Has PalmOS Lost the Edge?10 June 2002 Bit by bit, Pocket PCs are chipping away at the traditional strengths of the PalmOS platform. Are PalmOS devices still a compelling choice? After careful consideration of my Toshiba e310 vs. Sony NR-70V decision, my final choice is... to wait. (Mike Cane, I feel your pain!) Why? I decided not to get the e310 because while it's a fine machine, the new XScale Pocket PCs are just around the corner, and I have to see them before buying another Pocket PC. Why didn't I go with the NR-70V? Because as stunning as the hardware is, I have severe doubts about the Palm platform itself. I should note here that I'm not a gamer or multimedia freak, so I could use PalmOS. I could live without Argentum and playing movies on my device. I have better uses for my time than games-- reading the hundreds of books I have on my CF card already-- and better uses for my finite storage memory than movies-- the aforementioned books. If I had to, I could live within the limitations of PalmOS. But why should I? Or, more to the point, why would any new PDA buyer choose a PalmOS device over a Pocket PC? Applications This is always trotted out as a key advantage of PalmOS, that it's the more mature platform with so many more applications. Maybe, but the Pocket PC has most of the important niches filled as well. AvantGo is built into ROM on the Pocket PC, integrated into Pocket Internet Explorer. Instead of DateBk5, which is damn impressive, I have Agenda Fusion. Instead of Shadow Plan, I have Pocket Mindmap to serve my planning needs until Jeff Mitchell completes his port of Shadow Plan to the Pocket PC. Speaking of ports, many of the most popular PalmOS applications are also available in Pocket PC versions. The ultra-addictive Bejeweled, the only game I allow on my device for mental unwinding, is available from the same developer in the form of the Pocket PC game Diamond Mine. I regularly use PalmOS favorites HanDBase, iSilo and Palm Reader Pro on my Pocket PC. For almost any PalmOS application outside of the smallest niches, there is a Pocket PC alternative, if not a Pocket PC version of the very same application. While I could see the resistance of an entrenched PalmOS user not wanting to invest in all new applications, that argument won't hold for new purchasers. Stability Many people assume that because Pocket PCs run Windows, and Windows on the desktop has a reputation for instability then the Pocket PC must be unstable as well. Conversely, since PalmOS is so simple and streamlined, it must be far more stable, since there's less to go wrong. This is an incorrect assumption. Windows CE, the OS kernal upon which the Pocket PC is based, is a completely different operating system from the desktop versions of Windows, although they do share certain APIs and user interface features. Windows CE was designed to be an embedded, real-time operating system and is remarkably solid. I do soft reset my device every few days, the equivalent of rebooting a PC, but this is just to free up RAM and start fresh-- it's sometimes easier to soft reset than close everything manually. I rarely have to reset my Jornada, and hard resets-- where all data is lost and the device is reset to "out of the box" defaults-- are almost unheard of on the Pocket PC. PalmOS, by contrast, is riddled with stability issues precisely because it's so simple. Over time, developers and device manufacturers have bolted on patch after patch to address the shortcomings of the core OS. I had my Clié lock up countless times by apps that didn't properly understand Sony's high resolution implementation. Many PalmOS users have X-Master or similar hack managers and dozens of hacks installed on their devices, each patching part of the operating system. Small wonder that they sometimes don't get along, and sometimes take the OS with them when they crash. Form Factor This is another common argument in favor of PalmOS devices. Except for most of the increasingly defunct Handspring Visor line, PalmOS devices have gotten quite small, considerably smaller than the ancient-in-PDA-terms PalmPilot or Palm III. The Palm m500 series and Sony T series devices are slim enough to slip into a pants pocket without the inevitable "Is that a PDA in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" By contrast, and I know this from first-hand experience, an iPAQ with a CF sleeve and a protective leather case can resemble a painful tumor when crammed into even Dockers Mobile Pants. That said, this argument is losing steam rapidly. Already there is one Pocket PC on the market, the Toshiba e310, that is just as slim as any color Palm or Sony PDA. And while the e310 currently holds the beachhead alone, the Acer n20 and hp iPAQ 2200 will soon join it as Pocket PCs just as slim and pocketable as any PalmOS device. PalmOS devices can't counter by getting much smaller, even if improvements in screen and battery technology allow it. Devices like the Palm m100 series and Handspring Treo series are already at just about the minimum in terms of useful screen size. If they shrink any smaller, the text on screen will be too small for any but pre-teens to read. Battery Life This tired old chestnut has been the trump card of PalmOS vs. Windows CE since the battle commenced. And while I'll freely admit that a Palm m105 or Handspring Visor Deluxe can run seemingly forever on a pair of alkaline AAA batteries, these are dying monochrome devices that are either discontinued or are being given away. Let's compare apples to apples, shall we? Color compared to color, rechargeable battery compared to rechargeable battery, PalmOS is roughly equal to Pocket PC in terms of battery life. Some devices in each camp are fairly poor with about six hours of on-time per charge (the Sony T-615 and the Audiovox Maestro) and some have more than enough for a single day's work at more than 10 hours of on-time per charge (the Palm m515 and hp Jornada 565). With any color PDA, regardless of operating system, your charging frequency is directly connected to your usage patterns. Use it strictly as a PDA, just looking up info or entering brief text scattered throughout the day, and you could get a week or more on a single charge. If you use the device like tiny portable PC, writing documents, reading news and ebooks, replying to email, etc., you will probably need to charge it every night. This was my experience with my Sony Clié N710C, a PalmOS device generally considered to be among the best in color screen battery life. Just as I plug my cell phone into a charger every night before I go to bed, I drop my PDA into a charging cradle as well, where it will have a topped-off 100% charge when I wake up the next morning. It's really not a hard habit to start. You've got to put your device somewhere while you sleep, so why not put it in a charger? Ease of Use This one is hard to judge because it's so subjective. Having been a "power user" of both platforms, I believe it ultimately comes down to what paradigm you're most familiar with. Pocket PCs can be stunningly fast and easy to use, but most PalmOS users complain that Pocket PCs are cumbersome and obtuse. Why? Because they're trying to use the Pocket PC as if it were a PalmOS device. Let me give you an example. Let's say a Palm user wants to create a new appointment in his date book, for tomorrow from 4-6pm with Fred. How does he do it? He presses the Date Book button on his device, which shows today's schedule. Then he taps the letter for tomorrow's weekday at the top of the screen. Then he scrolls to 4pm, and taps on that timeslot. Then he uses Graffiti to write "Fred" in the slot. Then he taps the "Details" button and sets the end time to 6pm, since two-hour appointments aren't the default. Finally, he taps "OK" to save his changes. Eight discrete steps. While one could mirror a similar process on the Pocket PC and achieve the same result, there's an easier way to do it if you're willing to take advantage of the Pocket PC way of doing things. Press the Calendar button to turn on the device and run the Calendar app. Tap the letter for tomorrow's weekday. Drag your stylus from 4 to 6pm, and tap the "New" menu. An appointment dialog pops up with tomorrow's date and 4-6pm preselected. Write "Fred" in the Subject box and tap "OK." Six steps, two shorter than the PalmOS way of doing things. Many users familiar with PalmOS never try alternative processes to what they learned with PalmOS, and while the Pocket PC will generally get the job done that way, there's usually an easier, quicker way to accomplish the same task. Not only that, but, since we're talking about newbie buyers here that have no substantial experience with PalmOS or Pocket PC, new users familiar with desktop Windows are generally more comfortable with the Pocket PC than with PalmOS when they first start out. Pocket PCs have a Start Menu, a close button, a File Explorer, and familiar applications like Word and Excel that desktop users will take to easily. PalmOS gets a lot of accolades for being more "intuitive," but let's face it. The only truly intuitive interface is the nipple. Everything else is learned behavior. Price I'm not arguing that the Pocket PC is necessarily superior in terms of size, user interface, battery life or application base. I'm arguing that PalmOS no longer has an appreciable edge in these areas to new, potential users. If PalmOS no longer has an advantage in those areas, where does it still rule? For a little while longer, price. But only for a little while, and only for low end units. The Pocket PC platform has no answer for the Palm m105 or Handspring Visor Neo. So far, PalmOS has total control of the sub-$300 market. If someone is looking for a basic organizer and doesn't want to pay much for it, then PalmOS is the only way to go. There's a reason so many consumer electronic products are priced at $299. This is the "magic" price, the maximum a consumer will spend without appreciable buyer's remorse. Above that, the PalmOS platform again loses its edge. The Palm m515 and Toshiba e310 are both slim, both support SD cards, both have decent battery life. And both are priced at $399. Comparing the two head to head, given the factors mentioned above, is there any reason to pick the m515 over the e310 other than Palm brand-name recognition? It's not always about price. When cell phones dropped in price to the realm of "impulse buy" they took off. PDAs probably won't follow the same pattern. Why not? Because most consumers don't see the need. Everyone understands the need for a phone. Even people that don't want to be "tethered" by a cell phone probably see the benefits of carrying one-- left turned off by default-- to use in emergency situations. In many parts of the world, cell phones outnumber land-line phones. If a cell phone is cheap enough, there's really little justification not to get one. PDAs are different. Lots of people are still perfectly comfortable with paper planners, and more still don't even see the need for paper, organizing their lives just fine with only their brains. While those of us with PDAs may see the benefits of owning one as being perfectly obvious, but to most of the un-teched, those "Palm thingies" are just gadgets they don't need. PalmOS devices may be cheaper on average than Pocket PCs, but free is cheaper still if you don't buy a PDA at all. What's Left? I haven't even mentioned Pocket PC strengths like voice recording, a real file system and networking, advantages few PalmOS devices can match. Anyone looking for a pocketable computer-- as opposed to a simple organizer-- would be hard-pressed to pick a PalmOS device over a Pocket PC for a new purchase. PalmOS 5 could address some of these concerns, but the race may already be lost. PalmOS users, stand up for your platform! Why do you think PalmOS still has what it takes? Jeff Kirvin
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