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Apple to buy Palm?


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Apple to buy Palm?
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Wyatt
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
 
2006-02-08, 11:58

According to this article, Apple may be preparing to make a bid to buy Palm. I'm fascinated by the potential implications of such a move. If Apple buys Palm, that gives Apple quick access to manufacturing for an Apple-designed PDA, as well as an outlet for an Apple mobile phone. Think about it: a Treo with iTunes and iWork support for the business world, plus another phone with iTunes for the non-business market (along the lines of the SLVR and ROKR). If you don't need a phone, there's the possibility of an Apple-based PDA built with Palm's years of PDA expertise, with an interface created by Apple's design team. Palm could also help perfect pen-based computing for an Apple tablet.

What do you guys think? Good idea? Bad idea? Bullshit?

Twitter: bwyatt | Xbox: @playsbadly | Instagram: @bw317
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Dr_LHA
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
 
2006-02-08, 12:02

I call bullshit. The PDA market is dead, and Apple would do much better to design their own phone than use the Treo, which is both clunky and fiddly at the same time IMHO.
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FFL
Fishhead Family Reunited
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Slightly Off Center
 
2006-02-08, 12:04

Despite the article's attempt at hyping this theory, there is no basis for it other than pure speculation and wishful thinking.

I suppose it *could* happen, but I don't expect it.
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Dr_LHA
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
 
2006-02-08, 12:07

Yep, hasn't this guy speculated this before? Perhaps he has a bunch of Palm stock he wants to get rid of?
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Dr_LHA
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
 
2006-02-08, 12:12

I particularly like this quote:

"Also, for all their vaunted style, the latest Apple notebooks look like antiques beside the latest pen-driven Tablet PCs."

Jeez. Anybody would think that Tablet PCs were really popular. Every time I see one I just thing, how annoyingly clumsy they look to use. Not to mention the fact they all weigh too much to be carrying around writing on.
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Franz Josef
Passing by
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London, Europe
 
2006-02-08, 12:32

Looks very implausible. But the rumour does the rounds on a regular basis.
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Dug-OH
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
 
2006-02-08, 13:04

Why would Apple have to go with a pen interface? That's just bunk. The pen interface is very niche...would be clunky in any type of real notebook task. The only reason PDAs have them is they cant squeeze a keyboard into them. Notice the proliferation of blackberry type PDAs which include a mini keyboard now? Hello.....McFly.....
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Bancho
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Maple Valley, WA
 
2006-02-08, 13:06

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_LHA
I call bullshit. The PDA market is dead, and Apple would do much better to design their own phone than use the Treo, which is both clunky and fiddly at the same time IMHO.
Wait for it...

It's only a matter of time before someone chimes in how their whole life is made easier through the dedicated use of a PDA and that "the PDA market isn't dead".
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Dr_LHA
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
 
2006-02-08, 13:41

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bancho
Wait for it...

It's only a matter of time before someone chimes in how their whole life is made easier through the dedicated use of a PDA and that "the PDA market isn't dead".
Hey - I use a PDA myself*, but I won't argue with the cold hard facts of sales figures of PDA, which took a nosedive after their late 90s/early 2000s high.

*Not very much any more though because I can't be bothered.
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Mac Donald
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Join Date: Dec 2005
 
2006-02-08, 14:36

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bancho
It's only a matter of time before someone chimes in how their whole life is made easier through the dedicated use of a PDA and that "the PDA market isn't dead".
Well, it's not dead . But it is a niche market that was extremely over-estimated at the turn of the century. Moreover, cell-phones can do anything a mid-range Palm could have done in 2000 --- and I'm not talking about smartphones. There is still money to be made in dedicated PDA's --- some of the new ones like the TX look pretty coool. But given the choice between it and a smartphone, I take the latter.

As to the question of pen v. button interfaces, I mean there is no question. People prefer buttons, keyboards, thumbboards, etc. Look, when Palm was big, it was all pen-based. Once companies started using thumbboards, those dominated. The Blackberry, Treo, HTC Wizards are all more popular than your Palm pen-based systems. Ditto on Tablet PCs, which although still kinda cool, are never going to come close to overtaking regular laptops.

Someone hacked my signature. I demand an investigation.
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MacGregor
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Stumptown, Puddlecity, many names
 
2006-02-08, 14:40

The pda market isn't dead, it is mature and at a plateau until new features can arouse it. So stop the pseudo-stock analyst b.s. comments. Like any of you know what a pda can do. When an iPod or phone can keep track of my expenses and give me quick note taking features and language translation and cash exchange rates and updated star charts or other educational software (bigger screen!) and employs transparent synching, AND can record meetings/lecture audio AND exists within a healthy third party SOFTWARE ecology - THEN the pda market will be dead.

You can do some of these with add-ons and such, but the thriving 3rd party business of s/w developers is just as important as the 3rd party h/w accessory developers. Just because M$ and Palm lost track of what got them there, doesn't mean the palmtop is a dead end. It means Apple hasn't entered into it with any real energy.

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Last edited by MacGregor : 2006-02-08 at 14:48.
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Dr_LHA
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
 
2006-02-08, 15:26

McGregor - just because you find a PDA useful doesn't mean that they are doing well. I too use a PDA, but don't ignore the signs. Companies like Sony got out of the PDA market because it was going nowhere but down. The PDA market is on life support at best, and will completely be replaced by cell phones.

As an experiment go to Google and type "PDA sales" into the search engine. What are the majority of the hits?
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Dr_LHA
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
 
2006-02-08, 15:28

This article:

http://digital-lifestyles.info/displ...tforms&id=2978

Gives a good summary of the current state of PDA sales. To paraphrase: In decline.
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Windowsrookie
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2006-02-08, 15:44

smartphone sales do well though.
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faust
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
 
2006-02-08, 15:46

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_LHA
McGregor - just because you find a PDA useful doesn't mean that they are doing well. I too use a PDA, but don't ignore the signs. Companies like Sony got out of the PDA market because it was going nowhere but down. The PDA market is on life support at best, and will completely be replaced by cell phones.

As an experiment go to Google and type "PDA sales" into the search engine. What are the majority of the hits?
Sony left the US market only, they are still active in Asia & Europe.

The Cell Phone won't kill off the PDA, but units like the Blackberry will.
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Mac Donald
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Join Date: Dec 2005
 
2006-02-08, 17:30

Quote:
Originally Posted by faust
Sony left the US market only, they are still active in Asia & Europe.

The Cell Phone won't kill off the PDA, but units like the Blackberry will.
Two sentences, and two serious errors. Well done.

1. Sony no longer makes PDA's anywhere -- the CLIE is dead my friend.

2. The Blackberry IS a PDA. Blackberries that are not cellphones -- which are most of them in use actually -- are everything a Palm PDA aspired to be in the late '90s. Wired connection for email and well integrated and simple PIM applications.

Someone hacked my signature. I demand an investigation.
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Back2Mac
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
 
2006-02-08, 18:09

I have a Palm TX I never use. Had it less than 4 months. It's just such a pain to carry that along with 2 cell phones and an iPod. It'll probably end up on eBay. If apple comes out with a combo phone/iPod/pda, I'll probably bite.
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AtHomeBoy_2000
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Schaumburg, Illinois
 
2006-02-08, 18:27

My life is on my PDA. All my contact, phone numbers, my schedule,. notes..... it's a god send. I'll never get ride of it. WIth that being said, I like smart phones, but they are so exspensive.
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BarracksSi
BANNED
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Washington, DC
 
2006-02-08, 21:33

I borrowed a basic Palm PDA for a couple months three years ago, and while it was definitely nice to have, it wasn't multi-task-able enough for me to keep it around.

Normally, I'd like one gadget to do one thing (or a couple related things) really well, but for what I found myself using the Palm for, it was either overkill or it just wasn't enough.

I guess that I'm just not the kind of guy to keep an organizer, though, so I don't think my opinion is really that fair. I've been given regular organizer booklets as gifts only to lose them in some odd bag when I'd move. A Palm Pilot has pretty much the same importance for me.
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Dave
Ninja Editor
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
 
2006-02-09, 04:30

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_LHA
The PDA market is on life support at best, and will completely be replaced by cell phones.
I agree, except I call them Treos instead of cell phones.
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gjas15
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Colorado
 
2006-02-09, 05:47

I have a smartphone (Nokia 6620 - Symbian based) and I have used a few Palm's (first color model and the TX), I'd say they both have their uses. I do prefer the "button" interface for messaging and entering info (T9 prediction is a godsend), but a PDA can do many more things like play videos and such. PDA's are like MP3 players before the iPod, clunky and hard to use. Multitasking is a pain in the ass since there is no easy way to switch between open applications, text input is a chore, and well the whole pen thing just isn't the greatest idea man has ever come up with.

Smartphones like my Nokia are also quite clunky for the average user, but not anywhere near the level of a PDA (probably due to the complexity building over time instead of all thrown in at once). Also, smartphones are catching up to where PDA's are because PDA's are not evolving, they're stagnating; all that seems to change is the processing power of the device. Basically the current PDA is exactly like PDA's in the late 90's just smaller, better screens, and more horsepower. Until the PDA fundimentally changes, like maybe into an all in one computing interface such as in Star Trek, they will continue to stagnate and will eventually cease to exist when cellphones take over the market.

They are a product with a shrinking market. If the PDA is reinvented by someone *coughapplecough* then it may stand a chance of competing against smartphones and other PDA replacements.
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SlackerDX
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
 
2006-02-10, 02:44

I had a Clie for a few years and I found that I used it in cycles. I would get really into it, update my schedule, to dos, etc. but after a while, I would just stop keeping up with it. There were times when I wouldn't feel like carrying an extra device so it would stay home. I recognized the utility of a PDA but the convenience factor just wasn't there.

Enter the Treo. I never have to remember to bring my PDA because I always have the Treo on me. The thumb board makes entering data and sending text messages much easier. I used to be a big Graffiti guy but now that I have the thumb board, I can't imagine going back.

The design of the Treo needs a little help. I would like to see it get thinner and lose the antenna but then again, I don't know how easy it would be to use the thumb board if it was really thin and light. The weight of the phone is actually perfect. I can't see myself ever not carrying some sort of smartphone from here on out. Even though I use it mainly for the basic PIM apps and Google (gotta have the wireless internet), it really has helped me get organized.
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ronmexico
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
 
2006-02-10, 19:07

PDAs are good for one thing...portable access to data. Perhaps the only useful thing on a Palm is Epocrates
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