PDA Mill is Done…With Palm

Posted on 20 February 2007 by


Wow, there seems to be a theme of “quitting” today. Don’t bad things usually occur in threes? I guess I’ll be watching for the subject of the third “_________ is Done” post…

So anyway, I first saw a blurb about this on Palm Addicts, and I had to go check it out for myself…

According to PDA Mill:

February 16, 2007
Palm OS Products Discontinued, New Platforms on the Horizon

Unfortunately, due to some of our Palm OS products literally working on a device by device basis and recent developments with the Palm OS platform itself, PDAmill is officially discontinuing all of our products for the Palm OS platform.

If you have purchased one of our Palm titles in the past, you can still access your purchase from the vendor you bought it from.
Alternatively, if you have a my.pdamill.com account, you shall find it in your products section.

If you have any further questions, please contact us.

On the bright side, we are now concentrating our focus to current and future technologies, including (but not limited to!):

Windows Mobile (including support for Windows Mobile 6)

BREW

J2ME (Java for mobile)

Symbian Devices (including the latest batch of devices)

In addition, we have many new titles coming soon for these brand new platforms, so keep your eyes peeled for some great new games to be announced in the near future only from PDAmill!

The bit about “due to some of our Palm OS products literally working on a device by device basis and recent developments with the Palm OS platform itself” really caught my eye…and all I can say at this point is…wow.

So!

Would you say that – if it wasn’t already – the writing is now most definitely on the wall for the Palm OS? Or is this just one software developer jumping ship?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. :-)

This post was written by:

- who has written 1699 posts on Gear Diary.

I started Gear Diary on September 30, 2006, and my goal was that this not be an easily labeled site. We all have gear that we use daily – some of it electronic and some of it organic. I think it is fascinating to explore the equipment that makes our lives easier, more entertaining, more productive, and more manageable. My hope is that Gear Diary visitors will find this site to be a comfortable and friendly place to discuss interesting topics – and not only those that are tech related, as well as a location to discover various types of gear – whatever that term may end up implying – that they never knew existed. My specialty is in-depth reviews written in a layman’s terms, because everyone can understand technology, sometimes it just takes a little translating. +Judie Stanford

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  • reidme

    You could make a case that the writing was on the wall the day in January 1998 that Microsoft announced their “Palm PC” to directly compete with 3Com’s Palm Pilot.

    http://www.morochove.com/watch/cw/ff80115.htm

    What product has survived a direct assault my MS? The Palm OS has certainly hung in there longer than most, I think because it has something MS has still yet to wrap their arms around: ease of use.

    PDA Mill is not the first developer to jump the Palm ship and they won’t be the last, but I think the sinking will continue to be a very slow event.

  • reidme

    In the interest of full disclosure I am an admitted Palm fan boy, but it is the result of end-user experience, not blissful ignorance. I bought the first MS Palm PC that was available (Casio E100) and I’ve owned at least one of every generation of what is now called Windows Mobile (because I’m not just a gadget junkie, I’m an optimist and fool.)

    The thing is, not one of them ever ended up being my daily driver, they all ended up as expensive toys. I stuck with my various Sharp Wizards, Psions (the forerunner of Symbian), and REX organizers to do the important stuff. I dissed the Palm OS as too simplistic and unsophisticated until I finally tried a Treo 90 (which was just an organizer, not a phone.) I have since used a Treo 300, Samsung i500, Samsung i550, and now have a Treo 700p (all Palm OS devices), but I’m willing to try anything to see if it works for me.

    I’m hopeful that the Palm OS will hang around in some form (hello Access) until something better comes along. Maybe Windows Mobile 9 sp2?

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie Hughes

    “You could make a case that the writing was on the wall the day in January 1998 that Microsoft announced their “Palm PC” to directly compete with 3Com’s Palm Pilot.”

    It’s funny because that’s the same argument I have used with Zune naysayers. We’ll see if things work out same way or not. ;-)

    But back on topic: I personally would be very sad to see Palm shrivel up and die, as I have been a Palm user since the very beginning, too. But at the same time, when I use Palm devices any more, I am reminded of what they can’t do. More so than I am pleased with what they can do.

    Which is not to say that there aren’t things that Palms are capable of doing very well, I just feel that they have rested on their laurels and the platform is stagnating. :-(

    I will say that the Samsung i550 was the best looking PDA Phone ever, though… ;-)

  • reidme

    MS surely waited a bit long to jump into the PMP fray and Apple is way entrenched. As usual, MS’s first attempt is a token one at best, but who knows by Zune 7 time? Deep pockets and persistence go a long way.

    I sure loved that i550 and I’ll be forever in your debt for scratching that particular itch. I still might be using it if I hadn’t started getting regular hardware glitches, but I couldn’t go back now that I’ve gotten used to the 700p.

    BTW, how do you put the smileys into posts on this site?

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie Hughes

    I know what you mean – I liked the 700p, but I love my 700wx. ;-)
    And at times, I still wish Samsung would revive an improved i550, say an i600? That was such a neat device. I suppose that we are lucky we even got to spend time with it, though. What a wild ride, huh?

    As far as smileys – you can do just about all of the basic ones – if you know them. I’m trying to find a plugin that will allow them to pop-up in the editor, but in the meantime – pretty much anything you are used to using will work. :-)

  • reidme

    Gotcha ;-)

    I’m sure you’ve already heard about it, but I think the iMate Ultimate 9150 looks like the best new flip phone on the horizon:

    http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=12817

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie Hughes

    Yes! I am really intrigued by these new i-mates…Trying to decide which ones I can justify buying will be the key. ;-) The 7150 is really speaking to me, too. :-P

  • reidme

    The 7150 is the one that interests me most too, but not as a phone, just as a wifi net device. I’ve got a Nokia 770 net tablet, but I think the time is ripe for a compact clamshell net device with a keyboard. I know there are UMPCs and OQOs out there, but I prefer a clamshell to a slider for the inherent screen protection. Also I really don’t want full-blown windows, but an instant-on OS.

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie Hughes

    Exactly – it would be a supplemental device, like the JasJar was for me – always used in conjunction with a mobile phone, but it could act as one in a pinch. :-)

    I like clamshells better, too. I was talking to a friend recently about how much I wished I could get something like the most recent (although now defunct) Handheld PC form factor, but have it running WM6 (not WinCE) with all the wireless bells and whistles. Oh well… :-(