Rock bottom for Palm and Hawkins? | One More Thing - CNET News.com

Rock bottom for Palm and Hawkins? | One More Thing - CNET News.com: "The company is in danger of watching a category it helped create leave it in the dust."

This sums up the situation at Palm rather well. It's quite sad, as I've been a Palm fan for years. But this year, when my Treo was near the end of its useful life, I went with a Blackberry 8700 and have been quite pleased. The issues and anguish of the Palm have become seriously entrenched. I know several companies that were complete Treo operations (mine included) that are now completely pulling the line. With Good porting it's service to anyone who asks, the new Exchange server/Windows Mobile synergy, as well as Blackberry offering serious new offering every few weeks (so it seems), I can't help but think that the Treo is doomed. And, to be frank, if the Treo is doomed, Palm is doomed. PDA's are dying out. I only know a handful of people who use them anymore. So many more use a smartphone, or are unwilling to go that digital.

Palm needs to do something quite spectacular in the next few months in order to be relevant. Perhaps something as dramatic as retooling the entire line. I'd like them to get a Treo 680-esque device that breaks the $100 price point (not with rebates, but the unlocked device straight from Palm), as well as a whiz-bang upper end device. The smartphone's most underserved area is the low-end bracket, and if they could secure this, along with offering something to capture the imagination, they might just pull themselves back together.