As a fervent Macintosh user (I have never bought a Windows PC in my life, but been “forced” to use one), the Treo650 is about the only game in town to get your office with you on the road.
The success of the Palm in 1997 started with a simple concept, provide business users with four simple buttons that gives them access to everything they need. No more, no less. Since then the Palm platform has grown in all directions, except the one I need; better support for the business user.
I like access to e-mail and a decent browser, I don’t like the fact that many of the phone software capabilities are not truly integrated with the original Palm software capabilities. Bluetooth performance of the Treo is below par, calls sometimes do not get sent to the Treo headset, regardless of the button you press (the headset works fine with my Powerbook and Skype). Categories don’t work with the Mac. Call log can’t be scrolled through using navigation keys. No keystroke consistency between applications. No global hot button consistency. Inconsistent user interface behavior between applications. Should I go on?
Opinion: I wish Apple made a phone, using a proprietary device that serves the needs of a business user very well (a key target considering its $500 price point) , instead of trying to appeal to a broad software market. In the same way the iPod did that for music players. Proprietary platforms competing with “open-source” will yield better customer value, Apple please bring it on.
