When Palm Pilots first came out, I didn’t get it. I had my trusty day planner that I carried everywhere. It wasn’t until my second job out of college that my suprvisor decided everyone on his team needed Handspring Visors. Handspring was founded by the folks who invented the first Palm Pilot, The Visor was The Hotness of the late-90’s, and I fell in love with it. My co-workers and I beamed our cards to one another, played Dope Wars & IR Battleship and tried writing our own little Palm apps for work. It was awesome, and since that first PDA, I haven’t gone without one.

My fifth PDA is a Treo 650 smartphone (made around 2004). Again when these first came out, I didn’t get it. They were bulky and I already had a Palm device. Eventually, I realized I wanted to have my palm and cell phone with me everywhere I went, so I got the Treo. Once again, I love it, but here’s what sets it apart from my old Visor:

• It’s a phone (duh)
• Bluetooth
• Color screen
• More memory
• (Crappy) Camera
• Expandable memory (SD Card)

In 5 years, Palm was able to add these functionalities to their product. Believe me when I say, I am not impressed.

Don’t get me wrong, my Treo is the best phone I’ve owned. It does everything I need it to. Problem is my wants are, well wanting. Why won’t Palm take a look around at its competition and at least make a half-assed attempt at keeping up!? Heaven forbid they stay ahead of everyone else! If they came out with something new… really new, not just warmed over and repackaged; I would jump all over it. And I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be alone because, like many, I want a real smartphone. I don’t want an iPhone (yet), I don’t want a Windows Anything device, and I’m not too warm on Symbian – the OS Nokia uses in its smartphones. That unfortunately leaves Palm – at least, until Apple decides to make the iPhone a fully capable smartphone.

Come on Palm, read what Engadget has written in the link below. Take it to heart because they’re 100% correct, and you know it. Trust me, lots of Palm fans are anxiously waiting for something new out of you guys. I guarantee none of them are loyal to Windows Mobile 6, and I have a feeling many could be swayed away from the iPhone’s seductive charms by a solid, capable and up-to-date *smart*phone. We keep hoping the innovation that brought us the first Palm Pilots and the original Treo will return.

Dear Palm: It’s time for an intervention – Engadget

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Tags: palm, treo, engadget