PDAs

A while ago on their podcast, the editors of Engadget wondered why Palm was still using the same form factor for the Treo that they’ve always been using, and why haven’t they created a thinner one?

They even wondered if Palm continues to do so because Palm believes that the current Treo form factor is what Treo users want. In the end, it only made me wonder what Palm still has left in its Treo line at all. I have to believe that a part of the answer is that Palm doesn’t have much choice in the matter, and has to continue the Treo form factor.

The story of Palm in these later days of the company is a sad one, considering how much lead they have lost since they dominated the PDA market in the mid-90s. But not much has changed in the appeal of devices since then — the user experience of the PDA was what made a PalmOS device win out over most Pocket PCs. Palm never won on hardware capabilities or vendor selection, but they did win on simplicity and relatively bullet-proof synchronization.

The release of a Windows Mobile version of the Treo phone was a necessary evil. PalmOS development had slowed to crawl for reasons too numerous to mention. Simple grew into incapable, and to keep business users, capabilites had be brought in from outside. With Windows Mobile, Palm gave up an aspect of their user experience legacy — how users actually access and use the features of their device — to a product that is entirely out of their control, and often works against the device itself because of its inherent peculiarities. This concession to businesses was a loss to Palm’s ability to redefine itself or create clearer market distinctions for itself in the way consumer leaders like TiVo and Apple do with their custom operating systems and software solutions.

Today, Palm no longer owns the PalmOS (a different company does now) and the Treo runs the Windows Mobile software of its former enemies. So what is the Treo about these days? Unless you buy a PalmOS model, where the core of the software itself hasn’t been updated in many, many years, you’re not getting anything severely different.

Ultimately, the Treo’s strength is the Treo brand itself and the promise of easier and friendlier — just as the company spent a ton of money to buy the Palm name back and drop their old(new?) palmOne moniker. The form factor is a magnet, not just for shoppers, but for people “in the wild.” It can be spotted on the street, or across a crowded train car. Like the name, it is a brand for Palm to leverage. In a way, they are now the AT&T of smartphones — a well-recognized, solid choice, but not the best in any particular category.

Sadly, a company that once led in hardware and software is now leading primarily in marketing only — which is why the long time fans still long for cutting-edge hardware, or a new design, or the return of a new, custom operating system. I certainly do.