As the Apple Turns: Scene 2108: Color Commentary (2/21/00)

Color Commentary (2/21/00)

So much for Apple's chance to be the first on the block with a color Palm OS device. As long expected, Palm finally unveiled the Palm IIIc, their premiere color handheld device. People who've been following the saga knew about the planned February introduction many moons ago, but there were those of us who held out hope that Apple's lab gnomes would still get their alleged Palm device out the door first. Alas, it was not to be.

For what it's worth, Palm's offering looks pretty cool. For $449, you get a slightly bigger, slighter heavier Palm III with "a vivid, clear color display." Whether or not that color LCD panel is worth the extra couple of hundred bucks it'll cost you depends entirely on how badly you need to "play backgammon in shades of green, pink, and brown"-- wow, the Mercury News description just makes you want to rush out and buy one, doesn't it? But Chroma Gammon is just one of four color applications shipping on the Palm IIIc. You also get a color calculator, which is a critical addition; one big tradeoff with the IIIc is that you only get about five hours' worth of battery life, so being able to calculate compound interest in mauve and lemon is an absolutely crucial compensation.

Seriously, though, the last two color apps are more intriguing. Album To Go lets you throw color JPEG images right on your Palm, so you can bore people with photos of your cats digitally instead of having to open your wallet. Meanwhile, a new version of AvantGo lets you browse web content offline in full color, which is, of course, vital if Internet porn is ever going to make it big in the PDA world. And you can also add on a Kodak PalmPix digital camera (when it ships) and take new photos of your cats and your own lascivious acts (separately, one would hope).

What does all this mean for Apple's PDA? Not much, actually, other than virtually guaranteeing that if it ever sees the light of day, it'll be a color device. We can only hope that by then the stable of color Palm OS applications extends beyond the current realm of board games, calculators, pet photos, and downloadable porn. But then again, what else is there?

SceneLink (2108)

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The above scene was taken from the 2/21/00 episode:

February 21, 2000: Arguments over whether or not Steve's jet is "recurring" are the latest fad around the financial water cooler. Meanwhile, Palm unveils its first color device while the alleged Apple-Palm PDA is still MIA, and "Redmond Justice" convenes for final arguments; is Microsoft trying to lose?...

Other scenes from that episode:

2107: Recurring Flightmares (2/21/00) Geez, give someone an aircraft or two and they never let you live it down. It's been a month and a half since Apple's Board of Directors presented Steve with the gift that keeps on giving-- a Gulfstream V jet-- and that teensy token of appreciation is still making headlines...
2109: Settle Down, Children (2/21/00) Finally! "Redmond Justice" vaults back into action, as Microsoft's legal team and the government lawyers take a break from their interminable off-camera settlement negotiations to trudge back into court one last time...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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