Is this the Death of Synchronisation & Palm Desktop?

G

ghost of hung hugely

New member
So, with the T5 will we be the last generation to "Hotsync" our PDAs - perhaps we should get Hotsync tattoos like some of Apple OS folks did.

The T5 with nonvolitile memory should mean that sync'ing is gone for good - should it?

After all, the only think left to do is "back up" your data not sync it. Everyone uses various 3rd party conduits to sync with their Yahoo's and Outlook's why bother with the Palm desktop - all you need is a Palm Installer to bump files and programs across wirelessly or onto an SD card.

In the future the sync cradle will now be reduced a desktop charger. Is this farewell to pushing that little button?
 
I hope Palm Desktop will continue to be bundled with the devices. However, if palmOne stops providing any syncing software at all, I'm afraid it will result in the death of Palm OS devices.

Without the syncing software, the PDAs will lose their value of being true desktop companions. Even if program installations don't require HotSync, your Calender, Contacts, ToDos, and memos do.

It seems that palmOne is trying to commit suicide. They keep messing up on the design and functionality of their new devices. Now, there is a possibility they will further hamper the usefulness by discontinuing Palm Desktop and HotSync. If they keep this up, their death wish may come true.

I hope DataViz starts developing versions of Documents To Go for the Pocket PC. We may need it someday.
 
I agree with dwinget - surely syncing is essential to a pda, otherwise why have one, you might as well keep your phone numbers in your telephone... i certainly would fancy duplicating all the info in my outlook with grafitti input.
 
Well I hadn't even THOUGHT of that . . . . I've got more conduits than the LA sewer system, (I'll pause to let you all make up your own joke) . . . . . including a great freeware called "TextSync" that syncs TealDoc BETTER than WordSmith or FastWriter or Word2Go, and with 2-3k sized files.

Add Bonsai, MobileDB, Sheet2Go and others and this "no little button" thing could be a real NIGHTMARE.

In fact, it would completely do away with HAVING a Palm for me. Good Lord that's distressing - so Sunrise/Plucker and any other number of "channels" might disappear?

Thank God for Scotland and Jocky . . . . I'd never have thought of Desktop going away with the "USB virtual drive" thing coming in to existence.

Silly me . . . I thought PalmOne were actually giving us "something extra."
 
I don't think the flash memory of the T5 spells the "beginning of the end" of Palm Desktop. I think it's just addressing a big complaint of many Palm users--loss of data when the battery craps out unexpectedly. Sure, you CAN back up to the internal "flash drive," but I don't know (and does anyone know?) whether or not the databases for the PIM apps will be automatically backed up to flash or if they will be stored there by default or can be moved/copied there manually. SD cards can go bad and, I'd imagine, so could the internal "flash drive," so not having a backup of everything on a PC could spell disaster. I don't think Palm is giving us a PDA that doesn't have to be HotSynced only to take away the ability to HotSync.
 
Flash memory will have nothing to do with syncing to a desktop application. After all, we've had huge capacity SD cards for a long time and you could make the same arguement there. As long as the main use of a PDA is in the corporate world, you'll have to have a means of getting data to and from a corporate PIM. For home users, it's still a lot easier to do a lot of data entry on the big screen than the Palm. As has been shown by the newer versions of the Palm desktop, the trend has been for more features and complexity, not less.
 
I second what Jim has just said. Most people would rather enter everything in Outlook or Palm Desktop than "write" it in on their Palm itself. It's just easier and faster. It would be very nice if all the data got backed up to Flash, but it isn't going to replace PIM software or anything like that.

Also, you have to remember that palmOne also makes the Treo, and its sales are going strong regardless of what may happen with the T5 or E2 (when it's released). I'm betting the 650 will be one of the hottest devices around!

All in all, we'll have to wait to actually hold a T5 before anyone can judge good or bad for the long run. We're guessing until all of us impulse buyers have one. Mine should be here in a week or so. I'll let everyone know what I think. Anything's an improvement on my 505.
 
Back
Top