Well, we were hoping that by waiting a couple of days, we could weave a vehement corporate denial into the plot, but, um, no. Apparently Palm (or PalmSource, or PalmOne, or whatever the heck part of the post-split company is working on the software these days) really and truly has officially decided to drop support for the Mac platform; as of Palm OS 6, codenamed "Cobalt," Palms will no longer be able to synchronize with Macs. Gadget freaks and info junkies throughout the Mac community are running around in a blind panic, beating themselves over the head with Tungstens and emitting low moans. (We can only hope that someone's got a camcorder, because that footage is going to be killer at the next holiday party.)

It's true, people; faithful viewer James Hromadka was first to wing us the BrightHand article that broke the news: at the PalmSource conference earlier this week, the company "made it clear that PalmSource isn't developing a Mac version of the Palm Desktop. As the way the PIM apps work has changed significantly, this means Mac users won't be able to HotSync without third-party software." Now, we could rage on and on about how PalmSource is in no position to be shutting subsets of its customer base out in the cold, but frankly, we can't see this move as anything other than raw economics at work; Palm has dropped the ball so badly so many times, it's a wispy shell of its former self. (Just ask our stock portfolio.) The two developers the company could afford to keep on staff have probably never seen a conveyance that wasn't pulled by oxen, let alone a Macintosh. Sad, sure, but what can you do?

Here's the thing, though; Steve Jobs's personal dislike for them aside, there are indeed plenty of us Mac users who rely on our PDAs-- or, in the case of your friendly neighborhood AtAT staff, our Palm-powered Treo smartphones. Sure, when Palm OS 6 devices ship we can theoretically spring for $40 copies of Missing Sync, but obviously that's not an ideal situation, given that Treos are currently Mac-compatible out of the box. Here's hoping that Apple beefs up iSync with self-contained Palm OS support (the current version relies on Palm's HotSync software to work), even if it means Apple licensing or buying Missing Sync from Mark/Space.

Or there's always the other option: Apple could finally break down and get back into the handheld business. Rumors of Apple PDAs were rampant a few years back, but of course the buzz died out a bit with Apple's repeated assurances that it had nothing in the works. But now faithful viewer Richard Wolfert notes that MacNETv2 is trying to revive the topic by claiming that Apple will "introduce a new product that will do for the handheld market what the iPod has done for MP3 players" by "July 2004"-- maybe earlier, now that Palm has announced the end of its Mac development. Phrases like "OS X-like," "QuickTime-driven," and "hard drive-based" ought to quicken the pulses of any readers who are Mac-dependent, PDA-dependent, and supremely credulous.

Personally, we just aren't buying it-- yet-- in part because of MacNET's insistence that the device will support Windows via a ported version of iSync. (Apple has gone on the record to state that it doesn't plan to port any other iApps to the Dark Side, but then again, it's not like they had to sign a statement in blood or anything.) There's also the fact that Apple likes selling iPods, which has primitive PDA functions built in; are people who need full-fledged PDAs supposed to carry iPods and iPads, or will Apple incorporate music functions into its PDA and sell it as the iPod Pro? And where does this fit in with smartphones? Too many questions, not enough facts. It's fun to dream, though.

So, right now we're filing the MacNET report in the drawer with all the other Apple PDA rumors that came to nothing, and counting on iSync to provide connectivity for future Palm devices. But if MacNET turns out to be right, we suppose we'll be spending a heckuva lotta cash this summer...