I haven’t been able to substantiate whether this is true or not, but it makes sense.  PDAs were once the gadgets most craved by non-geeks.  They were (and still are) great tools.  With more and more phones being built with PIM functionality and “smartphones” now widely available (both the Palm OS and Windows Mobile versions), I wonder how much longer there will be a mass market for the PDA.  I’m especially thinking of the high-end ones that are essentially as expensive as a new computer!  Sure, geeks will buy them.  Sure, business will build specific line of business applications that use them.  But most people (including me, mind you!) just had a PDA for contact information, calendar and tasks.  Now that I have a smartphone, I sold my PDA.  I mean, I have an iPod for my mobile “tunes” needs and my phone now carries my calendar and contacts.  The PDA was never really good for taking notes or doing much of anything else – I really only used it to play games while I was, well…indisposed.  So, I think the PDA is dead for the everyday tech user.  R.I.P.

Every few weeks, I like to look at the weekly circulars from the local retailers here like 6^th Ave. Electronics, CompUSA, Best Buy, Circuit City and others. It’s a good way to see what the retailers and vendors are hawking and a way of spotting some interesting trends. This week, Best Buy no longer advertised any PDAs. No Pocket PCs, no CLIEs no Palms. Nothing. I called around to a few places and was told each time that Best Buy was not stocking PDAs anymore and that stock was limited to what’s on hand. (seems there are some good buys in some of these locations for you bargain hunters). What does this mean? As we have been writing about recently, it means that most folks that want a disconnected PDA for PIM functionality already have one. The key for going forward is to figure out how to integrate the core PIM functions into other devise without compromising functionality. The cell phone seems a natural place for this (what we call a PIM phone) and the wristwatch a close second. Media centric players are going to best focus on entertainment and media consumption and don’t make nearly as attractive a place for PIM features. Wireless data devices such as the Blackberry also make sense for PIM functions (but not for voice communication). As device makers try to build a second wave of information gadgets, they are going to best served by focusing on the number of devices users will carry (up to three), form factor (focusing on pocketable and/or invisible devices), primary and secondary functions (more than two core functions is asking for trouble) and synchronization of content (getting us out of state of the art Sync circa 1997).

The market’s changing for information devices. It’s no longer about standalone functionality but a careful matching of feature sets that WILL have some overlap but actually create core synergy. I’m looking at some data points now that focus on task functionality from an end-user perspective but segments the functionality by type of PRIMARY mobile device that’s being used; cell phone, game device, media player or PDA. The results are amazing and will be included in our upcoming Media Player vision report.

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[Michael Gartenberg]