Thank you very very much for this link. I've sort of been waiting, but it's good to have a final word. "High profit margin" indeed - I can't believe they didn't drop the price in three years.
The question now is what do I buy. I want something the size of a Palm V, and has WiFi. I would very much prefer that it runs Palm Apps, and a GPS would be great, music would be nice too. I don't need a phone. Battery should last at least a week with the device off, I don't want something I have to recharge every day. (I understand that if I use WiFi a lot I'd need to, that's fine.)
Are there any PalmOS based devices? (Or maybe linux ones?) I really don't want the Windows based ones, even though I see some that would otherwise be good.
The G1 looks cool - but pricey. And every single device I look at has a phone. Am I the only person on the planet who doesn't need a cell phone?
Have you considered the iPod Touch? It's a significantly thinner iPhone, minus the phone and camera.
Not sure on battery life (my iPhone survives for at least four days if unused), it has no GPS, and is missing common PDA niceties like an SD card slot. But it is a modern platform with people making PDA-esque apps.
StyleTap license GarnetOS (aka PalmOS) and make an emulator for Windows Mobile. They claim to have an iPhone version in the works, but there's no recent news and I could see them having big problems with App Store approval. The GarnetOS folks also have a virtual Palm for the Nokia internet tablets in the works: http://www.access-company.com/products/gvm/
We've glanced at Apple. From what I can tell, there's no IrDA (a near dealbreaker for use) and no Bluetooth SPP (serial port profile) support. Not sure--maybe there's a serial port on the dock connector? And I don't see any easy way to add 'em, as the I/O is pretty pathetic. Without a way to comm with our embedded hardware, it's not an option.
I guess we'll run the Palm Z22 until we can't get 'em, then buy or build something else.
What's odd is that Palm is essentially leaving quite a few good customers behind (that is, companies that develop software for the T|X and use it for a specific taks--yes the PDA is mostly dead as personal device). Say what you will about the T|X, but for many applications, it is perfect: it is mobile, software can "take over" the device, turning it into a single purpose machine, and it's unlikely to find its way into a user's pocket at the end of us (who wants a T|X?).
My employer is one who is being left behind, and we've had to move to Windows to find a replacement. Smart phones are tempting, but we know that many won't make it back at the end of their use.
