iPhone vs. Palm

[botnick]

I have carried a palm for years. Palm V,T# Treo 650, 680. While palm may notbe the most stable of operating systems, and the devices certainly have limited memory, the supply available (free) software to customize the tool is virtually endless.

I am unfamiliar with iphone OS will there be lots of customizble software available. Will it serve me as my palm has done?

[chris]

Originally Posted by botnick

I have carried a palm for years. Palm V,T# Treo 650, 680. While palm may notbe the most stable of operating systems, and the devices certainly have limited memory, the supply available (free) software to customize the tool is virtually endless.

I am unfamiliar with iphone OS will there be lots of customizble software available. Will it serve me as my palm has done?

Apple has chosen not to allow 3rd party software development on the iPhone. I'm not sure how long this will last, but it's clearly being done to reduce the amount of support needed for the iPhone. Or should I say improve the quality of support and make the iPhone a more stable device. As someone who has run the Palm OS, I'm sure you've had your share of 3rd party apps that render your phone unstable. In most cases, it's not the phone or OS that is unstable (be it desktop or mobile), but rather buggy software. With the iPhone, Apple has taken this out of the equation. Now, they are bundling it with a number of apps that will likely offer you a similar experience. Email, calendar, web, contacts are all part of the iPhone. There are some very excellent Palm software apps and a large supply of them. Until Apple opens up the iPhone to developers, it won't be able to compete in this area.

-Chris

[doron]

Originally Posted by chris

Apple has chosen not to allow 3rd party software development on the iPhone. I'm not sure how long this will last, but it's clearly being done to reduce the amount of support needed for the iPhone. Or should I say improve the quality of support and make the iPhone a more stable device. As someone who has run the Palm OS, I'm sure you've had your share of 3rd party apps that render your phone unstable. In most cases, it's not the phone or OS that is unstable (be it desktop or mobile), but rather buggy software. With the iPhone, Apple has taken this out of the equation. Now, they are bundling it with a number of apps that will likely offer you a similar experience. Email, calendar, web, contacts are all part of the iPhone. There are some very excellent Palm software apps and a large supply of them. Until Apple opens up the iPhone to developers, it won't be able to compete in this area.

-Chris

...and this is why i'm upgrdn to the iphone...word...its stability is gonna be the best on the market barnone!...i've had a pretty interesting run with my palm 650...its time to graduate...as long as the iphone supports the offc 2004 for mac...i'm good...i'm good regradless, but seen that the iphone runs osX i'm pretty sure that its goin' to run it...good remarks chris..

[Kabeyun]

Originally Posted by doron

...as long as the iphone supports the offc 2004 for mac...i'm good...i'm good regradless, but seen that the iphone runs osX i'm pretty sure that its goin' to run it...

I'd like that too, but it won't. At least not yet. And if/when there is a word processor-like app for iPhone, my guess is it will first come from Apple in the form of a stripped-down version of AppleWorks, or a .pdf/.txt/.doc/.rtf reader with some editing capability.

iPhone does run a lean version of Mac OS X, but that doesn't mean it will run all (or, at this point, any) Mac apps. The first new apps for iPhone will likely come in the form of additional widgets.

-K

[doron]

Originally Posted by Kabeyun

I'd like that too, but it won't. At least not yet. And if/when there is a word processor-like app for iPhone, my guess is it will first come from Apple in the form of a stripped-down version of AppleWorks, or a .pdf/.txt/.doc/.rtf reader with some editing capability.

iPhone does run a lean version of Mac OS X, but that doesn't mean it will run all (or, at this point, any) Mac apps. The first new apps for iPhone will likely come in the form of additional widgets.

-K

how certain are you about that...where did you get that information from...apple works?...i don't want no dag on apple works...lol...although it allows you to create pdf documents...the 6.2.9 updater seems to open word/excel files...cool...we'll see when it comes out...
.

[Kabeyun]

Originally Posted by doron

how certain are you about that...where did you get that information from...apple works?...i don't want no dag on apple works...lol...although it allows you to create pdf documents...the 6.2.9 updater seems to open word/excel files...cool...we'll see when it comes out...
.

I'm not certain, but I think it's a good bet. iPhone is a closed platform. This means that the OS and APIs are proprietary. No outside company, with one possible exception, can develop apps for it. If/when a developer is granted a kit, the application will be thoroughly tested by Apple before it's available to the public. Once sanctioned, apps will probably (and possibly exclusively) be available for acquisition through the iTunes Store. Apple's doing this to ensure stability of the device.

Given all of this, if/when productivity apps are available, like a doc reader of word processor, I'm just betting that they'll come from Apple first since they have such tight control over iPhone's platform development. Certainly I would postulate that such an app would be available from Apple before it were available from Microsoft or anyone else.

If this is how it goes down this way, and all indicators suggest it will, that's a down side compared to the Palm OS or even the full Mac OS for computers, which are open to all sorts of great 3rd party products. 'Course, the up side is that your iPhone won't crash and take your data with it.

-K

EDIT: I only mentioned AppleWorks because it's Apple's word processor.

[p9939068]

Apart from syncing music and files, iTunes should be able to sync data and configuration of the iPhone, so that in the event that it crashes, the user can do a hard reset and have it back up running again. Apple can then allow 3rd party developers limited license, and that they're not responsible to any of these apps.