talent. When Sony left the PDA market, palmOne lost its talent.

Brian · 10-06-2004, 06:35 AM

A lot of the top talent had already left Palm and formed Tapwave, now the true Palm OS innovator as witnessed by the T5 *yawn*. Peng Lim, Bryron Connell, Marian Cauwet, and David Wenning, Tapwave's top leadership, are all former Palm executives (add HP, Apple and Sun as some of the other companies some of them have worked for). There's also a number of other former Palm employees in Tapwave's team.

Let's hope that Tapwave can provide enough innovation to push PalmOne and keep the Palm platform competitive. The departure of the Sony Clie, another multimedia oriented line of Palm OS devices, as well as PalmOne's latest showcase PDA, which is apparently a huge disappointment according to the widespread reaction, can only mean good things for the Zodiac.

The T5, IMO is also an indication of PalmOne's apparent emphasis on smartphones due to the overwhelming success of the Treo line.

Brian

Francesco · 10-06-2004, 11:42 AM

I had never considered the dark side as an option. Until today. I'm disappointed. I had no intentions of buying a T5, but I wanted to see what PalmOne was up to.
Then I watched Stuart Maughan "sweating" while trying to explain why the T5 is such a cool USB drive!
Then this article...
*sigh*

10-06-2004, 06:35 AM	#2
Brian MobileRead Editor Posts: 447 Karma: 84 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Massachusetts Device: Treo 700p, Zodiac2	A lot of the top talent had already left Palm and formed Tapwave, now the true Palm OS innovator as witnessed by the T5 yawn. Peng Lim, Bryron Connell, Marian Cauwet, and David Wenning, Tapwave's top leadership, are all former Palm executives (add HP, Apple and Sun as some of the other companies some of them have worked for). There's also a number of other former Palm employees in Tapwave's team. Let's hope that Tapwave can provide enough innovation to push PalmOne and keep the Palm platform competitive. The departure of the Sony Clie, another multimedia oriented line of Palm OS devices, as well as PalmOne's latest showcase PDA, which is apparently a huge disappointment according to the widespread reaction, can only mean good things for the Zodiac. The T5, IMO is also an indication of PalmOne's apparent emphasis on smartphones due to the overwhelming success of the Treo line. Brian Last edited by ballistic; 10-06-2004 at 06:51 AM.

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10-06-2004, 02:47 AM	#1
Colin Dunstan Is papyrophobic! Posts: 1,926 Karma: 1009999 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: USA Device: Dell Axim	The Sony-Is-Missing Effect When I read RT's comment "I Was Naive!" at PalmAddict this morning, I felt as if the author was speaking out of my mind. Long before Sony joined the PDA euphoria, palmOne (at that time still called Palm) had been the only big PDA player, and definitely the only one with PalmOS-based handhelds. Do you remember the Palm V (and later Vx)? For how long had it been Palm's #1 model? I can tell you: for many years - until Sony entered the game! Sony came and slaughtered the market. And henceforth Palm was forced to actually invest some money in new hardware design. The m500/m505 came, and it didn't take long for the T-line to approach. Then Sony left the spectacle again - and with it an overly disturbed PDA market with dozens of PalmOS-based handhelds called Clie. What a relief for palmOne. Its management probably took the entire research & development budget to spent 6 luxurious months lying on the beach of Virgin Gorda. Then it must have noticed that their wives were running out of money and so decided to refurnish the Tungsten E and call it Tungsten T5. Competition is the whetstone of talent. When Sony left the PDA market, palmOne lost its talent.

10-06-2004, 11:42 AM	#3
Francesco Aficionado Posts: 391 Karma: 710 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Denver, CO, USA Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Touch	I had never considered the dark side as an option. Until today. I'm disappointed. I had no intentions of buying a T5, but I wanted to see what PalmOne was up to. Then I watched Stuart Maughan "sweating" while trying to explain why the T5 is such a cool USB drive! Then this article... sigh

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