Meeting #7
March 3rd, 1999 | March 13th, 1999 |
The original Saturday meeting was the backdrop for singular feats of dedication to CanadaPUG, as the snow fell to several feet in height on the highways. A special mention for dedication above and beyond the call of duty to Rob Bowen and Russ Scheer, who made their way to the Pizza Hut meeting through the winter snow, with great risk to life and limb, only to find – no one else there. Because of the late winter storm, the March 6 meeting had been postponed to March 13.
AttendanceThis month, we had 3 members at the Wednesday meeting and 10 members at the Saturday meeting.
As usual, discussions started off at many levels, and the following gives a flavor of the varied topics.
Sean updated everyone on the sale of his Palm III. The networking with CanadaPUG members paid off, and he was able to sell his device. Today he would be purchasing a Palm IIIx from Handheld Interfaces! Anyone else who would like to sell a PalmPilot to upgrade should contact him or use the bulletin board on the CanadaPUG website.
Paul showed the group a copy of April 1999 issue of Wired magazine, which had a series of special reports on the Palm connected organizers. The articles included a photo spread on the newest Palm and other PDA devices, hardware and software enhancements, and a photospread "family portait" of developers for the 3Com platform.
Sam also mentioned that the Palm V and IIIx are making the rounds of other magazines, including the March 15, 1999 issue of Fortune magazine, which has an article on the new strategy behind the Palm V, and a behind-the-scenes look at the design team who put the new look together.
Sean demonstrated his new Cross Digital Writer Duo stylus, and let people try it out on their Palm devices. As advertised, the Cross has a "pen on paper" feel that is unique, and it has replaced all other styli in Sean’s collection. One thing that he notes is that the GoType keyboard is showing less use than originally intended, although it remains a good input device.
There was general discussion of a robot, controlled by a Palm device, that a Japanese enthusiast had constructed.
Bob shared a story about how his Palm had developed a cracked screen. Ordinarily, if you contact Keating, who services PalmPilots in the Toronto area, you are told (correctly) that the one-year warranty does not cover the screen. However, Bob contacted 3Com directly, who went above and beyond the usual customer service by telling him that if he sent it in, they would have a look at it. 3Com replaced the cracked screen, at no cost to Bob, and couriered it back to him within 10 days!
Since the last meeting the Da Vinci organizer has come out. This is a low-cost clone of the PalmPilot, going for about half the price. Unfortunately the device does not look very user friendly, and the website is not very informative. The OS is proprietary as well; most members thought that this device did not even have the potential of the WinCE devices.
A number of members asked how they could upgrade their Palm devices to have similar memory (thinking of course of the Palm IIIx). The universal answer was to go to TRG for a memory upgrade, or to use their FlashBuilder software. This software is able to load programs or the organizer database into the flash memory, giving you roughly an extra MB of memory.
Sean gave a new member count: Newletter members 68, participating members 39.
Palm IIIx and Palm VThe highlight of the meeting was presented by Chris of Handheld Interfaces who brought along models of the Palm IIIx and Palm V (along with Sean’s own Palm IIIx!).
The consensus of the group was that the two new models rocked!
The most amazing part was the new LCD screen, which was much clearer and brighter than the PalmPilot’s or the Palm III’s screen. The backlighting was a little bit different as well, and could take a little bit of getting used to.
Other than the screen, the Palm IIIx looked very similar to the Palm III. Of course, the main difference is the memory, which doubles the amount in the III.
The Palm V was truly a work of art. Essentially a Palm III in anodized aluminum ("Palm III, swimsuit edition") the V was judged to be a product perfectly pitched to corporate upper management.
Everyone was duly impressed, and it is expected that there will be a stampede to upgrade over the next few weeks!
Palm Carrying CasesAlong with the Palm IIIx and Palm V models, Chris brought along a wide selection of carrying cases, slip cases, and other carriers for Palm connected organizers. Suffice it to say that there are a lot of them out there! This is a short summary of the selections presented:
Palm Computing has also released a new line of cases with a zipper enclosure rather than Velcro.
The Flip Case – in leather and suede – was a standard case with a lid that flipped back, and an port opening allowing hotsyncing from the case.
An interesting case was a Clear-and-Color Plastic Case – still in beta at this moment – which was meant for waterproof carriage of the Palm. The case floats in water, allows beaming, and has a drawstring so that it can be slung around the neck. Most people agreed the case would be great for camping, mountaineering and other outdoor activities.
The E&B Company's Slipper III is a formfitting case that fits the Palm incredibly well, again with a port for hotsyncing.
Dooney & Burke offer a line of PalmPilot cases for the style-sensitive executive, with the best leather and design.
The Rhino Skin – green, black – looks very close to a fanny pack. It offers lots of room, and has space for cellular phones, extra batteries, and other paraphernalia.
The Titanium Case is a unique case for people who have a tendency to drop their PalmPilots. This looks like it sounds, a rectangular metal case lined with a rubber-like material with the sole purpose of protecting the enclosed Palm from a drop of a few feet.
The BurroPak was another unique case. The Palm organizer is held in a holster, which is belted around the arms and back in the style of a secret agent gun holster.
PrizesAs usual, active participation and attendance at meetings is rewarded with free software or other prizes. So please everyone, do your best to attend!
| Formulas by Stand Alone, Inc. |
| Choice of application from Aramis Communications |
| TipU by EVSoft |
| Solitaire Pack by Stand Alone, Inc. |
| Palm III hat courtesy of 3Com and Sam’s Teach Yourself PalmPilot and Palm III in 10 minutes courtesy of Michael Steinberg |
| Internet magazines courtesy of Pat Cooper |
| MobileDB by Mobile Generation Software |
| 4Corners Solitaire by Seahorse Software |
| Palm III hat and shirt courtesy of 3Com |
Thanks again to all sponsors for their support of Canada's Premier PUG!
Please e-mail any ideas for trivia questions, contests, and so on that can be used to give away prizes at future meetings to Sean.
Future TopicsFor continued reference, the following topics have been suggested for us to cover in the future:
Please don’t hesitate to suggest any other topics you would like to discuss.
Respectfully,
Sam Peralta, Scribe, Canada's Premier PUG