This weekend to take a break from the oragami thoughts i've left of late, i thought more about the treo and other convergence devices. While many people know the treo as one of the most popular smartphones, it is also perhaps the single most important project ever undertaken by handspring before they merged with palm. And although the first treos weren't the best sellers or design winners, they opened up a category for devices, in mobile computing (smart phones). A cross-over, it neither was completely a phone, or just a normal palm pilot. this device has now won itself into the hearts of many.
Some may even put the lifedrive in this category, because it wasn't just in the competition for one of the best pda's it was also in competitions for some in the laptop range of things. One needent bring along a laptop on a trip, only his/her pda so sd cards could be emptied, and not only that, but the lifedrive also has usb thumb drive like capabilities, at a much higher capacity. Filling in the needs of users. The question i'm going to venture is what purpose would you like the pda to fill in next in your life. It already can do just about everything media oriented thanks to some well noted media players, it can download podcasts. They do just about everything except for wash the dishes. While i can't say for sure, i believe that the palm pilot may go the way of an oragami like device, that's smaller so it's not in competition with tablet/laptop devices. This has already been conceived by the people that think the lifedrive will be a competitor to the oragami, and i'm not saying it isn't, however with more refinements to the lifedrive, i think they could nail it on the head (the integrated converged device). The lifedrive may not have car integration comming next year. But just down the road, depending on who does it, integration with automobiles and desks, similar to smartphones today, seems to be a growing trend of portable computing. And we'll have the Access Linux platform to get us there. I can't wait until next year simply for the fact that it will bring a totally new look/ file system and way of zen to palm pilots/ smartphones.
One of the rumors lately is that palm is completely getting out of the business of the palm pilot. But as i am typing on my TX i can't help but think that palm won't abandon the origional tried and true design of the pda. Yes variations are needed in the market (smartphones, and lifedrives), but i believe there will always be a place in the heart of us palm addicts for the origional palm pilot design. (see i told you i would try and stay away from the oragami theme).
Have a good weekend, and don't forget to charge your palm.