Next generation of PDAs?
Stephen Pair
spair at advantive.com
Fri Sep 7 13:42:07 UTC 2001
> > The current devices only have about 12MB of DRAM
>
> You sound like you are describing PalmOS devices. Calling a
> Palm a PDA is like calling DOS an operating system: the
> former is only a half-step up from an organizer, and the
> latter is just a program loader.
Yes, I know...the PalmOS is quite quirky. I don't know what makes you
think I was describing PalmOS though. I meant the current MP3 players
with built-in HDD have 12 MB of *DRAM*...I was just suggesting that with
something on the order of 128MB of DRAM and perhaps a better micro
processor (don't know what they use), these devices could be more
general in their purpose.
> On the other hand, the iPAQ
> started with 32MB RAM and has a 64MB unit. HP just announced
> a 64MB device. Intel announced that units within a few years
> will have massive amounts of RAM. Toshiba has a PDA with a
> built-in microdrive.
64MB is just not enough though. The Toshiba sounds interesting.
> With respect to your MP3 example, drive-based MP3 players
> hold so much because they are significantly larger and
> heavier than a PDA, with enough room for a 2.5" notebook
> drive. Most have relatively little RAM, but it is sufficient
> to buffer the stream coming off the HD, which helps extend
> battery life.
Yes, but these devices are much smaller than early PDAs now, and they'll
get smaller and lighter.
> All things considered, I'd just as soon have a wireless
> connection from my PDA to network storage.
I'm sure some people will be ok with that, but I would like to have all
of my information and applications stored locally on the device. I
can't really say why (maybe it's speed, or reliability of the
connection...there are plenty of places on this planet where a wireless
connection wouldn't reach), but that's just what I think I would prefer.
- Stephen
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