Friday, September 5, 2003
Same Chassis, Different Options: A Big Deal? You Bet!
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 07:00 AM
The most interesting news of the past week was the leaked rumours about the Dell Axim X3. You can read all about it here, but the big news is that Dell has shaved off a lot of the original Axim's size, and it seems like this model will hit an even lower price point than the current X5. Dell representatives made a lot of noise earlier this year about hitting a $150 USD price-point with a Pocket PC, and it seems like the X3 just might do the trick - but they're also going to offer models with Bluetooth or WiFi, and possibly an option for both (if the rumours are to be believed, which might not be the case).
If this is the case (and I have to stress if), this is an important paradigm shift in the Pocket PC arena, because Dell is offering people the same form factor (chassis), but different internal options. The inability to get "function X" in "body type Y" has always frustrated me - if someone wants a small Pocket PC like the iPAQ 1940, why can't they get one with 128 MB of RAM, or one that works with folding keyboards? Imagine going to a car dealership and looking at a sedan, then when you ask for air conditioning, they say "Oh, that model doesn't come with air conditioning, you need to move up to the truck." As consumers, we've grown to expect that we can specify certain types of components for our computers (how much RAM we want, CPU speed, etc.), but the same hasn't been true in the Pocket PC world. Obviously, there are engineering issues to be factored in here (a Bluetooth/WiFi/800 Mhz CPU iPAQ 1940 would last all of 30 minutes before needing a re-charge), but the basic compromises we have to make are frustrating.
As much as I laud HP for their aggressive movements in the Pocket PC market, I can't give my wife a good answer when she says "I love the size of the iPAQ 1910 that I'm using now, but you're telling me I have to move up to the bigger iPAQ 2215 just to use a folding keyboard?". I've heard similar questions from iPAQ 2215 owners who want to use a Bluetooth headset, only to find out that they need to move up to the bigger iPAQ 5550 in order to get Bluetooth headset support. HP has the difficult job of making sure each of their products have differentiated features, but something as basic as external keyboard support and full Bluetooth profile support should be supported across all models. HP has made a small step by offering the same form factor (1930, 1945) with different features, but this is quite limited in scope.
When someone is buying a personal device like a PDA, the form is as important as the function, and if Dell can offer people the same form factor, but give them choices about the functionality built into that form factor, they will have done something that no other OEM has yet done - only time will tell.
If this is the case (and I have to stress if), this is an important paradigm shift in the Pocket PC arena, because Dell is offering people the same form factor (chassis), but different internal options. The inability to get "function X" in "body type Y" has always frustrated me - if someone wants a small Pocket PC like the iPAQ 1940, why can't they get one with 128 MB of RAM, or one that works with folding keyboards? Imagine going to a car dealership and looking at a sedan, then when you ask for air conditioning, they say "Oh, that model doesn't come with air conditioning, you need to move up to the truck." As consumers, we've grown to expect that we can specify certain types of components for our computers (how much RAM we want, CPU speed, etc.), but the same hasn't been true in the Pocket PC world. Obviously, there are engineering issues to be factored in here (a Bluetooth/WiFi/800 Mhz CPU iPAQ 1940 would last all of 30 minutes before needing a re-charge), but the basic compromises we have to make are frustrating.
As much as I laud HP for their aggressive movements in the Pocket PC market, I can't give my wife a good answer when she says "I love the size of the iPAQ 1910 that I'm using now, but you're telling me I have to move up to the bigger iPAQ 2215 just to use a folding keyboard?". I've heard similar questions from iPAQ 2215 owners who want to use a Bluetooth headset, only to find out that they need to move up to the bigger iPAQ 5550 in order to get Bluetooth headset support. HP has the difficult job of making sure each of their products have differentiated features, but something as basic as external keyboard support and full Bluetooth profile support should be supported across all models. HP has made a small step by offering the same form factor (1930, 1945) with different features, but this is quite limited in scope.
When someone is buying a personal device like a PDA, the form is as important as the function, and if Dell can offer people the same form factor, but give them choices about the functionality built into that form factor, they will have done something that no other OEM has yet done - only time will tell.
