Local Alerts....New Feature? Say What?

Okay, so I saw the Apple presentation yesterday. I was totally impressed by the offerings. I could live without the iAds, but the fact that they are for free apps made me know that I could opt out if I wanted to. But what struck me senseless was the Local Alerts feature.

I admit that I have become ensconced in the world of Apple over the past two years. I thought long and hard before jumping ship from the Palm platform to the iPhone. But I have never looked back. But there was always something gnawing at me on many occasions: "My Palm could do that." I found myself saying that a lot when several things were not so readily available on the iPhone. Nothing was more glaring than Local Alerts!

Local Alerts were the mainstay for almost all of the important apps that I had on the Lifedrive. My pregnancy listing made in Smartlistogo would send out signals on dates that were important, along with color changes of names for dates that needed to be addressed. It was truly basic.

What nailed me during the presentation was that this was being presented as a New Feature! Something that we can now use as developers. I was stupified! This should have been a basic feature from day one.

For me this is great news. I constantly use Appigo's TODO program which must send its alerts through Apple before it comes back down to my phone. It's not bad, but fails in time sensitive conditions. Here are a few examples:

A. Write letter for A. Shobedoo. Must be done by April 1st.
Date entered: March 2nd.
Time to remind: March 27th.
Actual: March 27th (0900).

Analysis: Not a problem. I was reminded to finish the letter in a timely fashion.

B. Call for telephone deposition for L&I claim for Ms. T. on April 2nd at 4 pm.
Date entered: April 1st.
Time to remind: April 2nd at 3:30 pm.
Actual: April 2nd at 3:45 pm.

Analysis: Big Problem Here! I have always set my presets 15-20 minutes ahead of time
in case I am running behind. This one was set 30 minutes ahead of time and still it was
received 15 minutes late. Server issues?


If you have ever wondered why you would want a local alert, the above two scenarios should answer that question. I was always baffled by the fact that there was no local alert mechanism with the exception of the Calendar. Server issues are major. Apple has to be delivering thousands, if not millions of alerts each day. There is no chance that it can deliver these things on time, every time. My suspicion is that they have woken up and delivered so-called Local Alerts to reduce liability issues. In a program like TODO, if the alerts were about giving yourself Insulin Shots or having some life-saving medication being delivered at a specific time, down-time server issues could lead to potential law suits from developers and customers alike.

It is really about time that this service was offered. It really should have been done a long time ago. I am very happy about this, because now it means that I can write a program for OB that delivers timely reminders for my pregnant patients, ie. Mrs. J needs her glucola test this week or we need to do an ultrasound this week for Mrs. P. The other beauty of this is that since my iPhone has password protection and since Handbase has encryption, I can now use real names on my device. The idea of sending this alert to a 3rd party was not in concert with HIPAA.

This move now also solidifies my move to the Apple ecosystem as a viable alternative to Palm.


LDD.

...A decision....

Today, my "lease" ran out for LIFEDRIVEDOC.COM, I had to make a conscious decision whether to continue with the blog or just let it die a peaceful death. I have been writing on www.theiphonedoc.com but something has been missing.

So, after renewing my "lease" today I have decided that I want to continue writing on Lifedrivedoc.com, but that the information will not be about the Lifedrive solely, infact most of it won't. I will muse on technology and what is now my favorite operating system in the world OS X.

After purchasing my iPhone 2 years ago, I am entrenched in the Mac World and loving it! I have tried a little Linux and I like that too. I have also tried Windows XP and Windows 7. I haven't fully utilized Windows 7, but I will. So now with that epiphany, I am free to write about whatever I want and not "stay on topic." As for the other site, I may write there, but I want Lifedrivedoc to be my primary abode for now.

I will still leave links, especially for the Lifedrive, but I am going to change almost everything about the site in the next few months. If you still need links, data, information etc. on the Lifedrive itself, I will definitely leave that up too. Feel free to pass along any information in regards to the Lifedrive that you think is important, I'll post it.

Here's to some good posts, mainly medical, but you know me, I just love technology and now I'm free to post. Comments are always welcome.

LDD.

Nirvana in Todo Land....Toodledo

When I used my Lifedrive profusely, I often wondered what would happen if I forgot the gadget at home. All of my Todo lists were on the device. Naturally, I could have used the Exchange server at work as a backup, but there were times when I felt that my needs with the Exchange Server conflicted. For example, did I really need my workplace to know that I was visiting my mother or that I had to pick up milk at 5pm? Too personal. On the other hand, I needed to know about important meetings and the Lifedrive and all of the Palm devices afforded me a way of knowing these things well in advance - be it 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week. But I still yearned for something more. The day that I left my machine at home showed me that.

It was a tuesday as I recall, back in 2002, I had a calendar of events as long as my arm. I had to see patients, but in between that there were other things that had deadlines fast approaching - and all of those non-direct patient care deadlines were on the device. Some things required phone calls being made before 5pm, some before 2 pm. I couldn't keep up with them all. My Palm Tungsten kept everything in place. I missed nothing that day, but only after getting back in my car at lunch time and driving home to get it. My partners thought I was crazy, but I knew better. The day ended at 11pm, but not without me putting a check mark next to every single item on the Todo list for that day.

So I began thinking.... Backing up the Todo list and the calendar to the PC was not the best thing in the world. If you left the gadget at home, you had two devices at home - The gadget and the PC. Enter Google!

Google was not the first to start putting things in the cloud, they are just the best at it. They have seen the future and it really is in cloud computing. Other companies have jumped on the bandwagon and some of these smaller companies are doing an incredible job. Again, I do want to give a shout out to Mobisystems for creating one of the first cloud devices, found on the palm with their MobiOffice suite for Palm. Hands down the best ever created for the Palm, eclipsing Dataviz. But I digress.

For the last two years I have been looking for a calendar solution that would integrate online and with the iPhone. I have yet to find a solution that works well. If I use my workplace Exchange calendar, it wipes out my regular calendar and events. If I use Google's calendar, I can't get my work calendar in at the same time due to the limitation of only 1 exchange server at a time on the device.

So, I began looking at the second problem that I was having, linking Todo lists which I use quite frequently. After reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," and "Getting Things Done," and eventually listening to the hyper linguistical Merlyn Mann, I have been keeping TODO lists since 2000 and perfecting them after reading and listening to the other two that I mentioned. The 7 Habits book was a lifestyle changer for me. I categorized everything that I had to do, including family time and forced breaks. I have since fallen away from some of the very draconian things that I used to do, but with work, I find that these lists are invaluable. If something is due next friday, I label it a "3." If it suddenly becomes more important, I drag it up to a "1." I am able to complete things, not always in a timely fashion, but complete them none the less, using this system of importance. It turns out that others have been using systems like this for years. In "The Toyota Way," one of the first electronic books that I ever downloaded, I was stunned to see how these systems were used over and over again in the production plants. Microsoft, in a book written by one of its serious gurus - Randall Stross, this system was not only looked at, but strictly adhered to and probably accounted for much of the incredible profits this company produced during the heady 90's. "The Microsoft Way by Randall Stross" is a book about nothing but lists. I couldn't believe it when I read it in 1999, soon after reading "The 7 Habits..."

Fast forward to the present day, after years of searching for the near perfect solution, I finally believe that I have found my list taking Nirvana. The website is called TOODLEDO.COM. There is a competitor called REMEMBERTHEMILK.COM that is similar. But what makes Toodledo so wonderful for me is its integration with a TODO list suite called TODO (What else right :)?). TODO is available on the iPhone and is a list makers dream. It is customizable and can synch with either your Mac Desktop wirelessly (which is a dramatic plus - can you hear me Dataviz????). But it can also synch with TOODLEDO.COM for free. What's nice about this is the fact that even without a desktop app for the TODO iPhone program (It synchs with the iCal application, but not in an elegant way), synching with TOODLEDO.COM affords the download of a desktop widget, which is basically your TODO list synched with your iPhone. Make a change to your iPhone and hit synch and the change is on the desktop in the widget, in the cloud and available from any machine, be it windows, linux, solaris, Mac OS X, Symbian, Pen & Paper :). That IS TODO Nirvana.

Now, I am looking for the same thing for a calendar program. I would like a calendar program on my iPhone or any phone for that matter that would just synch anywhere. Google doesn't quite cut it due to some issues on the iPhone, especially the lack of multiple exchange servers or at the very least allowing 2 exchange servers on the phone. In addition, I would like for the calendar to be able to show the calendars of the rest of my family. Even my young kids have gotten into the calendars now themselves. I would like to see those calendars and not have to put their events in my own calendar, but have it just show up. Still not there yet.

In regards to notes, I have found a note Nirvana solution too. But more on that later.
For now, I highly recommend the following for the chronic List Takers out there:

1. TOODLEDO.COM - An online Todo list that synchs with iPhone's TODO.

2. iPhone App TODO by Appigo - A little expensive at $9.00, but very customizable and the best TODO app I have ever seen on the market. I've used at least 5 of them on the iPhone.








Honorable Mention:

1. REMEMBERTHEMILK.COM - These guys actually started the craze, but App
integration has been spotty. Additionally, the iPhone app is a
little too sparse, when compared to TOODLEDO.

2. Mobisystems Database for Palm - When I used it, it was the best Office App ever,
but it is a little dated now with the iPhone. Additionally,
there is no TODO list available. Still a great suite if you're
still using the old Palm OS. By the way, it won't crash your
Lifedrive. (This is really an honorable mention for a program
that brought me great joy).

LDD.

App Store: Open or Closed? What do you say?

This afternoon was a pinnacle moment. One that will remain etched in time for me because of a decision that I made a year ago. It has proven to be the correct decision without a doubt.

I was on a journey in 2006 when my wife purchased a Lifedrive for my birthday. I couldn't decide when or if to stay with Palm, but all of my previous software would run on the Lifedrive (most of the time) and I was entrenched in the Palm ecosystem for at least another year or two I figured. At the time I thought that Palm would come out with a new operating system by 2006, then 2007.... but Nothing emanated! The system was old. My old software just wasn't cutting it anymore. I wanted more. Even the wonderful audiovisual beauty of the Lifedrive lost its luster. "Buy a TX," came the cry from others, "...it's just like a Lifedrive, but without the drive. So it's faster." But I became extremely cautious. I wondered whether transporting an old system to another new device was worth it. The more I read, the more I became worried. Another $300 on a legacy device was not worth it. As I read more blogs, I started discovering that the TX was a lot like the Lifedrive, with one exception: It could restart a lot quicker! But it still had a lot of restarts because of the same operating system failing to work well with the NVFS. So I waited.

The wait grew longer and longer until Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone. My mind became clear. This is what a device was supposed to do. I never liked convergence devices because of the battery life, but this was something else. It was stylish, elegant, light, carried more capacity than a Lifedrive and just worked! But it had very little Medical Software. So, I waited. But I waited in awe. I saw the device at an airport terminal once and I asked the man in front of me if I could look at his device. It was amazing. Even my wife was amazed by its sheer simplicity. No stylus, just your finger.

Due to the lack of software, I stayed with Palm until finally in 2008, I purchased my first iPhone- The iPhone 3G. It carried 16 gb, 4x the size of my Lifedrive (You always want to trade up). Again the app store was sparse, but rudimentary versions of some important programs started to surface: Epocrates, HandBase, TealDocs (Which I have since erased - no need for this sort of thing anymore), but no Smartlistogo (what a wasted opportunity). I was also being introduced to Cloud Computing with the iPhone through several different websites. I was able to keep many documents in the cloud without a problem (by the way, let me give credit to Mobisystems for being one of the first to successfully introduce this in their Mobi suite on Palm. It worked well there too).

What has followed has been a steady stream of legacy programs updated, but more importantly there is now an entire ecosystem for programs that are not costly, and appear to generate more value for the dollar than on any system that has arisen before it. The App store has changed everything. And perhaps, if not because, this is due to Apple controlling almost everything that goes into the App store.

This is the major bone of contention however. For many, this gatekeeper is a sore and miserly figure who traverses the App Universe saying "Yes" or "No" at a single notice. Apps have been known to have been held in limbo for months before getting approved. The Google Phone App, which by the way has nothing to do with Google making it, but an independent programmer, has been held in limbo for months. The Facebook programmer Joe Hewitt actually quit the App store. He left parting quotes to the news media: "My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies,” “I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process.”

Locally, this has been quite a problem for some other people too. A drug rep showed up to my office 6 weeks ago to introduce a new device. We got to talking and after his presentation, he looked at my iPhone. He liked it, but he was with Verizon. He couldn't wait for the iPhone to come to Verizon, but was very excited that the Android was going to be available. I told him about how pleased I was with my iPhone and the entire Apple ecosystem. He felt that it was a little controlling and wondered whether open source would be better and quicker. However, I could tell that he really wanted an iPhone, but did not want to leave Verizon. I told him that I didn't mind the ecosystem. It enabled me to have a small amount of confidence that the software being installed would actually run and not wreck my entire device, ie. CaslBasic for the Lifedrive. I have had maybe two wayward apps that did nothing to the iPhone because the applications were confined to a sandbox. They could not ruin the address book or any of the system files, because they are not allowed to enter that realm. If faulty, they are removed without consequence until the developer updates the program.

3 weeks ago he came back into the office with a second round of devices to show me. After our business discussion was over, he was gleaming about his Android. Its buttons, its incredible screen, its incredible apps. Well, some apps which were actually not bad at all. I liked the multitasking, it was quite nice, but I didn't like the scrolling and the brief pause after hitting the icons. But I was biased. I love my iPhone. But he was in la-la- land and with the Google going full steam ahead in the advertising department, along with Verizon belittling the iPhone and AT&T, why shouldn't he? He was very gracious in his criticism about the iPhone, mainly the closed nature of the App store and the approval process, whereas he could download software from almost anywhere. I warned him about rogue software, but he was in la-la land. And who could blame him?

This afternoon it happened! He came back in to get a signature for a device for a patient. He was extremely sad. I asked him what happened. He told me that he downloaded a program for his Android called "Weatherbug." After a few clicks, it worked once, but then it completely shut down his system. He turned it back on only to find that he could run none of his apps and above all else, unable to make any phone calls at all. I couldn't believe it. This was no laughing matter! He had important calls, some life saving calls for his equipment and he couldn't answer them back. His entire phone was bricked !!!! He began panicking, but luckily he had done a backup of his system and his music and photos were still intact and many A/V files were stored on the SD card which was preserved. But the settings for programs and individual files were gone! Unless they were backed up. He was able to do a fresh install of the software, but settings and other file attributes were gone. Of course he did not reload the Weather Bug software.

After calming down to tell me about it, he performed a Mea Culpa: "I really want an iPhone!" He admitted that the closed system of Apple was probably responsible for something like this not happening with the iPhone in the first place. I told him that the gatekeeper system has its flaws, but it has kept millions of iPhone owners safe. It's the so-called Uber-Geeks who want freedom at any cost, even if the cost is destroying the very device that they are trying to save. I witnessed the process first hand with Palm. I am certain that many Lifedrive programs just crashed because of faulty software addressing nonexistent memory locations. Some companies programmed better than others.

Open vs. Closed? Most of the time I would choose Open, but when it's done correctly, a Closed system can have its benefits too. In this case, I am very happy that I chose to enter and stay in the walled garden of Apple.

The iPad

Today's announcement was again another master stroke from Steve Jobs. However, most in Techland are unimpressed by the device. Its name seems to offend some women, if the blogs are to be believed. Its lack of Flash is still hitting hard in some circles; the OS being possibly some flavor of iPhone OS 4.0 and not OS X 5.1.X seems to be bothering a lot of people, even though these things don't seem to upset people in the Netbook arena running a watered down Linux or Android system.

To call this a big, fat iPod Touch would be close, but not completely precise. It appears to have created a niche unto itself. It's not an eBook - it's a lot better. Yet, it's not a portable laptop - it's less than that. It is a class all by itself.

It appears to beat the Kindle, something that I was about to buy in December to read more books. I believe that the pricing is the killer app! A lot of people expected $1,000. What they did was segment the market, while still keeping even the top model below the price of a MacBook. Brilliant ! They now have segments in just about all markets: The Sub $500 market will get you the low end iPad, any series of iPhones or iPod Touches; 500-999 will get you a used Macbook Pro or a MacBook or any series of iPads; 1000-1500 will get you a Macbook and a low end Macbook Pro or a desktop iMac fully loaded. 1500-2500 will get you an extra fully loaded iMac, a super duper Macbook and a fully loaded Macbook Pro. 2500+ will get you a Mac Pro - the PC looking separate machine with a monitor separate. They own this entire genre. Not to mention the fact that everything talks to everything else.

Some are ticked off that the iPad has no USB slot, but why would you need it? It's an advanced eReader basically, not a full fledged computer. And what about the iWork series on this thing? $10 buys you brilliance. So, they have Price, Products and a large developer population. The No-Boys (and they are mainly boys) say that this product is too lightweight and will fail dismally.

I say "NO!" The product is pure genius. I believe that many women will purchase this product. Mainly because it doesn't get in the way of doing whatever it is you are doing. There is no Operating system to worry about; no virus shield etc. The 3G option without a contract is again pure genius. I can see myself going away for a week and staying on 3G while I'm out and using the hotel wifi for everything else. I think that the only thing that will remain is whether AT&T means it when it says Unlimited Wifi or if it's 5 Gigabytes?

I think that Apple will learn a thing or two from Palm however. I don't think that Steve mentioned Iphone OS 4.0. I think that that will come either next month or during the iPhone presentation. Why is that important? Because I believe that we will see MULTI TASKING during 4.0. Jobs actually listens to the criticism. This is a 1.0 device. But I will probably still buy it to talk with all of my other Apple products. The syncing and the Sphere is just so compelling.

But look for OS 4.0 to take a gigantic hint from Palm with its opening page. I don't think that we will be thumbing through pages and pages of apps. I expect to see some kind of folder.

So, to my original query. Who will buy the iPad? Doctors, healthcare workers, people who like reading books, women, not kids and not teenagers, some tech savvy users, but not most, but definitely those who do not "like" or "get" computers. At $499, it's going to be compelling. It's better than an eBook reader; better than a Netbook and with excellent productivity software, it outshines a lot of laptops.

I think it's going to be a Winner. Uber-Geeks sit this one out!

LDD.

...ON Dataviz and Conduits...Again.

Is it just me or is Dataviz missing the plot again? I recently downloaded Documents to Go for the iPhone after using it extensively on the Lifedrive. I went to look at the installation etc and couldn't believe my eyes. Dataviz has successfully brought the conduit to Apple.

For those of you who don't know, the conduit is a software tunnel made to connect to whatever software you are using. It is quite program specific. Kudos to Dataviz for making the whole process wireless, but this sort of proprietary solution is a weakness in the program. Most of us have files/documents that are needed right away and may not be privy to a conduit on the machine that we are using, particularly at work.

A solution, such as the one found in AirShare, which allows you to upload and download via a webpage, or Handbase's conduit which is in the browser and accessible from anywhere seems to be better in the long run.

The entire Dataviz product seems somewhat dated on the iPhone. But let me not knock a star off its perch. The editing is first rate. Documents seem to load quickly and editing is quite easy using the product. They did a really good job with the keyboard. It is intuitive.

Nevertheless, we are still awaiting the spreadsheet portion of the suite and they still decided not to port over Smartlistogo. The latter is a feature rich relational database which may just be better than Handbase, its only competitor. However, there does not appear to be any rush to port this one over anytime soon.

So my one request for any future versions on the iPhone is for Dataviz to get rid of the conduits that not every computer carries and adopt the Handbase, Airshare approach. There are better ways of syncing.



Addendum:

Dataviz has updated the program to include Spreadsheets. I will play around with this and let you know what I think.

/LDD.

Light Peak

Off Topic.

I was just watching a YouTube video about the next great technological breakthrough to come our way. Intel and supposedly Apple are working on this Light Peak technology that is supposed to transmit data at 10gb/sec with one connector that will hold a hair's width assembly of wires. This connection will use only one connection port to control Video, Sound, Input/Output devices etc. Thus we probably will not need USB ports (except for legacy devices) or Firewire or Cards.

Apparently this is slated for release in an Apple product next fall. No word on whether this will actually come to fruition or pricing.

But one thing becomes interesting. Anybody remember a few months ago when Comcast decided to cap all data going in and coming out of your modem to 250 gigabytes per month? Supposedly, the introduction of Light Peak will deem redundant the need for our current internet cables eventually. Thus, in theory, it could take 25 seconds for you to go over the Comcast limit and entail a huge bill.

Something tells me that Net Neutrality will not apply to this. Additionally, something in the air tells me that Comcast knew something about this as well.

Hold on to your vests, we're about to be fleeced again, I'll say about 2 years for this one.


/LDD.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izNoF1SWtSg

(VIDEO OF LIGHT PEAK).

Site Down? Thanks Google.

I got word from Sam, a good friend of mine, that my site was down for a while. I confirmed it 3 weeks ago and found out that Google thought that my site was a Spam site.

I later received an apology from Google and the site was put back up this week. Luckily, I gain no income from this site, but there are some important links and information that a lot of people have grown to depend on residing in this simple one page site. Thus I am happy that the site is back up and functioning. And I thank Google for putting my site back up.

But that leads to a few questions. Do I want to continue doing this? Lifedrivedoc has almost outlasted its purpose. The fact that someone had to tell me that my own site was down is testament to that.

Now that Palm has released the Pre and I have just about chosen to go the Apple route, a very radical decision on my part, and one in which I will explain in a later blog posting, I feel compelled to let my opinions be known elsewhere.

There is still an awfully large amount of traffic traversing this site and so I pay to keep it up. I also appreciate the thank you's that have come by in regards to information on the Lifedrive. However, my use of the device has dropped considerably in the past few months.

I'll keep you posted on my whereabouts, but for now I am starting a new blog which reflects where my mind is at in terms of handheld technologies. I'll still post here, but I will also be posting at www.theiphonedoc.com on a more regular basis. I will be concentrating on Apple Apps, iPhone Apps, mainly medical and other things that appear.

I know that it will be one of many thousands out there, but I have to be true to myself at this point and again, I'll drop my thoughts on the reason for the switch at a later date.

Welcome back readers and I'll hopefully see you on both sites.

/LDD.

Slingbox and the Palm Pre lifeline?

Just a quick thought. With AT&T deciding to stop the streaming of video from one source to another via a Slingbox, does this now open the door for:

1. Apple to leave AT&T due to inadequate network abilities?
2. Apple to wonder why the iPhone has been singled out by AT&T for this type of
discrimination, when "Slinging" is allowed with the Blackberry and the Palm?
3. An incredible opening for SPRINT and PALM to make headway into a little opening
provided by the inadequacies of AT&T?

If the PALM PRE can really multitask, as I expect it can, and can live up to all of
the hype that has been bestowed upon it, then I could certainly see Palm beginning to make headway into this nascent market. SPRINT may have also been dealt a lifeline
with the PRE, if their network can withstand the onslaught of data that may hit them
with AT&T's announcement today.

The SLINGBOX may play a role in deciding if the PRE becomes the player or not? The
blogosphere is alive with people yelling and screaming about leaving AT&T as soon
as they get the chance due to the $30 "unlimited" data plan being "capped" in an
indirect way. If AT&T is really saying that they cannot handle the bandwidth then
that is not saying a lot for the 3G network that they have been bragging about for
past two years.

In turn, this may have an adverse effect on Apple's iPhone and what appears to be the
never ending flurry of rumors that they will release a video camera with their next
hardware update. If that video camera is expected to upload video to YouTube and
other sites, then that will eat up more bandwidth and may cause more strain for
AT&T. But what sits large is the fiber network created by Sprint many years ago.
Either Verizon eats it up and uses it by buying or merging with Sprint or Sprint
becomes a sleeping Dragon and begins to command relevance again with the Palm PRE.

Slingbox may have indirectly opened the door to a shift for some Smartphone users.


LDD.

Access.....Now it's all beginning to make sense...

Does anyone remember Access, the company that purchased Palm Soft, the software division of Palm? Well, I believe that a lot of us were under the impression that Palm and Access did not get along anymore, with Palm deciding to make its own version of Linux to run on the eventual Pre. But it would appear that the blogosphere got this one wrong.

In the video below, not only do we see the Palm OS 5 emulator running on the Pre, but it appears to be running via ACCESS. It's all beginning to come together now. In what appeared to be a secret, it would appear that ACCESS is going to play a large role in the legacy end of Pre. Although the software shown does not extensively utilize relational databases, this could be good for a lot of people who have spent a lot of money on Enterprise ready software - Epocrates, Pendragon, Handbase, Smartlistogo - to possibly be able to transfer these file over. What would be nice is to see a relational database in action in the emulator. So far, only simple apps are shown in this mode.

But I'll say it again. If Palm can really produce a blow out operating system and still find a little space to be backwards compatible, we are going to see an incredible bounce for the Palm ecosystem. But everything remains vapor until the end of the month when it's released. But I am getting a little excited about this device now.





LDD.

New Palm WebOS to provide some Palm OS 5 compatibility

While perusing the Palm universe today I stumbled upon an interesting news piece from PMP TODAY. Palm has apparently given rights to a company called MOTION APPS to develop a Palm OS emulator. The icon, shown on a video demo and picked up by a few astute Palm devotees, clearly shows an application called CLASSICAL. Uncertain whether this is just a label, folder or program. But it is, for all intents and purposes, evidence that Palm is not leaving its old-school players behind.

Naturally there must be a thousand questions about this, particularly the NVFS question, which all but made the LIFEDRIVE a brick on more than one occasion. However, with a UNIX underbelly this time around, this may be child's play. I'll tell you this: If Palm can create a great experience on the device with WEB OS and also satisfy the old-school crowd from Palm OS5 (yes and beyond...), Palm could not only compete with the iPhone, but they could really create a compelling reason for just about anyone to stay with Palm.

On paper, this all looks good. I cannot wait for the end of the month.


References:

http://www.precentral.net/ <--- Above pictures taken from Precentral.net http://www.pmptoday.com/2009/04/02/palm-pre-to-come-with-palm-os-emulation/

Adding New Web site to the List

I haven't looked at the site recommendations list in a while, but today after perusing a website, I thought that I should add this one to the list.

www.precentral.net

There you will find just about everything and anything that you ever wanted to know about the upcoming Palm Pre handheld. They are in a frenzy and I can almost feel the excitement with every article published.

The writers seem to have an inside scoop on the Pre and the information appears to be aggregated and published by independent sources. It's a very nice blog, with some serious commentaries listed along with it. There are even Pre accessories available. That one surprised me! But if you have a few minutes and an inquisitive mind, pop over and see for yourself.

LDD.

Why I'm leaning a little.....

As many of you who have read my previous few postings on this blog can see, I am slowly leaning away from my Lifedrive towards something else.  I have waited almost two years to see what is out there that can replace my OS. 

I do not want to leave the Palm platform, since I have become accustomed to it.  But with the advent of WebOS, a nascient OS that may not serve my long term needs for data management, I am looking at other alternatives. 

What has become important is something that never existed 2 years ago - an App store!  Yes, we had Handango and a few other sites for Palm, but to be honest, apart from the excellent catalog layout - which is sadly lacking with Apples App Store - the content is not altogether brilliant.  There are pockets of excellent programs, particularly in the medical field, but many others are too rudimentary to cost what they do.  For example the average cost of an App is about $10.00, while on the Apple store, it is less than half 

of that.  Palm and Handango and other sites were able to dictate the prices due to the small niche held by Palm at the time - a very long time for that matter.  Some of the prices were extraordinary.  For example, SplashiD for Palm has been listed at well over $20 ever since its inception.  It costs $24 as of this writing.  I actually spent a lot of money purchasing it as one of my main pieces of software on my Palm.  However, when the product was ported over to the Apple App store, it cost just $9.95.  However, they sell a separate desktop edition for $19.99.  Many people just use the handheld version, an obvious mistake since it can be lost in synching.   But why the price discrepancy?

Let's look again at the Medical part of the Palm section on Ha

ndango.  The first 20 applications on the site are selling at an average price of  $40.80 per application !!! Granted some of these are quite good applications, but most are reference materials.  Are these applications really worth the price that they have been declared for the past 8 years?  

To be honest, if many of these applications were about 25% to 50% of the cost noted, I would have probably had a lot more apps on my Lifedrive, instead of relying so heavily on my Database programs.  And how much were the developers making wit

h this approach?  I can't imagine that many of them sold thousands of copies of their products without special discounts etc?

Which leads to the question.  Why didn't anyone ever consider an idea like an App store before Apple?  Why did Palm not consider doing this?  Controlling this?  It would appear that like Microsoft, Palm preferred to have the solution come from many different directions.  What accrued in the end was a plethora of software, but alot of incompatabilities as well. 

But all of that pales in comparison to the next scenario.  Now folks, this is something that I either never knew about or just failed to understand.  It is also why I believe some of the software was priced out of the stratosphere to begin with.

It turns out that many of the developers on Handango and other sites where Apps are sold have been paying a rather hefty fee for hosting their files there.  How much?  Well, let's look at the following chart, taken from The Boy Genius Report in February, 2008 

 

  

So that's 50% of the gross revenue for most apps going to Handango !!!!  With that finding, I am now seeing why the applications are so costly.    So one would think that with some outrage at this pricing, things would change for companies that are coming on board with their own App store right?  Wrong!  Fast forward to todays Boy Genius Report that Microsoft, which owns a large chunk of the mobile market has decided to do something so heinous that I almost crawled out of my skin when I read it.  

Microsoft has decided that in order to place an App in their new App store, a developer will be allowed 5 free apps before being charged $99 for each app.  Sounds okay at first, until you realize that each update of an application counts as an application !!!!  So, if you decide to come out with something in beta - as many on the Apple App store do (just don't tell them all it's a beta product),  or you or your customers find a bug in the software, then you may end up paying Microsoft $99 for the pleasure of updating your application.  So, you may say, why not just go somewhere else and have your files hosted?  Mmmgh, have you seen Apple's traction data?  Compare it to the data for "jailbroken" app stores.   Infact compare it to the traction data for any Mobile store ever made.

The result of this kind of pricing "scheme" is to eventually fleece the very consumer that is trying to purchase a product.  It hurts everyone.  It may be the reason why we are seeing so much innovation in iPhone applications in such a short amount of time.  I would say that Apple's iPhone now only 2 years old, and its App store which is less than 1 year old is acting like a 5-6 year old store (ie. Palm, Handango, Palminfocenter), the former kings.  I would venture to say that Apple's drive to collect 30% of gross revenues appears to be extremely fair, given all other scenarios.  Additionally, developers faced stiff competition in the App space, where reviews were so visible for software and the power of the iPhone numbers and central location made it possible for many developers to lower the price of their software and concentrate on volume, rather than attempting to find niche players.

However, there is always going to be holdout!  If you have an iPhone, pop over to the app store and look at a program called Stat E&M Coder.  The lite version is free, but the developer must have had a flashback to Handango/LSD/mushrooms???  He decided to charge $79.99 for the full version of the program !!!!  You've got that correct, if you think that this is an E/M coder for the iPhone.  It is just that.  Granted it codes for different specialties and it does it well, but with just 2 reviews as of this writing, I'm begining to think that others believe that this is too pricey as well.   Will the old Palm developers who used to charge $79.99 and $40.00 - $50.00 succeed with this type of pricing on the iPhone?  My gut instincts say no.  The drive is for volume and developers will make very little money selling high priced applications, regardless of how complex it is.    So will they just avoid the platform?  I say no!  The platform is too big after only 2 years and it's only getting bigger and bigger.   

And I have not even mentioned the dawning of the iPhone 3.0 SDK.  What a thing of beauty that is.  The ability to let the phone talk to other devices is just going to be phenomenal.  Will Palms' nascient WebOS be able to deliver all of this and more later this year?  I am begining to have my doubts.  Of course I hope that they do, but come June my mind will be made up permanently about what the move for me will be.  Right now, it's tipping a little towards Apple, for the same reason that it was on the side of Palm for so many years ------SOFTWARE!

LDD.

Resources:

BoyGenius Report 2/16/2008, "Handango revises CDA...."

BoyGenius Report 3/25/2009, "Honeymoon for developers and Windows marketplace developers may be over. "

http://software.palminfocenter.com/

http://www.handango.com/catalog/SoftwareCatalog.jsp?storeId=2218&deviceId=741&platformId=1&categoryId=7603

...On Switching....

It has come to my attention that with Palms' decision to ditch OS5 and the entire Palm Operating system, now would be a good time to reconsider whether staying on the Palm bandwagon is a win/win situation or not.

It's been a long time in coming, but Palm had to release itself from the legacy software that it has supported for so long.  I believe that most people thought that it would be Microsoft that would take over the company or at the very least save it from the inevit

able abyss by absorbing it or eliminating it. 

But some time in January 2007, the entire handheld market changed.  The iPhone changed everything.  Suddenly companies began scrambling to get a piece of the pie.  Many, including Palm disparaged the iPhone, with quotations from its CEO echoing the thoughts of many, but which have since come to haunt them:  

"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone," Ed Colligan apparently laughed

 about with John Markoff last Thursday morning. "PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in." 

Indeed, the first iteration of the iPhone, although beautiful and shiny, was essentially an expensive calendar with a phone attached.  Many, including Palm, criticised the fact that the device had no functional operating system or SDK.  Palm's and indeed Windows' SDK's were well known at the time, but their functions were under utilized, despite the wide open mi

lieu given to them by the companies involved.  Most of the problems became very much noted.  First, the operating systems appeared to change significantly with updates.  Second, the memory challenge appeared to be a major issue for both platforms.  The nicest programs would crash due to memory leaks.  The more advanced the product -ie. The Lifedrive - the worse the problem.  

But many of us stood by and moaned a little, but in our hearts we knew that the device would find its footing.  Whether it was Windows or Palm, we knew that the software would be fixed.  The memory leaks would be repaired.  Innovation would continue.  BUT IT DID NOT!

What Microsoft and Palm decided to do in the interim, before the iPhone, was to put out a series of updated hardware pieces and price them out of the stratosphere.  The products were more shiney, but not necessarily more useful.  I could find not one individual who could tell me what the advantage was to buying a new Treo compared to the model that it replaced.  Memory?  "No, not really."  Operating System?  "Er, No, not really, maybe Microsoft is a little better right now."

It wasn't until that Sunny day in Cupertino, California that things changed!  My jaw dropped!  My eyes widened!  Butterflies flew through my entire body!  Steve Jobs Got It!  He 

Got It Right!  It was obvious that he had looked at Palms' Lifedrive and all of the HP se

ries and the Treos.  He got rid of the "wand" and made use of the most versatile and (hopefully) never lost stylus --- The finger.   He got rid of hard drives and concentrated on solid state devices. 

Despite the derision from other companies, the product was an enormous success.  And did Jobs and his cohorts listen to the consumer?  For once, yes.  Out came the SDK and with it a place, sponsored by the company itself, to showcase the software from the SDK - The App Store.  No longer did one have to search 3rd party sites, wondering whether the software would work or crash the device.  It was tested by the company itself and approved or axed, per their whim.  But what you knew was that whatever you bought or download

ed, it would not wipe out your device completely.  I cannot tell you how many times my Lifedrive went Kaboom.  That reticent click that made you know that the end was near.  And to top it all off, the freaking never ending 4-5 minute (if you're lucky) orange dimming light, letting you know that "I'm erasing all your data right now, but I'll be back up and running in a few minutes....oh, hope you backed it all up!"

Yes, in September of last year, when I picked up my own 16 gigabyte 3G iPhone, I was not completely impressed with the lineup of software available.  By November, I had a lot of anticipation, but hope that things would get better.  By December, the App store had grown and the first edition of HandBase was out, leaving me to wonder whether my Lifedrive would be put to sleep permanently.  By February of this year, the ability to store, view and edit spreadsheets was in full bloom.   Cloud computing negated the need for the computer at all.  I had a back up copy of my most important files in the clouds.  SSH, VPN and other secure shells were readily available and functional.  No crashing after surfing the web.  Direct integration with phone numbers in a web page and the continued improvement in the App store made me wonder how long it would be before I would make the permanent switch to Apple.  An email received from Dataviz a few weeks ago from Barcelona, made me realise that the entire Documents suite was about to be ported to the iPhone permanently.  Add to that Citrix continuing to emphasize that they are near a full release of Citrix for the iPhone, where apps designed for a large window, would be able - at least theoretically - to run on the iPhone in a sandbox owned by Citrix.  Not to mention the whole Sandbox memory issue, which makes it possible for programs to do things without ruining or changing the OS.  All of this and you have to wonder!  Why have I been waiting for two years?

Apple is a company that is moving all of the time.  They are constantly changing things, creating, innovating, but LISTENING TO THE CONSUMER!  The consumers include the Music and Film guys, the students, the health care workers - everyone.  Look at the blogs and you'll see the responses.    Of course uncertainty exists.  Steve Jobs'  health is a paramount issue.  Without him, will the company continue to innovate?  What of legacy programs?  We haven't seen any of these things thus far.

But here is the problem that I am now having!  I have known for at least two years now that Palm had to break away from the legacy software.  For crying out loud, if you're using a program written in 1998 or 2001, you should have upgraded already.  This has held them back for a long time now.  But worse, they just stopped innovating.  OS5.0 and then.......promises, BUT NOTHING!  New hardware, but the same old operating system.  How could they expect to run a disk based product such as the Lifedrive on an operating system that was over 4 years old?  With different memory considerations for its solid state partners?  

Finally, Mr. Colligan came out with what we all knew.  No further support for Palm OS.  Could that have been done when Palm owned PalmSoft instead of wasting millions of dollars on the split between the software and hardware divisions, then rejoin, then split again?  Or the Linux fiasco, in which a software company buys PalmSoft and develops a Linux platform, only to have Palm state that they want to create a.....Linux Platform of their own?  Or have your leading founder running around talking about simulating thought processes, NUMENTA, to work in an operating system, only to see nothing for years develop?  Yes, it was a good thing that Mr. Colligan cut the umbilical cord that bound him to the past, but there are now new problems already brewing.

Do you remember the derision that Palm had for Apple creating a device without a SDK?  Relying on "The Web" to run things.  Well guess what my fellow Palm friends?  The "OS" for the new Palm Pre is about to do exactly the same thing - run Web Apps.  There has been no discussion on the boards that I have followed for programmers detailing Native Applications for the device.  I'm sure it's coming, but it just seems somewhat hypocritical to say ""PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in," only to do the very same thing that you abhorred about them in the first place.

I know that this is a make or break device for Palm.  But I also know that I need credible CRM, Relational Database and other Enterprise software,  as well as specialized software for the workplace on a portable device.   Back in June of last year, I was fully on board the Palm train, because it was tried and tested and had years of being "out there" to fall back on.  Now, the roles are reversed.  Palm is reborn and reclassified as a newcomer, while the iPhone is seen as a more "mature" platform.  That begs the questions:  "Should we stay with Palm?  Will developers flock to Palm?  Will Palm still be here?  And more importantly, will Palm be able to help me with my work and productivity?"

LDD.

Picture from www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk.

Amazon Kindle for iPhone. WOW!

Okay, so the Kindle may not be for you and the iPhone may be only a thought in your mind as you decide whether to wait for the Palm Pre or succumb to the iPhone.   Although I believe the Kindle and its wonderful books are going to be ported over to the Pre and other devices, the first look at the Kindle for iPhone is, to sum it up in one word:  REMARKABLE.

The application loads in its usual fashion to the iPhone.  However, you have to go to the web and to the Amazon page to get your books.  You can do this from the iPhone or you can do this from the computer.  You must go to Kindlebooks though in order to get the Kindle version.   This is a slight flaw in the iPhone program, since really you should be able to buy the books directly from the program itself.

I did go through the purchasing part on my computer and was surprised to find that my purchase showed up on my iPhone almost immediately.   The pages are well preserved and you can choose your font.  I found it to be a little more responsive than Stanza, the de facto comparison, but a little less than Classics - the snazzy graphics intensive program that has limited open source books available.  

What is nice about this is the fact that Amazon has an amazing library of books, both popular and obscure.  I believe the quoted count for the Kindle was 204,000 (*1).  To be able to access these without having to hook up to iTunes and sync over the air is just wonderful.

The software is 2.9 mb and is a version 1.0 product.  

*1  (From Amazon.com as of 3/4/2009). 

LDD. 

Addendum:

I should note that one can get similar functionality from Stanza, which offers a large selection of books.  However, I do not believe that they offer either the pricing advantage or the sheer volume of books that Amazon does.  However, Stanza is a great product that is a must have if you have an iPhone.   The major differences appear to be in Stanza being a little more graphics intensive, which tends to run down the batteries a little faster.  But both are very good. 

LDD.

HTML5 and its implications for the Palm Pre

Google just announced that it will be coming out with a new GMail client that will run under HTML5. HTML5 allows developers to create databases and save them to a machine that is using the program. The program is purely web based and this means that Google can store your email within a browser, leaving the contents intact, even after you have disconnected from the internet.

For example, if you have an iPhone, you can download your email in the Safari browser, switch to Airport Mode (which turns 3G, Wireless wifi, bluetooth off) and still read and respond to your email. Once you resume the connection then your email program will sync back to the Google server.

The uses for HTML5 are endless. The ability to create documents on the fly, within a web browser and store and edit them on your device, syncing eventually, as long as you leave the cache intact is enormous. This will change the way we communicate with our mobile devices.

So the Palm Pre, which I presume will have the ability to support HTML5 coming right out of the box, should do well in this environment. However, there is a small problem. HTML5 applications, such as the one written by Google in Gmail are available cross platform. That is to say, Google showed the exact same program running on a Google handset and on an iPhone. According to the presenter, the same code was used to do this. If this is the case, GoogleDocs would not need an Iphone, a Gphone or a Palm Pre to operate, nor a Microsoft compliant device for that matter. It would be able to use anything that supported HTML5.

That leads to a wonderful choice for consumers if most of the programs are going to be web based. But for the manufacturers, such as Palm, this poses a major dilemma. If you don't need to worry about what device you use to run HTML5 applications, wouldn't you choose the lowest priced device? As of now, not including the monthly payments, the iPhone is the better value for money. Palm has already announced that it will require developers to write their wares in HTM and one can only assume that this will be HTML5. So, if the Palm Pre offers nothing more than Palm Pre apps written in HTML5, will that be enough to attract programmers and consumers? And what if the price is $399.00 or above, what features will the Palm Pre have to have to command buying it over the iPhone?

We welcome HTML5 and all that it may deliver in the future, but worry about what it means for Palm, in the long run, where companies such as Dell may get into the space by delivering super cheap Microsoft or Linux handhelds capable of delivering Apps with HTML5.

Video link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmjxmOtNZCk


LDD.

Palm Strikes Back!

Palm today announced at CES the introduction of the Palm Pre. It is a beautiful looking machine. I was very pleased to read that Palm will introduce multitasking to the device and incorporate true wifi. Of course, not many have had the chance to either play with or see the device in person, so I, like you, am relying on 3rd party reports, pictures and videos.

The form factor looks good, but it would appear that the iPhone has been emulated in many parts. Palm has done away with the Stylus and opted for Thumb swipes. Additionally, the swipes are truly "liquid" with no staccato type movements. Second, the Apple Apps store will have some competition, with Palm literally following in the footsteps of Apple to create its own Apps store. The question of course will be, will Palm allow independents to directly put their products on the device or will it be locked down like Apples'?

I did not see any video playbacks and have a few questions. First, will there be legacy support (ie. Smartlistogo)? Additionally, will everything be Web-Centric? What happens when the web goes down? Will it continue to work? Particularly with the combined email accounts.

Anyhow, I think that Palm is moving in the right direction (by the way does anyone know if this really Linux renamed?) and I commend Ed Colligan for coming out swinging. Now, they will have to get this thing on a GSM platform also.

I cannot wait to see a true review of this device and to see this thing in action. I am also interested to see which developers have actually signed on for this device.




LDD.

Hey Dataviz? Why are you not porting Smartlistogo?

Okay, So I am being somewhat rude in my title, but for good reason. I bought an iPhone recently and followed the latest downloads of Handbase, the relational database tool, which to be honest, on a Palm device pales in comparison to Smartlistogo, which has a much richer calculator and conditional line statement handling. A recent survey on the Dataviz smartlistogo website shows a need for the company to port this app to the iPhone and other smartphones. However, there has been no word from the company in regards to doing this.

When you have one of the best programs ever written for a mobile device sitting in your lap, I cannot believe that you would not want to transfer that to another platform or at least look into doing this. Or at the very least IMPROVE UPON THE PRODUCT on the Palm.

I had lunch last week with an esteemed colleague and we discussed databases and the reason why he was staying with Palm. The people in attendance were split down the middle - 3 with iPhones, 3 with Palm devices. The number one thing for the 3 with Palm devices echoed was the lack of software on the iPhone and the rudimentary nature of the Apps that are presently being written. I can agree wholeheartedly with that opinion. Handbase's program, although good (a full review to follow), is still in a relative beta phase. Some of this appears to be due to Apple and not the company - which I have been told by at least two people and I can testify to the veracity of such statements personally - (Handbase/ DDHSoftware) are working diligently on adding more features. The main feature - forms, was not submitted to Apple yet, but they are working on this. Handbase for the iPhone works well, but is very rudimentary and I really believe that the equation section and conditional formulas section could be improved. An example is listed below:

Handbase conditional formulas are akin to this:

o If A then B, else C.

While Smartlistogo's conditional formulas are more complex:

o If A then B, else C.
or If A and B, then D.
or If A or B, then E.

You can see how this comes in handy. For example, another feature missing in Handbase is the monitor function. In Smartlist, you can change the color of a cell, using conditional statements like the one listed, add a marker, ie. *** which when added to a table, makes it stand out.

Example:

A pregnant patient requires a repeat C-Section. You could put in a conditional statement that will make this show up every time you look at the list view:

Example:

Field 1 = "***"
Field 2 = " Checkbox"
Field 3 = " "

Smartlistogo:
If Field 2 = "checkbox" ( <=== in this case the box is checked), then Field 1 (***).

The same can be done in Handbase.

However, let's say that our same patient has something due between week 16 and week 20,
then you have problems with HandBase. This sort of thing would require a conditional statement that would take into account the time interval. Something not easily accomplished with Handbase:

TN=Time Now.
A= 16
B= 20
C= "***"

Smartlist:

if TN > A, but < B then C.

Name: Jenny Sample
Age: 28
Weeks: 17
Msafp: ***
Csec:

Every time you look at your list (and I do), you can tell what needs to be done. I have markers for a lot of things. It is really a good feature, currently missing in Handbase and leaving a GAPING BIG HOLE FOR DATAVIZ TO FILL IN.

So again I ask this question, as many others are doing:

DATAVIZ, WHY ARE YOU NOT PORTING SMARTLISTOGO AND WHY ARE YOU NOT SUPPORTING IT?

What I see happening here is that Handbase's DDH Software will own this entire platform mainly because of their incredible desire to listen to customers and push the envelope. As I stated to you before, I have been the recipient of their help when an email was sent to them. Not only did I get the help that I needed (Version 1.000 of the program crashed incessantly), but the company was also helpful in discussing their features and open to questions, criticisms and suggestions. The last time I tried that with Dataviz, I received very little response.

To Dataviz's defense, I do see that they are busily working on their flagship product - Office and will probably be the first company to produce 2 way editing of Office documents on the iPhone, something that is obviously needed very badly. So that leaves their "hobby" sitting around rotting in the wilderness. Perhaps they could sell it to someone or give it to the open source community. Smartlist is such a good program that I think it would be sad to see it go.

May be DDHSoftware will take up where our good friends at Dataviz have left off? There's something to be said about doing one thing and doing it well (ie. Oracle versus Microsoft. Oracle is the better database).

Chime in with your thoughts on this.


LDD.

NEWSFLASH: HANDBASE FOR IPHONE JUST RELEASED !!!!

I just received an email from DDH Software that they have just released Handbase for the iPhone.
This marks the very first Relational Database released for the iPhone.

I will post my review once I play with it for a while.

LDD.

Is Apple taking over the Handheld Med App Industry?

I just finished reading a small ditty on Macrumors.com on medical software. It seems that some of the simple apps that were originally written on the Palm platform are slowly being ported over to the Apple iPhone/iTouch.

A few months ago I questioned whether Medical Apps would find their way into the App store and eventually the iPhone. Well, it is beginning to happen. And it is not just the simple apps that are porting themselves over. Epocrates was the first major player to port its application first to an online only version for iPhone 1 and now a native app version for iPhone 3G. Now comes word that iSilo is quietly waiting in line to have its native app ported over to the iPhone (amazing that they have to wait in line with all of the other developers).

Simple apps such as calculators (Medcalc for Palm) are being emulated ad nauseum. One product, MEDIQUATIONS is going for $ 4.99 and appears to be the front runner for Medcalc emulation. However, there are a number of other programs with similar ideas going for free. A rudimentary program is iPhone Medical Calculator . This particular program continues to update quite regularly and I would assume that it will only take a short while before it begins competing with or surpassing the equations stored in the modest "Medical-Student-is-hungry-please-give-5-bucks-for-my-program" version. By the way, I am not joking about that last part, Mediquations was written by a 3rd year Medical student.

MacRumors, as I have just learned today, is actually run by a Physician who just recently retired from his 2 year Nephrology Practice, so he has a handle on Medical software. Pop over to the link (just click on the title of this piece) and see Dr. Arnold Kim's entire blog entry. What is interesting is the following post from one of the readers, responding to Dr. Kim's article:

"i know several doctors who are just loving the new medical apps for the iPhone and can finally ditch their palms. opening this us to the market for apps was genius and is helping the iPhone break into areas traditionally dominated by other handhelds for too long."

- Taken from Macrumors.com.

Unless Palm does something really quickly, my prediction of a huge move to the Apple platform could become a reality very soon.


But Wait !!!!


NOT SO FAST!!!! There are a few negative things that I have seen already in the App store. For example, there is a program called Eponyms, selling for $1.99. I mean really? Is that a medical necessity? This is the kind of program that should be free and cost nothing at all. After all, there is a website from which the database is probably founded, that could be ported directly into the device. Not really worthy, but that's my opinion.

But while we're on "my opinion," maybe it's time to take a look at another little ditty, mentioned in the same article, "OB Patient Tracker." Golly, I have an OB patient tracker that I created with Smartlistogo. And it does a lot more than what this one does on the iPhone, yet the iPhone version is selling for $14.99 !!! I applaud the free market system. However, I think that what we are seeing is the Gold Rush Movement. The first in show line coming out rather quickly and making a lot of money along the way. More power to them, but I am going to wait a little longer before giving up on Palm.

However, I predict that the real "killer apps" for the iPhone Medical community are being written right now and will come out before June of next year. I also predict that many of them are being written in Garages, Living Rooms and Study Halls. The home of NSBASIC and Code Warrior, has been ransacked by the new Cottage Industry - The iPhone. And to think, all Palm had to do was release an SDK and give programmers full access to programming tools instead of releasing an SDK with very little ability for "non-C-programmers" to do anything but buy an expensive suite or rely on something like castlebasic. What Apple did was release an SDK - albeit a restricted one - but gave the programmers the tools to create the software. Much of it is rudimentary, as in the early days of Palm, but that will soon change as programmers become more sophisticated. (I would jump at a chance to buy something from Pen Computer Solutions for example, a leader in relational database software. Having programmed two major databases with this software, it is a true leader and compatible with many enterprise solutions).

It is beginning to look as though Apple will become a major player in the Medical Software market. They are already leading in the pricing department (many apps are well under $15). And that is where it all starts. They are letting the market decide upon the prices and it will only be a matter of time before the rudimentary players will give way to the dynamic suites that are on the Palm devices now.

I am going out on a limb here, but I am also predicting that if a developer comes out with a real relational database application that is both simple to use and graphically beautiful; lending itself to creation on the fly without a desktop and as easy to use as SMARTLISTOGO with MS OFFICE or OPEN OFFICE compatibility, then there will be a deluge of Physicians leaving Palm.

Devices are becoming convergence vehicles, bringing together several file formats that people are demanding to be opened in a handheld device. For example Apple opens PDF's without a flaw, while Palm and Microsoft continue to stumble on this format, even though it is obvious that it is now the default for most documents. However Palm excels, where Apple's handheld remains dormant when it comes to opening, editing and creating Excel and Word documents (Dataviz Documents to Go and Mobisystems' Office). Physicians are looking for complete and total convergence now and the devices will need to answer to this need. So far, the iPhone is promising a lot and starting to deliver. Although it is a closed system, it appears to be catching on with many and is promising even more to come. Palm....while still the leader in the space, is showing signs of fatigue. The promises of a new device and a new operating system have been echoing for at least 3 years. With no reasonable competitor in sight, we put up with it. But this is not happening anymore. With the promise of Google's Android and the already successful launch of the iPhone, Palm will need to work harder to not only stay on top, but maybe to compete.

I am holding some confidence that they will do something very special next year.


LDD.

* Picture of iPhone vs. Treo taken from Palminfocenter.com. (Link)


Update October, 2008:

I wrote the above article before I purchased an iPhone 3G and a few things have changed since that time. First, ePocrates has just announced an update to its iPhone program. They will now have on-device storage of pill pictures, which will speed up the lookups. Additionally, they plan to eventually add the insurance coverage app that is so useful on the desktop and Palm versions.

I have it on good authority that the first native relational database to make it to the iPhone will come from Handbase developer, DDH Software. You may have read about me ragging on this company for nickel and diming on the Palm Platform for plugins, when they are standard on Documents-to-go's Smartlistogo, but DDH is a very formidable and respectable company and I really welcome their entry into this space. It is sorely needed. Now I will have to go and buy their software, since I plan to use the iPhone for many things. Check the website and blog, I will finally put up my smartlistogo apps for free download.

Another note is that Eponym's founder woke up and is now giving away the software. Additionally, the Gold Rush appears to be ending in the App store.

LDD.