.KEYWORD editorial0199
.FLYINGHEAD FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
.TITLE PalmPower’s greatest hits of 1998
.DEPT
.SUMMARY January, it seems, is a month for accolades. After all, we’ve just completed our wide-ranging Editors’ Choice Awards, honoring the best and the brightest of Palm computer add-ons. In keeping with this theme, we thought it would be fun to point out to you our favorite articles from the past year. We’ve covered some amazing material in the past year. If you’d like to take a walk down memory lane — or catch up on what you missed — you should read this article.
.AUTHOR David Gewirtz
January, it seems, is a month for accolades. After all, we’ve just completed our wide-ranging Editors’ Choice Awards, honoring the best and the brightest of Palm computer add-ons. In keeping with this theme, we thought it would be fun to point out to you our favorite articles from the past year.
.H1 Golfing and your Palm organizer
If you’re a golfer (or you have a friend who is), you should read this comprehensive survey of golfing goodies for the Palm organizer. Golfing enthusiast Fred Cox looks at software for managing game play, wagering, and scoring, plus two very interesting hardware add-ons that mount your Palm device to a golf cart. If you want to win your next game, read this article.
This turned out to be a big project for Managing Editor Denise Amrich. At one point, we had the various manufacturers of devices that mounted Palm computers to golf carts attempting to get the competitive scoop on one another by trying to wheedle information out of Denise. No chance! She caught on in a heartbeat. It took a couple of months to pull together all the products and players into a fine review, but she made it happen — along with some really helpful assistance from Micheal Shawver of Revolve Design. If you missed it last month, you should definitely read the most comprehensive article on golf automation you’re likely to find anywhere.
Check it out at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199812/golf001.html.
.H1 Putting the Hot in HotSync: your guide to romantic literature and sexually oriented references for the PalmPilot
Every so often we get an article that just reminds us how much we enjoy being in the publishing business. This is one such article. Our PalmPower Book-of-the-Month Club editors, Craig Froehle and John Swain, have compiled a wonderfully entertaining (yet still tasteful) collection of sexually-related literature and resources available for download to your Palm organizer. From Fanny Hill and Lady Chatterly’s Lover to, well, The Cigar, this is an article that’s titillating, yet not offensive.
Froehle and Swain have turned out to be a really fine writing team. Each issue, their PalmPower Book of the Month Club column is interesting, well-written, and just a bit controversial. Just the way we like it.
Read all about it at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199811/bookmonth1198001.html.
.H1 The musical Palm computer
Amazing as it may seem, the Palm device is quite musical — and a friend to musicians, composers, and other musically inclined individuals. Hiding behind the mild-mannered persona of author David Pogue lurks the secret identity of an accomplished composer and conductor. Blending his two worlds (the world of the computer and the world of music), David introduces us to music on the Palm computer. And, surprisingly, there are some wonderful solutions, including a songwriter’s helper, an electronic metronome, a tool for determining pitch, some nice melody makers, and even a tool for budding guitar players. If you’re musically inclined, this is the ultimate article for you.
Sometimes it’s fun to get shocked. We had never thought of the Palm computer as even slightly musical. To find out that it can be a real friend to musicians was very exciting.
If you’re into music, you should definitely visit http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199809/music001.html.
.H1 Jeff Hawkins, creator of the Palm computer
It seemed fitting to kick off our Premiere Issue by having a candid conversation with Jeff Hawkins, the man who started Palm Computing (now part of 3Com) and created the Palm computer. Prior to my chat with Hawkins, 3Com PR personnel gave me some interesting background on Hawkins’ success: over a million Palm devices shipped in 18 months, a 66% market share, and the fastest growth of any computing product in history, faster than the TV and the VCR.
My interview with Jeff proved one of the high-points of producing PalmPower. He’s an interesting guy with some great insights into the handheld world. Of course, as we would soon see, his time at 3Com was to be limited.
You can read the first part of the interview at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199801/hawkins001.html.
You can read the second part of the interview at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199802/hawkinstwo001.html.
.H1 Exit Interview: Jeff Hawkins, inventor of the Palm computer
When we first spoke to Jeff Hawkins in January, 3Com had shipped just over a million Palm devices, and it was PalmPower’s premiere issue. Eight months later, in August, PalmPower had grown to more than 300,000 regular readers and 3Com has shipped nearly two million Palm devices. Then, apparently suddenly, Jeff Hawkins and Palm Computing general manager Donna Dubinsky left the company they founded to start a new business, now known as Handspring.
To learn more about these big changes, I spoke to Jeff on his first day of his new life, in this exclusive PalmPower Interview. Based on the interview, and subsequent tidbits gained from other press interactions, we believe that Handspring is working on a PalmOS device, possibly aimed at kids.
Read this major interview with Hawkins at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199808/hawkinterview001.html.
.H1 A more perfect Palm Desktop
Do you like the Palm Desktop application? Do you think it could be better? So did I. In this "trend-setting" article, I outlined PalmPower’s recommendations for a new and improved desktop design. It’s the Palm Desktop we all wish we had.
One of the reasons I like this article is that it was one of our first recommendation pieces, where we put our heads together and came up with good, useful ideas for the future of the Palm Computing platform. The other reason it was so interesting was because readers seemed to really resonate with the themes presented, as you’ll be able to see by reading the PowerBoard discussions connected to the article.
Read our recommendations and reader response at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199807/editorial798001.html.
.H1 Palm III flash, it’s a gas, gas, gas
The Palm III is the hottest new member of the Palm platform family — at least that’s currently shipping. Right out of the box, it’s got 2MB of onboard memory, double that of the PalmPilot Professional. But the Palm III also includes 2MB of flash memory, used to hold the operating system. In this article, Contributing Editor Claire Pieterek reviews a software product that allows you to gain access to an additional 800K of flash memory to hold applications. You can move up to almost 3MB for fifty bucks!
Although using the flash memory to store these applications is a huge hack (and many programs just don’t work with it), this article represented just what we like to bring you: articles that let you squeeze just the most juice possible out of your Palm device.
Start squeezing at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199806/flash001.html.
.H1 Voice dictation saves the day
April and May were rough months for me. A broken arm is never fun. Frankly, it sucked. But the show had to go on and writing had to be done. I was stubborn. I had work to do and really wanted to do it. So I got creative and figured out how to make voice dictation work with the Palm device. In my May column, I showed how a voice dictation program can be married with the Palm Desktop. The solution is amazingly cool. You dictate, and to do items show up in the Palm Desktop and are available on the Palm device at the next HotSync.
While there’s no question this was a real downer period for me, this article is one of my favorites because, again, we were able to present new and exciting ways to get the most out of the Palm computer. And, honestly, the extreme portability of the Palm device means I was able to survive my first week propped up on a couch and still had access to my To Do list and phone list.
Learn how to speak to your Palm organizer at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199805/editorial598001.html.
.H1 A guide to upgrading your organizer
3Com should be applauded for always allowing an upgrade path from earlier organizers to the very latest device — well, at least up until the Palm VII. Even if you own an original Pilot 1000, you can upgrade it all the way to Palm III functionality. In this helpful guide, Chris Brown explained all the various upgrade options available, including how to identify various upgrade boards by their markings. Eight months after he originally wrote it, this is still the must-read reference for any PalmPilot device owner.
Learn all about upgrading at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199805/upgrading001.html.
.H1 Using the Palm organizer to quit smoking
Want to be inspired? In this uplifting and informative article by Stu Slack, we were able to see inside an unusual and fascinating application of the Palm organizer: a stop-smoking study. Smokers in this study carry the Palm device at all times and regularly answer questions determined to help them stop smoking and help researchers understand smokers in a way never before possible.
Learn about it at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199804/collectiontwo001.html.
.H1 Palm III hardware, a detailed first look at the new design
The nice folks at A&R Partners, 3Com’s PR firm, gave me a call one afternoon. "We’re sending you two Palm III’s", our favorite PR rep whispered. And so began three days of absolute insanity. We tore the devices apart, wrote a comprehensive special report and got it online.
What was interesting was the buzz. We had stated in the PalmPower News Center that we were going to have "something special" at 9pm on the day A&R said we were allowed to go public. At exactly 9pm, we started seeing a huge surge in access to our server. Of course, we weren’t quite finished, it would take us until about 10:30pm. So we posted a note telling readers our "surprise" would be up at 10:30pm. Traffic dropped back down, until, again, exactly 10:30, when everything went through the roof.
In fact, this article and this announcement proved to be a watershed event for our internal systems. Although we’d beaten everyone to the punch, our servers were so busy that it became difficult for many people to get in. We needed to increase our bandwidth and we began a process where we’re constantly increasing bandwidth and upgrading infrastructure.
You can learn all about 3Com’s new Palm III hardware in this in-depth special report. We got to play with two of the very first Palm III device prototypes and were able to share with you the results of our extensive examination. This article also includes 13 exclusive, detailed photographs you won’t see anywhere else.
Read about the hardware at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199803/p3hard001.html.
We also did an in-depth special report about PalmOS 3.0 That article also includes 16 screen shots captured live off a brand new Palm III device so you can really see it up close and personal.
Read our first look at the PalmOS 3.0 software at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199803/p3soft001.html.
.H1 Keep your screen pristine
A reader wrote in telling us his screen had gotten quite a few scratches and asking for advice. It’s a common problem. PowerBoard Hostess and Contributing Editor Claire Pieterek compiled a list of useful suggestions for keeping your screen crystal clean. It seems like a simple topic, but this represents one of the most common questions we get from readers. It’s articles like this that remind us just how incredible a resource PalmPower has become.
Gain clarity by reading http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199803/pristine001.html.
.H1 Recovering lost Palm organizer data
It can happen to anyone. Data loss. Disaster. But it doesn’t have to ruin your day. Palm support guru Chris Brown shows you how you can recover from virtually any Palm computer data loss disaster. This is another one of our "down to brass tacks" articles. It’s important and as useful now as it was in February.
Check it out at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199802/recover001.html.
.BEGIN_KEEP
.H1 Brave new world or same old crap?
As technology users, we get jazzed by new hardware and software. So when PalmPower Managing Editor Denise Amrich got the new Brave Palm catalog from New World Technologies, she was ready to dig in and find some cool new goodies. Her enthusiasm lasted mere seconds, when it was replaced by a weary feeling of deja vu. The world of the Palm organizer had seemed so enlightened, so empowering. But there, on the cover of Brave Palm, was a minimally clad woman floating in the water, so pale, she almost looked like a drowning victim. Inside were other pictures, few showing women as capable professionals. The cheap tactic of using sex to sell had reached the Palm community. In this important article, Denise looked at where Brave went wrong and provides suggestions that will help companies learn how to get it right.
I think, of all the articles we’ve published in PalmPower, this is perhaps my favorite. When you publish a technical journal, you rarely get to do something that can really have an impact. This one did.
Read about it at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199809/brave001.html.
.END_KEEP
.H1 It’s a small world
Before we close, I’m going to take you inside an article I wrote for DominoPower, PalmPower’s sister publication. You might not expect social commentary in a technical magazine like DominoPower, but sometimes the real world asserts itself when you least expect it. After watching a woman who was most unfairly treated, late one night at Newark airport, we decided to dedicate the December issue of DominoPower to her. You might not be a Notes or Domino user, but you’re a human and a member of our society. As such, this will probably touch you as much as it touched us.
Join us at http://www.dominopower.com/issues/issue199812/editorial1298001.html.
.H1 Lots more
There’s lots more where those came from. Make sure you visit our back issues regularly at http://www.palmpower.com/backissues/backissues.html. You’ll find one of the most comprehensive resources of Palm device information anywhere.
Thanks to everyone for making PalmPower’s first year such a hit.
.BIO
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?13@@.ee6c7e1
