After our discussion on the list about broadening the scope of TAPIT to include more than just Palms, we didn't see a huge influx of PocketPC devices or Newtons this past Monday night. But Jim did break the tie (half PalmOne, half Clie) by bringing out an Acer convertible tablet computer. What a cool little device! It was about three times the size of my old Newton 2100, and, when folded screen-out, was almost all screen. Too bad it runs XP! (Just kidding, Jim!) It's not something you're going to haul around in your pants pocket, but I could see it being a whole lot more at home in a university student's bag than a 10 lb. laptop and charger.
Here's an interesting article about Microsoft's CTO and his love for gadgets. I found it interesting that not only does he not seem to eat his own dog food (why is that funny when talking about PPC?), but he flies in the face of the folks who insist that convergence is the way of the future. Rather than depend on a single device that does all things poorly, David Vaskevitch choses instead to haul around an iPod for his music, a BlackBerry for PDA functions (and by that, I'll assume mobile email), and a digital camera. No camera-phone with organizer aspirations, no PDA/phone that does dial-up connection to a server somewhere for loading email 20 words at a time to a screen where you'll have to respond using T9. Just the best mobile email unit, the best digital music unit, and a dedicated camera (one would assume with more than e-mail resolution and an actual glass lens). What a Luddite!
Steve Ballmer, of course, demands more from his devices by settling for less. ("The thing I put in my pocket has got to do more for me.") I am not surprised by such from the ape-man, but this question looms large for proponents of convergence: do you want to emulate someone who has the strength of character to forge their own path, even though it is not what is expected by their direct boss (who happens to be the richest person in the world and a known hothead about people using his technology)? Or do you want to follow someone who tries to force the universe into his mold to the extent that he is universally ridiculed as less civilized than your neighborhood zoo resident?
I am putting together a few polls to get the general feeling from TAPIT about your feelings on convergence. Are you all for it? Do you have certain things that you just won't fold into another device, but want all the others combined? Are you of the seperate-but-excellent school? Check the discussion board and let us know!
If you're not on our listserv, know that this list is tightly controlled to prevent spam. The only mail you'll get is mail from other members, and you can control that by getting daily digests or just reading the messages on the website, if you please. There's a subscription form on the upper left. Use it. And bring your PocketPC (or cameraphone/PDA/mp3 player) to the next meeting!
