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An interesting rundown over at MLAgazine lists their opinions of the Top 10 PDA failures. Some of the more notable in the list are the Apple Newton, Palm PC and the Xircom REX. via Geekzone
I have to respectfully disagree with the Apple Newton being listed in this category. The Newton, although discontinued, are still being used among enthusiasts and modders of the Newton line. In fact, some still consider it the perfect PDA even with all the Pocket PC's and Palm pilots and rim devices that you can find on the market today. Heck, you can even sync iTunes to them.
I agree with the rest of the list though... comments?
I read the article as per your link post. Seems kinda' weird to list something that someone else thought should have been a success for whatever reason. KInd of like playing Monday morning quarterback. One things for sure, if it wasn't for such innovative, yet not wildly successful, products such as these, we wouldn't be where we are now with pda's.
Lastly, I'm not the expert, but I'd bet this list could be ALOT longer. Remember the Philips Nino? I do. I had one in 1999. Seems like yesterday!!!
The article is a hack piece with as much research as Dan Rather did on the "Bush National Guard letters". :roll:
Let's look at the errors:
1. Newton. It wasn't ridiculed at first. It brought hope to geeks everywhere that Star Trek-type tricorders might soon be a reality. And if it really was so bad, why did the author admit " I bought a MessagePad 130 several years ago, and I still use it for most school assignments."
3. Geos-based PDAs. First, they show a Casio PocketViewer (which is NOT GEOS based... but a very fine example of PDA-done-right). Second, GEOS-based PDAs DID have more than just a pop-up keyboard... they had Grafitti... the first PDA to include Grafitti by default.
6. VTech Helio. VTech is known for making educational electronics... I've bought my share of pseudo-notebook quiz/game devices. The Helio was intended to cash in on that name recognition as kids outgrew those notebook-toys. The fact that people took the time to port Linux to it and it is still available in secondary markets is a sign that it is NOT a failure.
7. Royal's LineaLX. What?! This device was never released, how can it be a failure? Shouldn't devices that never leave the designer's sketchpad be even worse "failures"?
9. HP200LX. Although not as popular as its predecessor, it still was a viable workhorse...and there are still people today using them. Hardly a failure.
The only bona fide failures were the Xircom REX and MagicCap.
That article seems to have been written by a 7th grader.... and it is a perfect example why kids shouldn't have a Winter recess during Christmas.
The article is a hack piece with as much research as Dan Rather did on the "Bush National Guard letters". :roll:
Let's look at the errors:
1. Newton. It wasn't ridiculed at first. It brought hope to geeks everywhere that Star Trek-type tricorders might soon be a reality. And if it really was so bad, why did the author admit " I bought a MessagePad 130 several years ago, and I still use it for most school assignments."
I am the author of the piece. I preempted the story with " I've made a top ten list of devices or initiatives that failed and shouldn't have.". The Newton lost Apple hundreds of millions of dollars. It was a wonderful product, and I have more hours on my MP130 than I do on my desktop. It was an awesome product, and I wish that Apple had not discontinued it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sracer
3. Geos-based PDAs. First, they show a Casio PocketViewer (which is NOT GEOS based... but a very fine example of PDA-done-right). Second, GEOS-based PDAs DID have more than just a pop-up keyboard... they had Grafitti... the first PDA to include Grafitti by default.
Oops. I'll have to fix that image. I was under the impression that Palm licensed Grafiti to individual manufacturers, no the sellers of the operating system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sracer
6. VTech Helio. VTech is known for making educational electronics... I've bought my share of pseudo-notebook quiz/game devices. The Helio was intended to cash in on that name recognition as kids outgrew those notebook-toys. The fact that people took the time to port Linux to it and it is still available in secondary markets is a sign that it is NOT a failure.
It was discontinued a year after its introduction. My guess is that the Linux developers liked the tools available for the system more than the actual system. The clearance prices probably helped, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sracer
7. Royal's LineaLX. What?! This device was never released, how can it be a failure? Shouldn't devices that never leave the designer's sketchpad be even worse "failures"?
Royal lost a bit of coin on the design of the machine. I wish that it had been introduced.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sracer
9. HP200LX. Although not as popular as its predecessor, it still was a viable workhorse...and there are still people today using them. Hardly a failure.
It was discontinued, its staff fired, and design facility closed. It was replaced by Windows CE. I liked them, I don't think that they should have failed.
The Helio was intended to cash in on that name recognition as kids outgrew those notebook-toys. The fact that people took the time to port Linux to it and it is still available in secondary markets is a sign that it is NOT a failure.
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