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As usual, BIG THANKS to Sammy of Palm Addicts for recently mentioning Palm Discovery.net on their front page.

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Today's Palm Explorer Profile comes from John Kirkwood, aka Fluffykins (interesting name) at mytreo.net. As you will have gathered, although it is in the typical Q&A format of the Palm Explorer Profile, it is anything but typical.

I hope that you will find his profile entertaining and maybe spark something in yourself to come up with your own Palm Explorer Profile (and get an extra 4 entries in the current Palm Discovery Proporta Alu-Leather case & Advanced Screen Protector giveaway contest) (ends July 15th). Even if you don't want to enter or win in this giveaway (please state so in the submission), you can still be eligible for future giveaways (and get an extra 4 entries just like this one) simply by letting me know that you have previously submitted a Palm Explorer Profile. How much easier can it get? One Profile will get you 5 entries in future giveaways. You only need to let me know you have submitted one before (obviously provide your name or username or even a link to the profile) and you're in! Since not everyone will be entered, your chances of winning any of the giveaways is much greater than any other site (since mine is still such a small site and will likely remain so for a long time). I always look forward to receiving these profiles and I'm sure that other Palm Discovery readers do too! Won't you add in yours?

My name: That's John. John Kirkwood

Brighthand? I'm not a member, but what I can offer you is "Fluffykins" at mytreo.net

Your devices: Oh dear. I started with a Palm m500, which was fine until the super capacitor, which holds the memory up whilst one changes batteries, decided to fail. I was dead lucky and found a suitable replacement on a scrap VCR mainboard. (Resourceful or WHAT?)

That did fine, until I realised that carrying around two boxes - a Palm and a Phone - was a bit of a bind.

I found a good priced secondhand Treo 180g, which was pretty good. I really liked the flip front, as that meant it could sit in my pocket with no fear of getting the LCD trashed on car keys or wotnot. (But just wait)

Another thing I liked was that the Treo software did, quite simply, work. The 180 lasted a fair while, but eventually it bagan to get a bit tatty and quite honestly, I didn't like the graph (graffiti) input for everything more than number pad entry.

The crunch came when the wire to the speaker in the flip front broke.

I managed to fix that, but I figured the phone was on borrowed time.

I saw a cheap Treo 270 - Much the same, but with a keyboard and colour screen - and bought that.

Brilliant. I could actually type text messages with no bloody predictive text and without pressing a key fifteen million times to get to the character I wanted.

Again, the software, quite simply, worked. This was in stark contrast to the kids phones - Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola. ll these we struggeled with - and eventually gave up on.

Not the Treo.

We had a wonderful relationship, only brought to an end when the flip front snapped off.

I scanned the adverts on ebay, looking for a replacement and saw a Treo 600, together with a GPS antenna and a full set of Mapopolis navigation software, all for £70. Wha hey!

The thing paid for itself in the first few months, helping navigate me around on holiday Guernsey in the Channel Islands (Look it up). The Significant Other can't navigate for toffee, so the Treo AND software package was a Godsend.

Still the software worked.

All went well until mid June '07.

Because the 600 hasn't got the flip front, I carry it in my shirt pocket.

Unless the shirt I'm wearing hasn't got a pocket.

In that case, I reluctantly shove it in my trouser pocket.

I'd been really careful all day, because it was one of those physical weekends, putting my phone down on nearby tables, in the wife's bag, in the car, etc. You
get the picture.

Then, that evening, we got home. I put the phone in my pocket and, I swear, did no more than stand chatting for a couple of minutes.

I pulled the phone out of my trouser pocket, to put it on charge and saw a huge, irregular, jagged yellow blob on the screen.

Yes, the screen was trashed.

Oh Tempores, oh mores, oh bloody hell.

Well, I backed the phone up straight away. Guess what? The software worked.

I promised myself I'd get another 600. Nothing more. I didn't need it.

Yea, the 680 didn't have the ridiculous external antenna (If I ever find the marketing guru who decided an external aerial was a marketing necessity, I'll nail his bloody head to the floor), but I didn't really need that and anyway, it was still stupidly expensive for me.

Then I saw a 650.

Fully unlocked.

Bright, crisp display.

Bluetooth.

Keyboard.

Apps. Lots of apps.

I bought it.

It has a belt holster too.

I should have kept my cool.

But I'm a Treo nut. I can't help it.

Guess what? The software STILL works.

I just tried to get the software for my son's latest Sony Ericsson phone to recognise the phone properly.

It doesn't.

I want a 750.

Please?

Pretty please?

Your favourite Palm apps: OOOOooh, that's got to be Mapopolis for the Palm, closely followed by SolFree, solitaire sampler. I've wasted countless hours playing that. It's addictive.

And now it looks like the missus wants a Treo of her own, just so she's got that for herself.

What you like/dislike about the Palm or your PDA device: The biggest beef is no flip front model.

The second biggest beef is the camera still sucks compared to most modern phones. Mind you, you can have as many megapixels as you like but of the lens is crap (and most phone camera lenses are) you're still stuffed for decent pictures.

How the Palm or PDA device has changed your life (or how it helps you) in any way: I can actually send meaningful texts. I can have an address book that is a full address book.

It remmed home in the most forcible way possible that satnav is a GOOD IDEA. (Wished I'd got THAT a loooooong time ago)

What do you mainly use your PDA for: Fliping heck. EVERYTHING. Addresses, phone numbers, memos, Internet, Games, Navigation - oh, and occasionally phoning.

Etc. Anything else you wish to share: Did I say I want a 750?

"Treo Palm phones. What all mobile phones want to be when they grow up"

Thanks very much for sharing this with us, John. WOW! I am speechless. What an excellent Palm Explorer Profile! I expected the usual one or two word reply to the generic basic questions and what did I get? A very fascinating, humorous and entertaining story of one man's history of Palm devices. I did have to correct some spelling and add a few words here and there but the main format is what was presented. As you can see, even normally boring Q&A profiles can easily be transformed into a very entertaining story. It's quite obvious that John loves his Palm and also enjoys sharing his passion of the device as evidenced by his ahem, expression, of his Palm history. If I could base the Proporta Alu-Leather giveaway winner by the entry, this would be it! But since it is a random drawing, John or anyone has an equal chance of winning the Alu-Leather and Advanced Screen protector.

This profile offered me a good trip back memory lane. I remembered about the 180g but it didn't appeal to me personally because I wanted the QWERTY keypad and ended up getting a Zire 71 instead because of the camera. At one time I was seriously considering the 180 or even the colorful 270. But I wanted something with a camera and QWERTY pad but the Zire 71 was almost everything I wanted except for the QWERTY pad. The 650 is almost the perfect device (had it offered more RAM). I agree on the sub par camera but I use it for quick snap shots since I don't take a camera with me and it works. Quality isn't the best, but it's still much better than a lot of camera phones. Also, it's very nice to hear that you're converting family members into Palm users.

And, John? About the 600 and 650 not having a flip style? You can always get a hard case (which I have) that protects the screen and keypad. I got mine within minutes of getting my 650 and never worried about screen damage. And, John, regarding the 750? Get in line, because I want a 750 too. A few things that's somewhat holding me back right now is the mini-SD card, the omission of the reset hole and 240x240 resolution. Depending on what comes out between now and Christmas time, I may end up getting the 750 when I take another trip to Hong Kong. Hopefully by then, there may be something that will knock my socks off. Or I may get an HTC (they are very nice but I don't like their funny audio jacks) but I am leaning towards a Win Mobile device, well, that is, unless Palm comes up with something that I can't resist.

Obviously, I am persuading people to submit a Palm Explorer Profile (as you can see, they are very entertaining and I personally love reading them) so that they get an extra 4 entries in the drawing. But you can still get an entry in simply by commenting in the Alu-Leather contest posting here if you don't want to submit one (but now, why wouldn't you?) but still want to enter. Even simply providing a few word answers to the generic questions will get you those extra 4 entries and there's no requirement on what you must answer. Ask your own questions or make the profile unique and your own. The point of this profile is to just share your experience of the Palm or PDA device (it's not limited to the Palm ones) with others and help making the PDA community that much more special. And I just keep saying that this is such a GREAT community and my objective here at Palm Discovery is to share my love and enthusiasm and give back to the community. That's why I am happy that this is a small hobbyist site and will remain that way but still offering some interesting ideas, information and reviews with a more personal touch. As always, I THANK all Palm Discovery readers and supporters for your continued support, without which, I would not be able to continue writing and doing what I do here. THANKS!

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Posted by webmaster as palm, misc, ConnectionCentral, explorerprofile at 10:42 AM EDT

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A quick BIG THANKS to Palm Addicts for a recent mention of Palm Discovery.net on their front page!

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This open letter from Alex Kac of Pocket Informant has been making various rounds around the PDA device community already and although I normally don't like to post simply for the sake of adding another one in the pot, I think that it is quite important to spread the news about this. Sure, it comes from a Pocket PC developer and not really related to Palms, but I feel that it does affect us all in the PDA community as the entire PDA community is starting to congregrate together and become less segregated (less of Palm vs PPC, Palm vs WM, etc) and I personally am embracing the entire community as a whole.

Piracy is all around us

Software piracy isn't a new idea. Think of Microsoft Windows, games, utilities and a lot of other software that many people use but few actually disclose that they actually "paid" for them. Think of many of your friends and how they're able to have such a huge collection of games or programs. If you tried to calculate how much it would actually "cost" in dollar terms of the value of the software they have, it's quite obvious that he/she could not have afforded it.

Piracy affect everyone

I just wanted to say that software piracy, regardless of whether you care or not, affects everyone. Just like shoplifting. Do you stop to notice that a lot of places now post "informative" signs about shoplifting? Obviously they are there to make people re-think before shoplifting, but it's also there to let people know that if you let someone shoplift, someone else has to "pay" for it. Obviously the store will originally absorb the cost of a stolen good, but it can't continue to do so. In order to "pay" for the cost of the lost good, the store will either have to sell more, or raise the price, which is normally the action most stores take. So, as a consumer, we may not "notice" the higher price due to shoplifting, but we do "pay" for it.

Who pays?

The same idea applies with software piracy. Most software programmers and developers spend lots of time, money and effort to develop a game, software, utility program in hopes that it will "pay" him back, at least for the cost of developing it. Keep in mind that most of these developers aren't well paid. Many of them are just doing it as a hobby, on the side, while they are working their day job, which could be anything and whatever they make from their day job goes into program development for their hobby. I can bet you that most of the developers of programs that we know and love like Initiate, Datebk6, Resco Explorer, TCPMP, etc are starving programmers that make programs because they love it. I bet that the proceeds they get from them are very paltry, especially if you purchase them via third party software download sites like Palmgear, Handango, etc since those sites charge way too much commission or fees that only a small percentage goes back to the developer.

Developer gets very little of the purchase price

So, if you look at the price of the software, say the typical $15.95 price, even if you purchase it online from Palmgear, it's quite likely that the developer (I am not familiar with how much Palmgear charges) may only get $9 or so. Apparently from many forums, it seems that these download sites charge around 40% of the price for fees. Wow! So, most of the money doesn't even go back to the person who spent months developing and debugging. Obviously not very fair. But that's typically how much the developer bends over backwards to make his software visible, popular and easily accessible for the customer. Here's a link to an old forum posting that gives some idea on this.

Only if software is 'bought'

Let's not forget that this only happens IF THE CONSUMER BUYS THE SOFTWARE. If not, well, the developer gets zilch, nada, nothing, squat. All the time he has spent writing code, debugging (that takes up a huge chunk of time) and he gets nothing. That's fine if his software isn't well written or that it doesn't appeal to consumers. But, what if it is hugely, okay, maybe even mildly popular? He goes to Palmgear or Handango to check the number of times it's been downloaded and then checks on how many copies have been purchased. If he's lucky, he may get a few, of course, after all the fees has been taken off, he probably has hardly enough to buy himself a lunch.

Underlying costs of developing software

There's a lot of costs involved in developing a software. Think of the graphics of the program. You can't create the nice looking graphics or skin without some kind of software program. That costs money. What about the sounds? In order to create the music or sounds, obviously that means something as well. And don't forget about the programming software as well. The Palm OS programming software costs a lot of money. But of course, you can get some for free or at least cheaper but they take a bit of time to learn. Again, that translates to money and time.

It's a shame to think that all that work and effort, time and money spent can be for nothing if people decide to get them illegally for free.

How can piracy hurt? I'm not stealing

The common excuse I hear about this is that, how can it hurt them? I'm not stealing. But, you are. You may not be able to physically go into the house of the developer and steal a physical copy of the program, but if you are using it without paying for it, you are stealing. Using something that you do not own is stealing. By definition, stealing is: take without the owner's consent. So, if you are using a software without the owner's consent (ie. pay a license), YOU ARE STEALING. And, the last time I checked, stealing is illegal. But that doesn't stop people from stealing.

Hurting yourself via piracy

Aside from hurting the developer through their pocket book (by not buying the software and getting it elsewhere or via other means illegally), you are essentially hurting yourself. How can I do that, you ask? Very simple. How likely will the developer continue to work hard at improving or develop new programs if he doesn't get a penny or much at all from it? Think of all the hours and effort put into something that he sweated over only to find that it's hugely pirated and only a small number of people actually paid for it. And don't forget the small paltry amount he gets after all the fees are taken out. How likely do you think that this developer will be in creating anything else and wasting his time? What does that mean? No more great software or program. It doesn't pay so why waste his time in this money losing project? Doesn't take much to figure that out. The same can be applied with my website as an example. Without the support of the readers in purchasing products with my affiliate links, I can't keep paying the hosting bills to keep Palm Discovery alive. Same idea. If you love the site and love the giveaways I offer, support the site. If no one buys anything, I get no money. And no money means I can't pay the bills. And that means, no more Palm Discovery. It's that simple. The same can be applied for software, especially Palm software. Forget Microsoft. They've got tons of cash, but the little Palm programmers aren't made of money. Pirating their software is like stealing from them and slapping them in the face. Very insulting. Sorry to make it sound harsh.

What I am trying to do in this posting is give people at least a better idea of the impact of their actions. Most of us in the Palm community know that the Palm OS pool of software is dwindling. A lot of it is due to the lack of development on Palm's side (ie. no new devices in years), lack of software support again from Palm, and I'm sure, a lot of it is due to piracy.

If you are frustrated about the hoops you have to go through to "activate" or register a program (ie. long serial combination numbers, etc), crippled trial versions, etc, then, think about why it is the case. It is most likely due to piracy. Again, piracy affect everyone, regardless of whether you care or not.

Ponder over your actions

Do you want your favorite software programmer to stop developing new software? Do you want your favorite software programmer to go out of business and stop selling software completely? Do you want your favorite program to not support the newest Palm device? Do you want the price of the software to go up (due to piracy)?

If your answer is NO, I hope that you will consider supporting the software programmers and BUY THE SOFTWARE. Although I can understand part of the reasoning that many trial periods are too short (eg. 7 days) and nag screens (they annoy me) and using the illegal copy will circumvent that restriction so that you can truly try it out longer, please purchase the software if you do find that it is very useful and you do use it a lot. This lets the programmer know that he's got something right there. And by purchasing it, think of it as giving a compliment.

Increasing the price won't stop piracy but encourage it

After all that I've written about this topic, I know that piracy will continue. I think that a lot of times that piracy is appealing when the program is much more than most people are willing or can afford to pay. I personally find that my comfort limit for software is around $20. If something costs more, I have to think a while about how likely I am willing to make the purchase and how often I will use it. This is when the trial period becomes very important for me. I have personally bought many programs that cost much more the $20 only to find that I hardly use it or that things change. With that idea in mind, I personally think that it is wrong to increase the price of the software to thwart piracy. What that only does is encourage people to seek out the illegal copies. If Microsoft only brought down the price of Windows to something reasonable, I doubt that many people will still use illegal copies. I think that a better solution to persuade people to BUY software is to make the price more reasonable or even lower it. And to make it so that consumers can purchase them via PayPal instead of Palmgear or Handango so that the developers keep most of the money (and they obviously deserve it). Most of us (I hope) don't enjoy stealing or doing things illegally and if the choice to "do the right thing" is there and appealing, we will do the right thing and buy it.

Provide Incentives to encourage buying

I think that Astraware has a very good idea going. They have their own website where you can purchase the software and you get "points" for every purchase you make. So, the more you "buy", the more points you get that you can later use for discounts, etc. This is probably the best idea I've come across that encourages people to buy from them directly so that the money stays with them. And they offer discounts every month that sometimes are more than 70% off the regular price! Of course, you can still buy Astraware games at Palmgear but why would you if you can get the benefits from getting it directly?

Along those lines of encouraging the buying is to provide more of a reason to get the software from the developer's website. If I were a developer, I would add special features or skins or extra stuff that you can't get anywhere else, and ONLY IF YOU BUY DIRECTLY. This benefits both the developer AND the consumer and encourages a much healthier relationship. Don't treat your loyal customers like pirates, encourage them to support you in such a way that they WANT to do it. Think about it. How likely would you get a repeat customer if you treat them badly by making it hard to activate, register your software? Even if you are the only game in town, how hard would it be to persuade them to find an illegal copy? Keep your customers happy so they'll come back.

Or, another other way to discourage piracy is to only provide a crippled trial software that only does limited tasks and features and the only way to get the full version is to pay. There are only a limited number of software that I know that does that and I believe this (obviously infuriates the pirates) WORKS. It doesn't completely stop the piracy but does obviously lower it. It would be very sad if most software programmers resort to this (and I'm sure they don't want to) but if that's what it takes, I can understand and will support this.

Owning a PDA doesn't entitle you to all available software and accessories

Just because you paid several hundred dollars to get your PDA device DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO ALL AVAILABLE SOFTWARE AND ACCESSORIES FOR FREE. If you can afford (or not afford) the PDA device, then you can afford (or not) the software that you want. The PDA comes with its own software that should work very well right out of the box. Getting the third party software isn't free since Palm didn't pay for the licensing to distribute it. Again, it is stealing if you didn't get consent from the owner to use a software. The silly argument that 'I already paid $$$ for this so I shouldn't have to pay more for the software' doesn't wash. If you bought a brand new car, are you entitled to all the available accessories as well? If you can't afford it, don't get the PDA in the first place. It's that simple.

Thanks for visiting Palm Discovery.net and reading this lengthy (surprise, surprise) editorial. Hopefully I have given some ideas and thoughts for you to ponder over.

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Categories: archives, categories, palm, editorial, misc, connectioncentral

Posted by webmaster as palm, misc, editorial, ConnectionCentral at 10:29 AM EDT

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We have moved to PalmDiscovery.com!
Please read this review here

Posted by webmaster as accessories, hardware-review at 10:21 AM EDT

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While most of you are waiting for me to finish up and post my review (I'm still working on it obviously), here's a nice distraction. I love Treo ads and would snap a pic of them whenever I get the chance.

Quebec City is beautiful by the way, especially when it's sunny since most of the joy comes from enjoying the beauty of the city (patio dining, old Quebec, Citadel, etc). Quite a contrast to the Winter (when I last visited during the Winter Carnival). And eating at the rotating L'Astral restaurant is superb!

This pic was taken off a Globe And Mail newspaper while I was having my morning breakfast at the L'Astral restaurant.

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Posted by webmaster as palm, misc, ConnectionCentral at 11:40 AM EDT

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