One of the movies I stumbled onto over the weekend was “Little Black Book” Not a huge fan of the whole “chick flick” genre, you might be wondering why I watched it. Although Brittany Murphy may have been the star of the film, what hooked me was all the references to Palm. As my tag cloud can attest, I’ve been a bit of a fan over the years. I will admit that my passion for the platform has definitely waned over the last five years, going so far as to tell them goodbye, but I couldn’t stop watching.

To some extent I was really doing nothing more than reliving the late heydays of Palm. I remember all the promotion that Palm put out on the film and how they felt that the Palm Tungsten C was one of the characters in the movie. Although that may be taking things a bit too far, it was definitely the star of the show in my eyes.

palmOne Press Release

In “Little Black Book,” Stacy Holt (Brittany Murphy), an associate producer for daytime talk show hostess Kippie Kann (Kathy Bates), is frustrated when her boyfriend Derek (Ron Livingston) refuses to discuss his past relationships. With the encouragement of co-worker Barb (Holly Hunter), she delves into his palmOne^™ handheld to learn about his ex-girlfriends. The digital footprints of past and present romances are kept on a Tungsten^™ C handheld from palmOne. This little black book, used for work and play, is the technology star of the film.

The movie itself was mediocre at best. If they had used a Blackberry instead of a Palm, I wouldn’t have lasted more than 10 minutes before changing the channel. But they didn’t. They used a Palm and they used it through the film here-and-there. One of the more memorable scenes for me was where they were displaying a Palm application via a projector up on the wall. The image was obscured by the actors and they never actually made reference to it, so I can only assume that it was used in an earlier scene that was deleted, but you could clearly see a few soft buttons and an outline of the user interface. It literally made me catch my breath.

As silly as it may sound, what dawned on me was just how much I used to be IN LOVE with Palm OS. There she was — Palm OS — right at her peak, still vibrant and full of potential, in a major Hollywood movie and she looked fantastic. The Commodore 64 may have been my first crush on technology, but the Palm Pilot was my first true love and seeing the actors make references to it and for her display to appear on screen just brought it all back.

It was like seeing photos of your first girlfriend and remembering how great it was back then. Today you’ve both grown older and gone your separate ways, but to recall that time in your lives when everything just clicked and it is so delightfully delicious to recall. At a commercial break, I closed my eyes to hold onto that memory as long as I could. It was like savoring a single bite of a desert long forgotten. You hold onto it with all your senses as it slowly dissolves away and then you swallow and there’s nothing left.

To drive the analogy into the ground, Palm has since let herself go and left me for someone new a few years ago. She’s now but a glimmer of her former self and I stopped calling because it was just to painful to see her like that. Of course she has a younger sister, the Palm Pré, which everyone is excited about, but that’s not the one you fell in love with.

Besides, I think to myself, I’ve moved on and I’m in a happy and committed relationship with my iPhone. Our relationship is stable and secure and even after two years, we’re still acting like we’re dating. There’s so much stuff to see and do that there simply isn’t enough time in the day.

But every so often, I hear a beep, or see a certain squarish oblong button and I’m instantly taken back to the days when technology was a little bit simpler and the world was still eagerly waiting to be conquered.

Palm has finally come clean and confirmed what has been widely suspected, that it will no longer develop any new traditional handheld PDAs. Word came straight from Palm CEO Ed Colligan during yesterdays conference call, but it bears mentioning again for posterity. The announcement was made practically off the cuff when asked by a financial analyst about the possibility of shutting down the handheld business.

I gave up on Palm OS a couple of years ago, but it still saddens me to see something that I was SO passionate about go out like this.

“Orange has confirmed that the Samsung smartphone running on the Access Linux Platform, originally planned for later this year, has been cancelled… The Samsung i800 was the first and only device announced that would have run the Access Linux Platform since the operating system’s release in early 2007.”

Let me make sure I have my facts straight.

1. 2002: Palm, Inc. decides to split into two companies , thus creating PalmSource which was the OS side of the Palm PDA. Later that year, PalmSource releases OS 5 aka Garnet.
2. 2004: PalmSource announces a new OS called Cobalt which, over time, no one licenses.
3. 2005: PalmSource is sold to Access who promptly drops Cobalt and instead announces their plans to release a Linux based OS called the ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP). Just rolls of the tongue doesn’t it?
4. 2007: ALP is “released” to licensees and developers.
5. 2008: [February] Samsung announces that they will release the i800 on the ALP platform for Orange (UK)
6. 2008: [July] Orange’s PR firm announces they’ve changed their mind

So if I carry my 1 and drop the sarcasm, then that would mean that it’s been six YEARS since there has been a major update to Palm OS. FFS! Even Microsoft got out an OS in less time than that.

Of course Palm, Inc., which used to be just the hardware side of things, bought up what they could from Access and has been going their own way with a Linux based OS called Palm OS II which they’re planning on releasing in 2009. I’m sure that OS will r0xors on the Treo’s circa 2003 design. By the time they get a new device out, it’ll be cool again because it’ll be retro!

I just have to hang my head in shame as I watch a product that I so dearly loved circle the drain like this.

They were most known for PalmPrint which allowed you to print directly from the Palm Pilot to a printer, but I used HandyRandy for nearly 11 years every time we pulled for door prizes at the local PUG meeting. So you can imagine my delight when I read that HandyRandy for iPhone is one of the three applications that they are releasing the day the App store launches.

They haven’t announced pricing yet, but rest assured HandyRandy is going to be the first app I buy on July 11^th. I’m so very happy!

Palm, maker of the Treo line of smartphones, is reportedly wooing potential takeover suitors. Motorola, Nokia, or a private equity firm are the frontrunners in a potential sale.

After reading that quote, my heart just fell out of my chest. I can’t take yet another change in the company. I can’t. There has been so much turmoil throughout their history and if there’s another change, I don’t think the platform can survive, much less my passion for it.

Mike Elgan writes about the roller coaster ride that has been Palm in his article The decline and fall of the Palm empire, but here’s my quick bullet run-through.

• Palm is a software company and fails with it’s first efforts, the Zoomer because it was designed by committee and the other partners just didn’t “get it”.
• Palm’s board directs the leadership to change from a software company to a hardware company.
• Jeff Hawkins designs a “connected organizer” that eventually becomes the Pilot 1000
• In order to bring the product to market, Palm, Inc. is sold to US Robotics
• US Robotics releases the Pilot 1000 and 5000 and changes the mobile industry forever. The PDA is proven to be a successful concept and Palm literally defines the space
• US Robotics is later sold to 3Com
• The founders of Palm are unhappy so they leave and form their own company Handspring.
• Handspring, as a licensee of Palm OS, inovates the space and comes up with a lot of cool products, including the Treo
• Palm, Inc. sets up PalmSource as a wholely owned subsidiary to develop and license Palm OS and then just spin them off
• Palmsource languishes as they try to find their way as a completely new company. Lots of in-fighting ensues between Palm, Inc. and PalmSource over who owns what, etc.
• Handspring is acquired by Palm, Inc. and Palm changes it’s name to pa1m0ne
• pa1m0ne revamps the Treo line with a new style with the Treo 600 and has great success with it
• NOTHING happens with Palm OS of any significance to end users for several years.
• Palm gives PalmSource 30 million dollars for the “Palm” name and changes it’s name back to Palm, Inc.
• On the same day PalmSource announces that it’s CEO will be stepping down the day before their developers conference – an utter crap move that takes the wind right out of everyone who supports the platform
• Roughly 6 months later PalmSource is sold to a Japanese company – Access and nothing continues to happen of any significance with Palm OS
• Palm, Inc., releases the Treo 700w, their first Windows Mobile device
• Almost one year since the release of the 700w, Palm gives Access (PalmSource) another 44 million for the source code for Palm OS 5 aka “Garnet”
• After 11 years since the original sale to US Robotics, Palm, Inc. is finally in full control of both their hardware and software

Palm is finally in control of their destiny again, why would they want to give it all away? For the first time in a long time, they have full control over the software and hardware and it gives them a unique opportunity to really do something special. And they need to do something special, but it’s been a long time since they’ve been the cool kid on the block and iPhone is stealing a lot of mindshare and hype that Palm dearly needs.

Granted, Palm has been very successful with the Treo line in the business market and I don’t think iPhone is going to make much of an impact there initially, but when every pundit and analyst is painting a picture that Palm is a has-been platform, Palm is in for some real trouble. Palm, Inc. IS the platform and there hasn’t been any real innovation from them in years.

PDA sales have lagged, Palm User Groups have all but disappeared, displays at brick and mortar stores are a joke and we haven’t seen a new PDA in over a year. The only thing we have seen is yet another iteration of the Treo 600 design which was released almost four years ago. Selling the company to a large manufacturer won’t save this company, it’ll kill it.

The only thing that will save the company is innovation. What Palm, Inc. needs is another hit like the Palm V. I know of stories of people walking a mile to be the first to buy one and it was the must-have device of CEOs everywhere. Palm hasn’t had the zeitgeist about their products like the Palm V since and it’s high time they find a way to get that kind of fervor back. Just hire IDEO and have them design another home run.

Oh, but wait, development cycles are around 2 years. So if they start right now, it’ll be 2009 before we see something. CRAP!

If Palm doesn’t have a device in the works and they instead sell out, then I think that will be the final nail in the coffin – if not for Palm OS itself, then at least my overwhelming zeal.

Salvation?
Then just as my faith has been crushed for the hundredth time, and I seriously consider dropping all my volunteer Palm OS project, I come across this article at PalmInfoCenter.com.

We’re going to be announcing something… but I won’t tell you what it is… we will be launching this year, not in the distant future. I’ll give you a much bigger hint: I’m going to be speaking at Walt Mossberg’s D Conference in May. It’s a high-end industry conference. Anyway, I’m going to be giving a talk there, and that would be something for the Palm fans to keep a close watch on.

Could this be the innovation that Palm needs to show that it’s more than just a mobile phone manufacturer?

Could this be the mobile device that raises Palm from the ashes of the past few years and places them back on the top of the mobile computing space where they rightfully belong?

Could this be the device that rekindles the flames of passions for all the millions of Palm OS users around the world?

Only time will tell.

ARGH! PALM, YOU’RE KILLING ME!

The archive of the interview I did with Michael Mace for the Computer Outlook Radio Show has been posted at this link. I have to say that not only was it an honor to interview Mr. Mace again, it was also one of the best shows we’ve ever done. Really good stuff!

If you’d like to see the show notes for this show, you can find them at this link.

"Getting Things Done" by David Allen

There’s an old Louisiana saying, ‘When you’re up to your ass in alligators is when you remember you were supposed to drain the swamp.’ 2002 was my year of the alligator and luckily Tony Ching of the San Francisco Palm Users Group recommended this book to me. What struck me by his recommendation was not the level of excitement he had about the book (like my excitement over The E-Myth Revisited), but rather the Zen like calm he had when discussing it.

David Allen is president of David Allen & Co. and has more than twenty years’ experience as a management consultant, executive coach, and educator. He has been a keynote speaker and productivity facilitator for organizations such as Oracle, L. L. Bean, Microsoft, Lockheed, and the World Bank.His work has been featured in Fast Company, Fortune, and many other publications. With a background like that I was really expecting a dry and very business like book. However, in the first chapter he referrs to “flow,” and to reach a state where your mental state is a “mind like water,” I knew that this was going to be a different kind of book.

That is not to say that just because you throw in a few Eastern philosophies you have a good book. Obviously, you have to have real-world solutions and not just another collection of buzz words and this book delivers. The premise of the book is that you have to have a system that works irregardless of what technology you use. In other words, a new piece of software, or a new type of binder isn’t going to do it. You need a fool-proof system that can adapt as you need to.

At this point, I should probably point out that for many years, I was a HUGE fan of the FranklinCovey system of planning. I was a point in my life where I had a lot of new responsibility and I needed a system to help me manage it. The Franklin planner, as it was called back then, was the solution for me. As I progressed through various careers, I always brought the Franklin method with me and then proceeded to convert everyone around me . At some point, however, I can to realize that the system didn’t work for me. Although I used the system, I never did complete to “Values and Goals” section, or the “Roles and Goals” portion of the planner. And after I got my PalmPilot 5000 the system didn’t translate into an electronic format very well at all.

Why am I telling you all this, well because on page 7 he basically dismisses the Franklin Method (among others) in a section entitled “The Old Models and Habits Are Insufficient”

“Neither our standard education, nor traditional time-management models, nor the plethora of organizing tools available, such as personal notebook planners, Microsoft Outlook, or Palm personal digital assistants (PDAs), has given us a viable means of meeting the new demands placed on us. If you’ve tried to use any off these processes or tools, you’ve probably found them unable to accommodate the speed, complexity, and changing priority factors inherent in what you are doing. The ability to be successful, relaxed, and in control during these fertile but turbulent times demands new ways of thinking and working. There is a great need for new methods, technologies, and work habits to help us get on top of our world.”

Amen my brother!

But I think what I was most taken with in this book was the fact that Mr. Allen has 20 years of real world experience backing him up. Many books that I’ve read on this subject talk about philosophies or what not, but really don’t show how their ideas take shape in your daily life. For example, I find that e-mail is sometimes an overwhelming responsibility. Most books never address it, or if they do it’s under the assumption that you’re only receiving a few a day. I wade through approximately 150 e-mails a day, so you can imagine my joy when David Allen discussed a method for managing e-mail and backed it up with an example of a client from Lotus who daily received over 300 e-mails a day. This guy knows what he’s talking about.

Lastly, this book has a big following. David Allen uses a Palm OS device and he’s provided many useful resources on his web site. He offers a free newsletter as well as Tips and Tricks, including “E-mail – how to organize it” in PDF Format. In addition, there are several yahoo groups on the subject:

- GTdone
- GTDNews
- GTD_PPC – for PocketPC Users
- GtD_Palm – for Palm OS Users

So, is it working? Well, I’d have to say “yes.” I’m not a Zen master yet, but my productivity has increased a great deal and yet my stress level is lower than ever.

My Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

Where To Buy:
Amazon.com [link] Barnes & Noble [link] ]]> http://mashby.com/2003/03/getting-things-done-the-art-of-stress-free-productivity-by-david-allen/feed/ 0