Only the Beginning...

In the late 1990's, U.S. Robotics, then a consumer products giant, revealed an electronic device called the Palm Pilot. It was clearly not the first of its kind, but certainly the most well known. To some, it was the future of mobile computing; to others it was an over-priced toy. Only time would tell that the Palm Pilot would sprout and lead the way of the future. Even the likes of Gene Roddenberry would approve of it. Just over a decade ago we were happy with some 512 kilobytes of memory to store phone numbers and business addresses. Today, we expect to have at least 256 megabytes of program storage, and wireless communication radios no less.

Recently Palm has been idling quietly and every so often releasing a new device or two to satiate the market's extremely stressing demands to stay alive. However, these devices are not as breakthrough, or innovative, as Palm's - then U.S. Robotics - devices once were. In fact, people are finding Palm's newest devices lacking certain features that are considered quasi-standard in handhelds. For example, the Treo smartphones notoriously lack built-in WiFi (wireless internet connectivity) and the PalmOS based models have rather poor usage of storage memory leading to overall slow device performance (i.e. long loading times between switching applications). And in this day of modern technology, lacking features the market wants and expects usually spells certain doom - not always, but usually. Strangely, Palm is one of those few exceptions where their lack of inclusion or innovation has not killed them off, yet. Even so, this has brought Palm's head precariously close to the chopping block. With innovations and steady developments coming from other companies – more recently the iPhone from Apple and the plethora of devices from the behemoth HTC - Palm has long lost its greater share of the market.

To fight back against their doom and gloom that everybody discussed, Palm announced that they would be coming out with a new operating system platform, one that would save Palm’s hide. This sparked lots of debate, both positive and negative, about the future of Palm. Palm was coming back with a hit! Palm was possibly looking to let end user and developers customize the operating system at last! But no, Palm would never be that open ended with their products. Palm was going come back and possibly re-revolutionize the mobile computing world! Despite all the commotion, it seemed that Palm would come back on top.

The ACCESS Linux Platform – or ALP. It would be built from the ground up with the Linux kernel at the root. Would it be customizable by the end user and developers alike? Would it finally be the handheld operating system that people are looking for? Would it be the Saving Grace for Palm?

To this day, we - "we" being the consumers and developers - still will not know.

It has been well over a year since ACCESS/Palm announced the ALP, and still we have only seen a few screenshots that only show what the interface could have looked like. But that was also over a year ago - and in that time companies have risen and fallen in the mobile device industry. Rumour has it that the RAZR-making giant Motorola might wave the white flag.

However, during that same time, Palm had revived their name with the Palm Centro, a consumer friendly smartphone that anybody could pick up and use: it wasn't too sophisticated that only gadget freaks could only use, but it is far from being a basic cellular phone. In fact, it can be safely deemed a success, helping Palm gain about a healthy percentage of market share with introduction of said device alone.

Even more recently there have been news milling about regarding the Treo 800w. Based on the old rumours and even the product manual, the new Treo would finally include all the features that the mobile market so highly demands. But isn't it a little…late? is certainly the question many have and will ask. It would certainly seem like this Treo is one of those "maintainence" updates Palm releases. It's almost like Palm releases these devices to remind people that the company still exists.

Personally, I am not asking or looking for Palm to start killing the competition with breakthough technology. Heck, I don’t want my phone to pay my bills and rent my movies for me. It’s a little creepy if you ask me. I’m not asking for much. I am just hoping Palm will throw in the towel - not in defeat though.

Anything but defeat.

In the 1980s, Apple Computers made the world an offer it just couldn’t refuse: a pocket sized computer. The Apple “Newton” (formerly known as the Apple MessagePad) would be the next generation of computers. Alas, the world didn’t think much of it and the Newton didn’t catch on.

Over a decade later, U.S. Robotics made the world the exact same offer, only it seemed that the hands they were dealt and stakes they made were different. Yes, mobile computing was beyond the inevitable ever since a $10 (plus tax) scientific calculator had more computing power than the first room-sized UNIVAC computers. But U.S. Robotics re-introduced that possibility, and eventually the legacy. Undoubtedly another group of minds would have brought about handheld-sized computing eventually, but it was still U.S. Robotics who took the daring initiative. And it would be a few years before others began to follow - and eventually with definitively superior devices.

If you've read this far, you've already asked yourself why I've written this editorial, my rant if you prefer. Well, the truth is because people don't give U.S. Robotics and Palm the respect they deserve. (The "Thank You" award rightly goes to Apple for the Newton, but the kudos goes to U.S. Robotics for breathing life into it). As a matter of fact, I'm punching this away on my Treo 700p, after having heard an opinion during my daily commute. It wasn't just a simple opinion, but rather an uneducated one. To paraphrase, the individual crudely stated that Palm devices are, and were, extremely inferior products that only less wealthy individuals buy, and more or less cheap knock-off products of current devices in the market (talk about sugar coating things). And the person certainly didn't refrain from using explitive words either.

For years Palm rode on the top of the mobile world with the revolutionary Palm Pilot Profressional. The pixilated and green-hued LCD screen will not be forgotten by many, and will be noted in history by many more. It made Mr. Spock's shoulder-carried tricorder look like a G.I. Joe lunchbox. And yet, so many people don't understand that despite extraordinary technology advancements, everything must start from somewhere. Whether it's an apple or an ameoba, even we as humans had a simple beginning.

And this is what causes so many people to unjustifiably create opinions about Palm these days. Yes Palm's devices lack features that could make the devices amazing. And yes the Treos in the market all look mysteriously similar and clearly lack physical diversity. But it's their predecessors that made the mobile world. If it were not for a measily 512 kilobytes of phone numbers and mail addresses, Blackberrys would still be only found in markets and pies.

So forget about your new 3G iPhone and try to think about an alternate - and realistic - future that would have spawned from a generation without the first Palm Pilot, without the Newton, and even without the first vaccuum tube UNIVAC computer. Who knows what kind of “Personal Digital Assistants” we would be using right now. Even then, would we be using converged devices at all, if we even had handheld computers if at all? Don't you think Palm deserves some respect? Nobody expects you to bring a shaved goat to the altar to pay sacrificial homage to them, but at least be able to have a little respect for them.

So from one geek to another: Thanks for making our world a little smaller, and little nerdier. From my first hand-me-down Palm Pilot IIIxe to my current Treo, it was love at first byte.

Here's to an incredible and extraordinary history, and to a brighter and geekier future.