Mobility Mind

Going down memory lane with Treocentral Treocast #50

Greetings, mobile accomplishers!

The Treocentral Treocast is always an entertaining listen. It’s always fun to hear a couple of genuine fans talk about the Treo. Dieter and Mike recently released their 50th podcast, and they brought us on a trip down memory lane with Palm.

Listening to this special edition of the podcast, I was reminded of the many pioneering efforts that Palm took, most of which unfortunately never grew big. Some examples :

- with Palm VII, Palm had one of the first devices tied with a mobile service. It also introduced the concept of PDQs, or what we now know as Web Clips, or Web Apps.
- with the LifeDrive, Palm delivered what was essentially the iPod Touch, 5 years early and 4 times the thickness. But the iPod touch delivers exactly the promise of the LifeDrive : a web-enabled personal media player, organizer and communicator that fits in your pocket
- the ill-fated Foleo, which sparked many many mini notebook computers now termed the “netbook” — for example the ASUS Eee PC and the MSI Wind

In all these cases, Palm was a bit ahead in the game compared to its competitors. Let’s hope Palm can continue to innovate and show us the way ahead.