Zorro? Zagat? Zaire?
For absolutely no purpose whatsoever (nearly), I bought a Palm Zire today. It has no backlight, no dock connector, no expansion port, no wireless, and practically no memory. It also may very well be the best Palm I've ever owned. Its battery is supposed to last about a month, it trickle charges via its micro USB connector (the same type that my camera has), and it plays Klondike like a champ, which is good considering that that was my sole raison de l'acheter.
Most reviewers are making hay of the fact that the Zire is severely stripped down and claim that its simplicity will appeal to many of its purchasers. I agree, but with a slight modification: what's appealing about the Zire is not that it's simple to use, but that it's simple to buy. Surveying the PDA landscape is not a task for the faint of heart. There are devices Palm, Sony, Handspring, HandEra, and Samsung, and that's just for Palm OS devices. Screw all that, says the frustrated consumer, just make it cheap and simple. The result is the Zire: the timeless Palm OS interface, a simple cable, and a sturdy if plasticky case. This may just be the PDA that saves Palm.
Posted by ned at October 17, 2002 11:23 PM