By Jonathan Nalder, www.mlearnxyz.net :
A now finished Palm special deal giving away a z22 handheld with every TX handheld sold (see HERE) has been called the beginning of the end for PDA�s. Conducted in February, just shortly after Palm had closed its retail stores, it seems obvious that this special was nothing more than a chance for Palm to clear out unsold stock of the PDA�s it still (obviously) has.
Seeing as only one company has even released new model PDA�s at any time IN THE LAST THREE YEARS!, (HP) it seems pretty obvious that the PDA as a standalone device has long been on its way out.
This is made even more obvious as company that made its name making PDA�s (remember when �a Palm� was as synonomous with handheld computers as �a Hoover� is with vacuum cleaners still ...) starts clearing out stock in this way. Speculation is that they have already stopped production of their TX, z22 and E2.
Perhaps this has been inevitable since the time when smartphone sales picked up. Indeed, my recent pick as my school�s next handheld was a Palm smartphone. What�s sad for Palm is that they are potentially killing off the TX, a large-screened, wi-fi mini-tablet, just as the iPod Touch is showing that there is life for non-smartphone devices that focus on being MID�s (mobile internet devices) rather than just PDA�s.
Oh well. The PDA is dead. Long live the PDA (in other guises).
Let me add however, that for schools, this may all be good news as cheap units start appearing!
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