(Take it from me, you should not wait 6 months before typing your notes - who wrote this stuff down, anyway? ;-)
David Pogue's PalmPilot the Ultimate Guide, O'Reilly & Associates remains the most frequently referenced book in our meetings.
AVANTGO again surfaces for its ability to transfer web information from the desktop to the pda for later review.
Tap Magazine is now HandHeld Computing Magazine
We note the availability of Gotype (http://www.landware.com) and Stowaway (http://www.thinkoutside.com) keyboards for Palm devices and we have had an opportunity to play with each of them. The Stowaway is clearly the most interesting, but it is a tossup for utility. The Stowaway folds to a compact bundle about the size of a Palm III.
The St Louis Post Dispatch had section in their April 16, 2000 "Everyday" segment touting the virtues of handheld computing. They mentioned several websites of interest to palm users 1) PalmGear 2) Handango 3) PDAStreet 4) The Finer Life .
There were inevitable comparisons between the Palm IIIc and PocketPC:
We believe the comparisons are flawed when they get into processor speed and memory capacity -- functionality is the primary reason for the Palm success story. The built-in functions of the Palm (Schedule, Address, ToDo, Calculator, and Memo) continue to be the basic "goodies" that we need on a daily basis. True, a simpler personal organizer could do much of this, and even provide some PDA-PC synchronization (like the REX?), but there are nearly 100,000 developers of other programs for the Palm. The momentum of the hardware and software base is incomparable. Finally an EIGHT HOUR battery life for the Pocket PC is ridiculous in comparison to the SIX WEEK battery life of a Palm III. Even the Palm IIc has a fairly substanitial battery life, and is rechargeable as well. Factor in cost, and we continue to believe that the Palm devices are superior. As far as lack of "MP3 sound" -- really, who cares? Go buy a RIO for $99 and you are ahead of the game.
Our comments on the Palm IIIc?
Awesome Display!
More like Paper!
(we like it, okay?)
We spoke briefly about positive experiences with Palm service.
A "The Matrix" application for the Palm was shown - cute.
The Rhinoskin protector for the Palm PDA was mentioned and displayed.
We had some interest in the Minstrel Wireless modem for Palm V and cell phones with wireless web connectivity. We will try to track down some samples.
See you in June.