>On 11/3/01 @ 1:45 AM, Alexandre Enkerli wrote:
>
>The road to a perfect PDA doesn't need to be far-reaching. It could
>start at the very basic features and step up to a full-fledged device.
Lately I've been in the market for a new digital camera.
I've been discussing this topic with numerous techies who own and use
digital cameras.
Luckily each one owns a different brand/model, so I am hearing quite a
cross section of opinions.
One question that I've been asking those whose cameras have the ability
to play MP3 music, is have they used their camera for that purpose. A
100% have said no. Yet this is one of the marketing features of the
cameras. And it is push quite a bit over here in Japan.
Why do I bring this up.
Well, when designing a PDA, what features do you really need? Palm went
with a select few, but implemented them very well.
OTOH, the Pocket PC is trying to be the kitchen sink to everyone.
Neither is perfect for sure. But IMHO, the Palm approach is much better.
Do a few things very well, rather than a lot of poorly implemented
features.
The key is to find out what your customers really want and use, and in
that light, how they will use those features now, and over time in the
future. Jeff Hawkins once stated during an interview, words to the
effect, that his concept for the Palm OS was to be better and faster than
paper. When you think about it, it makes total sense. Otherwise, how
will the device replace the paper systems that it was intended to replace.
I get my chops busted for carrying a brick. However, after they see what
it can do, these comments subside quite quickly.
Interestingly to note, one of the more hotter devices talked about is the
notebook type device that connects to your Palm so that you can write on
paper and directly transfer those pen strokes to your Palm device. For
me, this just reafirms that the Palm OS, and Pocket PC for that matter,
have too small of a screen to replace paper. You need space to write
freely.
It also makes me laugh to see just again, how far ahead Apple was with
the Newt.
Sushi
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