Why there is hope for the Foleo

The Foleo recently introduced by Palm has had initial reviews that are mixed at best. But there is a silver lining in the device Palm has introduced.

Consider what the Foleo can provide using the suite of Google Services on the web today. With the Foleo instant on feature and a future hopeful announcement that Firefox supports Palm's linux os, you instantly would have access to everything provided by Google. For the business traveler that readily has access to the internet, the combination of the Palm Foleo and Google services would be very convenient.

This combination illustrates why Google itself might want to consider buying Palm. Google could leverage this unique device of simplicity to access all of the Google services. It could make bringing a laptop everywhere not necessary - making true the vision that the only thing you need is your smart phone and the Folio.

Interfaces that get out of my way:Why I use my Palm Z22 for my to do list

I am huge fan of ueber-devices and I have one. Its a T-mobile MDA and its the 3rd or 4th among my long list of convergent devices. I used to use it for my to do's and calendar. I only now use it for my phone and contacts. Why? Because the inherit complexity of the MDA does not align when I need to simply consider what I need to do this week. The steps I need to take on the device, while relatively short, are still much more complicated than doing this on a palm Z22. My MDA also represents a swiss army knife of things. I don't need a swiss army knife if I want to contemplate what I need to do this week. I need something clean and singular in purpose. There is something aesthetically pleasing about using the Z22 for certain things because the interface gets out of my way to do what I want.

Do I believe these ueber devices will eventually succeed for me and for many people? Eventually, yes. But in order to do so the interface has to be simply beautiful, clean and when I want to do certain things completely get out of the way so to speak. An example would be how the new iphone's screen rotates when you move the iphone from vertical to horizontal.

Another example would be voice activiation. If I say "todos" a device should immediately go to a master to do list. If I then say today, only show me those todo's with in the current date. Again, the action and behavior of the device is quick, straight to the point and gets out of my way.