PalmPower Editors’ Choice Awards – Cool Tools 1998

When we started the planning process for the PalmPower Editors' Choice Awards, we envisioned only giving out a few awards. It seemed -- initially -- obvious. Products like AvantGo and the GoType! keyboard (and our other Product of the Year winners) were world-beaters. They fundamentally changed how you'd use your Palm computer. We'd give the award to four or five products, we'd have done a nice feature, and then we'd move on.

But when we started the actual selection process, we began to think more deeply about what products deserved Editors' Choice Awards. And we realized that there were some incredibly wonderful products that didn't transform the overall operation of the Palm device, but rather, smoothed out the rough edges, made it more effective, made it more fundamentally capable, and made it more fun.

These weren't necessarily the earth-shakers, but rather the products you use every day, almost without noticing they're there. Software like TealPaint, HackMaster, ListMaker, and the like. These so subtly -- but so wonderfully -- extend the Palm computer experience that life without them doesn't seem worthwhile. And then, there were the goodies. What about the cool games, like UBoat and ShadowThief, that make it possible to sit waiting for a plane without losing your mind? These too were deserving of recognition. And finally, there were the funky, interesting products. Those products that were sufficiently "out there" that we just had to give them awards for their innovation.

And so, we extended the PalmPower Editors' Choice Awards and added two completely new topic areas "Cool Tools" and "Fun Gadgets".

It was tough choosing these products. As in all award nominations, there's bound to be someone left out. Each candidate product came into the running in one (or more) of three ways: it was self-nominated, it was nominated by our readers, or it was something our editors found and considered worthy. Once nominated, the products were carefully evaluated. Then, once the winners were chosen, they were divided up into categories. You should note that the winners in each category carry equal weight. Just because a product isn't listed first in the category doesn't mean it's not as fine a product as the others.

These are fine products. Table A, below, provides a short summary of the winners and categories. Be sure to check out the Product Availability section, at the end of the article, for contact information and Web URLs.