Thread: Maemo Advocacy
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Posts: 631 | Thanked: 1,123 times | Joined on Sep 2005 @ Helsinki
#201
Originally Posted by fpp View Post
But this is just the infrastructure, the foundation. Something users take for granted, however hard it may have been to create. They also mostly take for granted that any pocketable, computer-like device will carry PIM software, and no amount of repeating the "it's not a PDA" mantra will change that.

Ever since the 1990's, pocketable devices like the Psions and Palms and others have had PIM software.

Heck, Psion in 1997 with the Series5 was also "creating a new category of products for the mainstream public and doing it in a pioneering way". They wrote their own 32-bit OS, EPOC32 (which later became Symbian). And they did it alone. And it could edit Word docs and Excel sheets and had an agenda that could sync with Outlook. And yes, it also had a browser and email software :-)

Sharp did the same with Linux some years ago on the Zaurus line, so it's not like it's out of reach.

From the outside it certainly seems like the right nudge at the right time from Nokia could have turned either of these projects from prototype hacks to usable tools for the end user - especially the stupid one who doesn't understand that he *doesn't* need PIM software :-)
There are many sides to this issue, naturally. Resources are never infinite. Suppose you want to create a new type of device. Do you start the work by providing new features (great browsing) or existing features... Then again, most people that use PIM already have their PIM devices and PIM ecosystem ready. Implementing PIM functionality properly definitely is not a trivial issue.

However, If I can play the devil's advocate here, the _one_ question I would really like to ask from you is:

If PIM is really such a great feature, then why didn't Psions or Sharp Zauruses or any number of PDA devices in the last 10 or so years, any of those that provided the features you were talking about, then become wildly successful?