.KEYWORD pplte0601
.FLYINGHEAD LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
.TITLE The HandEra 330, mobile channels, and the MyPalm portal
.DEPT
.SUMMARY As we sift through the PalmPower mail bag this month, we find two letters arguing against certain criticisms made in the May issue about the HandEra 330. A PalmPower mobile channel reader is disappointed when one article gets cut short, and another reader wonders how he can display his Date Book calendar on the Web for others to see.
.EDNOTE As we sift through the PalmPower mail bag this month, we find two letters arguing against certain criticisms made last issue about the HandEra 330. A PalmPower mobile channel reader is disappointed when one article gets cut short, and another reader wonders how he can display his Date Book calendar on the Web for others to see.
.H1 Praise for the HandEra 330 form factor
The following two letters were written in response to the article, "HandEra 330 brings innovations to the Palm OS," by Steve Niles in the May 2001 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200105/handera001.html.
I liked your preview article, but I disagree about the form factor. The Palm III form factor is a huge advantage for an existing Palm III owner, since it’s compatible with the accessories I already own. It’s also a big advantage for a new buyer, with a wide range of Palm III series compatible accessories already available.
Most other new Palm devices would require me to buy a new modem, new keyboard, new case, etc. That’s at least a $200 penalty for switching away from my Palm IIIxe, aside from the device itself.
I also think your concern about the "dated" styling is misplaced. I understand this focus on fashion is normal, as the Palm market expands, but I don’t think HandEra is going for that end of the market. This is not a device for the "average, non-techie consumer." It’s for advanced users who want all the cool features and aren’t really driven by fashion.
I’m looking forward to your full review. I didn’t think I’d replace my Palm IIIxe so soon, but the HandEra 330 might just convince me. I’m especially interested in how well existing applications (like MultiMail) work with the new screen.
Michael Graff
.H1 HandEra’s focus
Enjoyed your review of the HandEra 330. I also agree wholeheartedly with your opinion of the front casing… It’s not the prettiest; wish it was all black.
Anyway, HandEra has stated that they’re not marketing the 330 primarily at the consumer market, but rather mainly to professionals who need/desire access to large amounts of data in the Palm handheld form-factor.
They also, to their credit, paid close attention to the gripes of Palm OS device users about various usability factors, hence most of the design decisions that they made. And the decision to stick with the serial port was made on the basis of business and professional users wanting to maintain compatibility with their existing stack of Palm III peripherals, not to mention that most businesses aren’t rushing out to buy new blazing-fast gigahertz PCs with USB; they’re sticking to their one to two year-old desktops with serial ports.
Your review seemed to be geared towards the average consumer, who’ll hopefully enjoy the HandEra 330 just as much, but HandEra’s looking at the business market more.
I’d prefer that the review explained that, but you’re the writer, not me. Anywho, other than that, keep up the good work.
Regards,
John Talbot
Not affiliated with HandEra in any way, at least until I can buy one!
.H2 Staff Editor Steve Niles responds
Thanks for your letter. It’s true that TRGpro has long been geared towards business users, and the company intends to continue appealing to that market under the HandEra name. However, we recently met with the CEO of HandEra, and the impression he gave was that with the change in name also comes a slight change in focus. The company wants to branch out and straddle both the business and consumer markets in order to become more than just a niche player. That’s what inspired me to make the comments about the device’s consumer appeal. You’re right, though, I could have more clearly explained that in the article.
.H1 Exceeding the limits
This letter was written in response to an item posted on the PalmPower news page stating, "There have been a few reported problems with this month’s virus feature, including an inability to EasyPrint and exceeding the maximums for AvantGo. We’ve fixed the EasyPrint problem, so go ahead and print, but we can’t do much about the AvantGo issue, other than suggest you read the article online. This is a HUGE article and we’ve apparently exceeded AvantGo’s settings."
I read your comment in the "Latest News" section of the PalmPower AvantGo channel. I think that you are doing your readers a disservice to tell them they’re just plain out-of-luck since AvantGo cannot display the page due to the size. Since this information was retrieved through a Palm OS optimized ("Mobile Edition") page, I think it is in your best interest (being a site for Palm handheld users) to make this information available to users through the Mobile Edition using the most popular off-line browser for Palm handhelds.
I can’t see way you could not simply break the article up into two parts, both accessible from the Contents page, so that readers can read both parts separately. I realize I don’t have technical information on how your articles are displayed (you could be pulling them from a database and so splitting them up would cause the regular online version to display in multiple parts as well), but I think you owe the readers a better explanation than to say "we’ve apparently exceeded AvantGo’s settings."
I think you have a great online magazine, and I look forward to a new issue every month, but I think you should make sure your Mobile Edition articles can be viewed using AvantGo!
Thanks,
Michael Heintz
.H2 Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz responds
Thanks for your letter, Michael. To answer your question, it’s a mere matter of programming. There are literally thousands of individual routines that go into the patent-pending ZENPRESS software that generates the publication. Given that this is the first time such an occurrence happened, and given just how large a project it is to modify the underlying content management software, we can’t fix it this go-round.
We’ve been hearing a lot about how companies have been tanking. Sometimes part of the reason is that their management isn’t willing to be ruthless about prioritization. We are. We’re a small company with very limited manpower.
At ZATZ, every time we make an investment in a project, it’s got to be one we consider carefully. I admit it’s a bummer that the Virus article can’t be read on AvantGo, but it can be read elsewhere. So,unfortunately, we have a choice: do we devote two to three weeks modifying the software to fix it (and yes, it’s that big a project), or do we do other projects (like preparing the next issue of the magazine)?
There’s a business concept called "opportunity cost," and, frankly, the opportunity cost on this particular fix would be too high. However, the next time we are working on that part of the code we’ll work on finding a solution.
.H1 What about MyPalm?
I’m building a Web site and would like to use the calendar program on my Palm IIIxe as a read only Web page for multi-user reference.
Ideally, the contents could be downloaded and synchronized with user’s Palm handhelds.
Does anybody know if/how this can be done? This would have many applications for organizations and would encourage more Palm handheld purchases. Thank you.
George Bevan
.H2 Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz responds
I think you’re in luck. Go to http://www.palm.com/solutions/jump/mypalm_info4.html and learn more about the MyPalm portal. It’s the AnyDay.com product, renamed and updated after it was acquired by Palm.
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.H1 Product availability and resources
For the article, "HandEra 330 brings innovations to the Palm OS," by Steve Niles in the May 2001 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200105/handera001.html.
For more information on HandEra, visit http://www.handera.com.
For more information on the MyPalm portal, visit http://www.palm.com/solutions/jump/mypalm_info4.html.
For more information about Palm computers, visit http://www.palm.com.
.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
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.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@@.ee6f52e
