At one time or another we have all seen or bought a new device that begged to have the question asked: Does it create a whole new device category or is it the next evolutionary step in a category? The problem in answering this is compounded by the fact there is not an accepted definition for what a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) is. In my opinion it is not necessarily either!
The folks at Palm did what many companies fail to do and then wonder why their product was not successful. They looked at the other handheld devices, living and deceased, and determined what features consumers wanted but were not being fulfilled. In the instance of the Pilot it came down to primarily 5 things: First, users were frustrated at the difficulty connecting to the desktop. This was made even worse by some devices in that connectivity options were either non-existent or extra cost add ons. Even the ones that offered connection to the desktop lacked true synchronization. Not so with the Pilot! Put it in the cradle, press the HotSync button and -viola- you're done!
Second, they were either too heavy, too big (or in many instances both) to be taken with them at all times. Many of the devices available are terrific in their capabilities but just too large to fit in a jacket pocket. Let's face it, if it is not small enough to be carried at all times then it will not be as useful since it will not be used.
Thirdly, battery life was too short. Many users are reporting 2 and 3 months from just 2 AAA batteries with the Pilot! Light years beyond what most have been dreaming of.
Fourth but probably most important, they were too complex. Aside from learning Graffiti there is really nothing else that must be learned. Too many PDA's strive to do too much and in the process take something as simple as building a model rocket and somehow make it as complicated as actually launching one. The Pilot is not a new generation of device except possibly in that it is evolutionary in it's filling the needs left by it's competition.
The Pilot was not envisioned as a direct competitor to the Newton for example, though it does seem to be migrating that direction, but I'll leave that one alone for another day! The Pilot versus this or that is really academic, especially when OS or PDA loyalty is factored in. One of the best statements I read a while back on a newsgroup in response to the Pilot versus vein was that what the Pilot does it does better than anything else out there.
Fifth and finally, application development, there have been many great handheld devices doomed (or have their market share limited) from inception solely due to the lack of a way for programmers to develop applications for them.
The Pilot has only been out for 6 months, the SDK just under a two months, and already there are numerous applications for it! Albeit, most are games, though there are many (dare I say) "real" applications, most free or shareware, such as Money, RPN, FCalc and the like out now. Pilot: simplicity in it's simplest form! So throw away that paper Day Timer you have been using and getting connected!
All information contained within the magazine is ©PMN Publications 1996.