by Frank Paynter on June 29, 2007
by Frank Paynter on June 29, 2007
Daylight come and me wanna go home.
I bought my first Palm Pilot many years ago. It’s in the bottom of an old briefcase somewhere, useless, with a battery that’s probably corroded. I know it’s not charged. Power handling turned me off from the unit when the unit turned off for me. I mean, when that particular model was in its cradle, it drew power. Dead batteries became a way of life. Rechargeables could be used of course, but the unit didn’t have a recharging option. It was poorly conceived, and quickly replaced in the company’s product line by a better model. I didn’t upgrade. I waited for the best to arrive.
Well, the best ain’t coming. This whole Apple iPhone hoot got me thinking. Apple of course is the little tech company that sells underpowered and overpriced consumer grade computers to a dwindling market of rabidly sectarian users, a market largely comprising students and educators and the advertising industry. The “first one’s free” schoolyard marketing model helped the company develop market share through the early days, and some combination of Bay Area chic, ease of use, and design appeal helped them hang onto that market share in the face of commodity pressure during the Wintel years. Now that Vista is signaling the end of Microsoft as we knew it, it’s anybody’s guess whether Apple will flexibly adapt to a new market or snap in the winds of change.
Clearly the iPhone will require some nurturing and some deep pockets if it’s to become a viable product. AT&T has deep pockets, but they aren’t my cell phone service provider.
I had heard about the iPhone for months of course. Apple is great at generating buzz. I heard that it had the power of 14 remote control units in one tiny module. I heard that it would replace every handheld in your life… your iPod, your phone, your PDA. I heard that it would be the best thing since the Magic Bullet. I heard that there were battery issues that make the iPhone more of an upscale toy like an iPod than a useful tool like PDA/cellphone combo.
I looked at tha specs for the Apple iPhone. I looked at the specs for the Palm Treo755P.
I bought the Treo. With rebates it cost me about half what the iPhone costs, and I renegotiated the service plan to save some money there too. Then I went wild and bought about $175 worth of accessories (including a car charger, a nice Plantronics bluetooth headset and a 2GB memory card) for $135, and I still got out of there way cheaper than I would have with a new iPhone and an AT&T service plan.
Plus, the Treo has a nice useable qwerty keypad.
[tags]eat me ma bell, Treo 755p, Steve Jobs strikes out, is that an iPod in your pocket or a TV remote[/tags]
