January 8, 2001
Untitled
It’s the Simplicity, Stupid
Palm CEO Carl Yankowski claims that PDAs, specifically his own pocket-sized interest, will shape the future direction of personal computers because of their simplicity. I don’t doubt that handheld devices like the Palm and the Visor, are popular because their are reasonably simple to use and obviously more portable than a laptop or a desktop computer. Heck, you can probably still squeeze out a couple more months of perceived cool geek factor by whipping your Palm out at a party or in line at the local latte outlet. But being simple doesn’t necessarily mean being better, or more prone to ubiquity. The thing that really gums up my intake is the fact that most digital devices that are supposed to be simple, are in fact stupid as well. The Palm in particular. Sure, making secure payments via your Palm using some sort of eWallet software, logging each of your transactions, and then synchronizing the whole shebang with your Quicken data once you get home sounds like a wonderful, simplified world indeed. Unless your battery dies. How many people out there have lost data when the battery drained dry in your pocket. Does this sound like a device that you’d want to trust with your financial and personal data? It may sound convenient, but you had better keep your other wallet as a backup.
This item was posted by .
Categories:
Leave a comment or send a trackback from your own site.