What Killed The PDA?

My lovely bride and I went PDA shopping last week and made an amazing discovery.

The PDA is dead. (PDA image is from nec.com.tw

I say this with some confidence having looked not just at what BestBuy had to offer (which was not much) but at how little attention the store was paying to what it did have. Neither Palm nor Windows versions of the form factor were moving, and the chain had obviously given up.

What happened?

I have some theories, of course:

• Laptop prices fell decisively under $1,000.
  
• The "tablet" format, in which the screen folds over the keyboard and the screen can then be accessed with a stylus, has given many PDA users everything they wanted, without compromise.
  
• Cell phones are becoming more PDA-like, and next year's units will be part of the computing mainstream.
  
• PDAs exhausted their natural market, people who like organizers and whose handwriting lets them use things like Graffiti.
  

I blame Microsoft as much as Palm for what has happened. I also blame factors beyond eithers' control. But the plain fact is there has been little-or-no innovation in this space for years.

What can be done? (This image is from Senseboard.Com.)

You might start by identifying a market and building that market a dream machine. I'm a journalist, I'm a market. Here are some of the things I'd like:

• A keyboard as big as I can make it. You can do that with infrared, so I can pound on any surface and still type.
  
• A real voice interface. If I can train it to my handwriting, which is abysmal, I should be able to train it to my voice.
  
• The ability to transcribe recorded notes.
  
• An integrated camera, so I can snap the picture, do the interview, and get both words-and-pictures for editing when I want them.
  
• Make that a video camera.
  
• Tighter integration with all kinds of PCs, especially laptops.
  
• Integrated cell phones standard.
  
• Cognitive radio that will automatically use 802.11 or cell systems, whatever it finds.
  

I put this in my pocket, I take my pictures and short videos, I do my interviews, it transcribes my notes, and I can then use an infrared keyboard to turn that into a package I can deliver through a blog.

This can be done. It will sell in the millions. But it won't be done if you're thinking in terms of operating systems, or extending what you have a little bit. It only works if you think in terms of customers, and applications.

I'm available for beta testing.

Here's the problem -- you went to Best Buy. They reduced their in-store PDA selection several months ago to focus more on phones and entertainment devices. If you want to shop for a PDA, go just about anywhere else. Circuit City and CompUSA both have solid PDA departments. Best Buy is a joke, and shouldn't ever be used as a barometer for the PDA market.

Four points that are totally incorrect:

1.'A keyboard as big as I can make it. You can do that with infrared, so I can pound on any surface and still type.'

2.'An integrated camera, so I can snap the picture, do the interview, and get both words-and-pictures for editing when I want them.'

3.'Make that a video camera.'

4. 'Tighter integration with all kinds of PCs, especially laptops.'

5. Cognitive radio that will automatically use 802.11 or cell systems, whatever it finds.

-----

Point 1 has been done, an infrared projected keyboard, is available very soon.

Points 2 and 3, with regards to palm OS, have you not heard of the Zire 71 and 72 (the 72 has video capture) also there are SD cameras' around.

Point 4.. what the hell is that, you have outlook synchronisation, office syncing (and full native support for word, excel and PowerPoint out of the box for Palms, and outlook syncing I might add.), and any program you need syncing, there is probably a program to do it, with laptops.. there is this thing call USB, you know, you may have heard of it, it's become rather standard over the past few years, if not, then you obviously need to get out of your cave.

Point 5, is just plain ridiculous, there is 802.11b (Tungsten C) support in PPC, and POS, having cell support as well is unlikely to happen, unless you can make a miniature hydrogen power cell? Since, unless you didn't understand, batteries cannot supply the power, wireless technology is battery draining, and even on laptops (remember PDA?s get at least 4 hours out of a battery 1/10th the size of a laptop that gets a mere 2 at best.. Besides, Bluetooth( Tungsten T1-3), which you probably haven't heard of, will wirelessly link to your mobile phone, but as it sounds you still carry a 2kg 1980's relic around with you, if this is what you think of PDA's.

This is a narrow minded, un-research article, which, if you had look on a website such as Palm One?s, Sony's, or any other PDA manufacturer you may have reconsidered, well at east your troglodyte views have given me and a lot of other people a good laugh!

Tracked on May 13, 2004 10:57 PM