Celebrate 10 Years with Palm’s Pilot

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, but it has. I even remember buying a Pilot 1000 when it first came out. I subsequently remember breaking the screen on that device, but that’s beside the point.

I also remember buying (and using) a Palm III, IIIc, a V, and a Sony Clie NX-70. As you may recall, sales of unconverged PDAs have continued to drop, but Palm seems to have resolved this issue since they bought HandSpring and started to sell the Tre0.

Over the next few years, sales of the PalmPilot skyrocketed, and later varieties, starting with the Palm III, also did well. But after Palm co-founders Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky left the company to form Handspring following the acquisition of U.S. Robotics by 3Com, the two already had their second act in mind: the smart phone.

Though Palm faces challenges moving into overseas markets, the company is in good shape as it enters its second decade of mobile computing, Gartner’s Kort said. “If Palm hadn’t acquired Handspring, Palm would be a dying company today.” Source: News.com

We Say: I tend to agree with Gartner. With sales of unconverged devices continuing to drop, it’s the smartphones, meaning the Treos, that are really helping Palm’s bottom line. Converged devices will continue to lead the way for PDAs.