There is all sorts of software for your liPAQ. There are some PIM apps,
although nothing mature as yet. However, if you use Microsoft Outlook for
your desktop PIM, AFAIK there is nothing on a liPAQ that synchs with
Outlook. And I don't know of any support for AvantGo, which I'd like to
have.
Some of the barriers to widespread adoption of handheld linux, as I see it,
are:
1) Installation and Initial Configuration.
2) Administration. liPAQs will likely first find a niche with people who
like to play, and in corporate markets, but mass market PDAs can't carry
this much exposed *nix. Real people want a PDA that "just works." They
don't want to admin *nix. In the corporate space, they don't need to admin.
That is the job of their *nix admin. This is the same problem *nix has in
the desktop space. Apple has the only *nix usable by real people; they call
it Mac OS X. Having the power of linux underneath is great, but the
complexity has to be hidden from 99.99% of the potential user market. This
is mostly an issue of maturity. As hhlinux distributions mature, I expect
people will pay real attention to improving the end-user experience, not
just functionality.
When corporations establish their own install package, that is one way to
hide the issues from the end-user. In that situation, with that company's
customized app set where the PDAs may often be connected back to the
corporate site, a liPAQ can have significant advantages over an iPAQ.
3) Interoperability with mass market desktop apps, significantly MS-Outlook
(or a fully functional replacement). The simple fact is 99.99% of the
market don't care about anti-Microsoft bias; they just want to get work
done, and that often means working with the applications installed on the
vast majority of corporate desktops. Martin Jones' comments about where
TrollTech is taking their PIM apps are heading sound good. They may become
a nice option. However, there will still be a majority of people using
Outlook, so authoring synch plug-ins for Outlook will be important.
4) Disconnected functionality. A lot of liPAQ software, though not all,
feels designed for an always connected environment, rather than the
disconnected "occassionally synched" reality of most PDAs today. When
always connected becomes a common reality, programs like fbvnc will be
amazingly useful.
On the flip-side, a liPAQ may already be a better option for specialist
users (e.g., a *nix network admin). But that kind of user isn't PIM
focused. They want network and admin tools.
In any event, as all of the parts mature a liPAQ is going to be an
increasingly attractive option.
--- Noel
Received on Thu Aug 23 17:56:27 2001
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