.KEYWORD pplte0599
.FLYINGHEAD LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
.TITLE Love, hate, our best intentions, and some extensions
.DEPT
.SUMMARY Here at PalmPower, we do groove on controversy. In this installment of our semi-regular Letters to the Editor series, we reprint two letters on opposite sides of the fence. One fellow loves our refreshing analysis while another asks us about "bending over". What fun! We also include another entertainingly cranky letter from a reader who wants us to improve the magazine and a special tidbit from Jeff Carlson about Macintosh extensions that you should definitely read if you’re a Macintosh user.
.EDNOTE Here at PalmPower, we do groove on controversy. In this installment of our semi-regular Letters to the Editor series, we reprint two letters on opposite sides of the fence. One fellow loves our refreshing analysis while another asks us about "bending over". What fun! We also include another entertainingly cranky letter from a reader who wants us to improve the magazine and a special tidbit from Jeff Carlson about Macintosh extensions that you should definitely read if you’re a Macintosh user.
.H1 Excellent analysis
As product manager for the Symbol SPT 1500 (a Palm Computing Platform based device), your review ["Comparing Windows CE with Palm OS" in the March issue] was a refreshing read and I’ll pass it along to others in the organization.
Regards,
Chris Ciervo
.H1 Angry young palm
In March, ZATZ:Pure Internet Publishing, the company that publishes PalmPower, launched a new and completely separate publication called Windows CE Power Magazine. While most PalmPower readers didn’t seem all that concerned one way or the other, this fellow was certainly somewhat cranky about the whole thing. Shame he won’t get to see his letter in lights.
I’m just writing to let you know that I am unsubscribing from your PalmPower list. Obviously, I could have just done it and not sent in any comments, but I felt it reasonable to write a short note.
SO [sic] you want to write a magazine about Windows CE… OK fine. If there’s a market for a magazine and you want to spend your time covering a crappy piece of over hyped and over bloated software, that’s your business (literally, its how you guys make money). However, to also announce that PalmPower is now going to be about Windows CE as well?
How far are you guys going to bend over for this? Are advertising rev’s really worth it?
Well, I’m not bending over. Enjoy your new relationship with Microsoft, I hope they buy you flowers.
David Dickens
Academic Computing Support Manager
Pepperdine School of Law Library
.H2 Editor-in-chief David Gewirtz responds
PalmPower is absolutely not about Windows CE. Period. We may, when appropriate, cover some limited information about Windows CE (like how the PalmOS differs from CE) but, other than that, PalmPower is 100% about the Palm device. Always has been. Always will be. Ok, and of course anyone is always welcome to send me cookies. I like home-made melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin (with just a few raisins for flavor). Flowers aren’t really my style.
.H1 Why no AvantGo?
The following letter is in response to an article, "Optimizing Web pages for handheld devices" in February’s PalmPower, written by Marty Kacin, Director of Professional Services at AvantGo.
To Marty Kacin (or anyone who’ll listen):
I agree with your assessments that AvantGo provides a decent "off-line browsing" tool for the Palm device.
Here’s a terrific irony for you though: of all the many, many resource available as "AvantGo" channels, I find the ones that are specifically devoted to Palm device news and information are the absolute WORST!
Obviously, no one there has ever tried to actually USE AvantGo to read "PalmPower Magazine" on a Palm device! It’s a complete joke! Text bleeds off the "page." Links either go nowhere (even with the default retrieval settings) or links repeat themselves in unending "link loops" that I still can’t figure out. All I know is, I either see the same page over and over, or I see no page at all.
This has to be the funniest, most ironic thing I’ve encountered in quite some time. What gives? I mean, if USA Today can have an absolutely FLAWLESS AvantGo channel, why can’t PalmPower Magazine???
Concerned,
Paul Banks
Executive Editor and Director, Editorial Edge
.H2 David Gewirtz responds
Wow, Paul. Chill out a bit. The difference between USA Today and PalmPower is the number of people on their staff. We have four people and me. Creating an AvantGo channel is on our list of things to do, but there are many things on our list to do and just so many hours in the day. Given that we need at least two hours of sleep a night, some things just don’t happen right away.
What you’re reading now on AvantGo is an unauthorized AvantGo channel created by an enthusiastic reader. We don’t mind that it’s there (we love enthusiasm in all its forms), but I also can’t really comment on how that person decided to generate our content. Rest assured that when we do it, it’ll be as near flawless as the gods allow.
Stay tuned. It’s on our list.
.H2 Paul Banks’ reply
Thanks for your reply. I think the tone of my previous message sounds a lot pissier than it was intended. It’s not really that big a deal either way. My point was/is that it’s just ironic that the worst AvantGo "pages" of all are the ones that have content specifically (and only) related to the Palm device. That’s all — just an observation. However, based on your response and the fact that it seems to take almost forever for ANY AvantGo Channel to update during HotSync, it sounds like there’s LOTS and LOTS of room for someone to give AvantGo a run for their money! I mean, WHY should it be THAT big a deal? It appears to me like it that’s the real mistake. It seems that leaves the door wide open for a competitor to AvantGo
