The great PDA debate

A few weeks ago, I told you about my failed attempt to cover Comdex wielding little more than a PDA. My conclusion--PDAs are not ready for mission critical tasks--drew more response than any story I've written in my 11 years of tech journalism. Based on that feedback, a follow-up is in order.

Nearly everyone who wrote fell squarely into one of two camps. In one were those who agreed wholeheartedly based on their own experiences, which they more than willingly shared with me. The other group basically felt I deserved everything that happened to me because I didn't back up my iPAQ to another device that would allow in-the-field recovery. But with the blame came suggestions; the most oft-cited solution was a Compact Flash card.

With two camps firmly entrenched, it looks like the beginning of the great PDA debate, the outcome of which could answer some questions for the third group that contacted me: Compaq's engineers.

The debate really boils down to one question. What existing technology serves as the best model of reliability for PDAs? The folks who chastised me for not backing up invariably cited the notebook computer as the example to follow. Questions like, "You backup your notebook computer don't you? Why shouldn't you back up this?" were par for the course from this crowd.

As reasonable as that argument sounds, I'm sticking with folks who supported my position. If we let the engineers at Compaq, HP, Sony, Palm, Handspring--or any other company--think that notebook computers should be the model of reliability for these devices, we're in for a long haul.

Imagine a spectrum of mobile digital devices. At one end, there are notebook computers; at the other, cell phones. The PDA sits somewhere in the middle. But is it closer to the notebook computer side of the spectrum, or the cell phone end?

Answer? Cell phone. In fact, within the next year or two, just about every new cell phone will have one of three operating systems at their heart: the Symbian OS (outgrowth of the Psion's Epoch PDA), Windows CE, or the PalmOS. Even today the convergence is well underway. Visor owners can turn their PDA's into phones with a snap-on device or swap their old Visor for Handspring's TREO (a GSM phone powered by the PalmOS). Kyocera and Samsung have their PalmOS-based units shipping. Microsoft's Stinger platform is being tested in Europe, and companies like Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo are shipping Symbian-based phones faster than they can make them.

I look at my cell phone and I can't imagine it being as fragile as my iPAQ, needing a backup every time I added a little bit of information to it. One reason for the success of cell phones is that they're virtually carefree. They're made for the masses and not just the cognoscenti. I've dropped mine, put it through the wash, sent it flying off the roof of my car--and it still works. And I've never had to back the darn thing up. I've killed the battery hundreds of times, but still, all the information stays put. Now that meets the mission critical test. While I have no confidence in the AT&T Wireless network that it's attached to (another story for a another day), I can always rely on the phone.

With the phone and the PDA converging, can we really expect all the cell phone users who have never done a backup to suddenly accept that responsibility with their converged devices? Doubtful.

It's not just a question of responsibility, but it's a matter of cost, too. You just paid a nice premium for a high-powered handheld device with a brilliant color display and then you're expected to shell out another $50 to $100 for extra gizmos that you have to carry around just to keep it running? Absurd.

Well, we're not "there" yet, but it helps to know the state of the state. Based on the mail I received and my own experience, it's safe to say that the PalmOS' maturity gives it an edge. While its too early to pass judgment on Pocket PC 2002's reliability (I now have it running on two devices), the PalmOS has a pretty good track record. But it's not foolproof, and more could be done; an assessment that PalmOS CEO Bruce Nagel agreed with when I interviewed him at Comdex. But even more reliable, according to ZDNet readers, is the Symbian OS which, by all accounts, sounds bulletproof. I personally can't vouch for that but I have no reason to doubt the testimonials I received.

One feature that all new (and some older) Pocket PC-based devices have is an Intel technology called StrataFlash. As a companion technology to Intel's StrongARM processor (which all future Pocket PCs will run on), it provides part of the fix that I asked for in my previous column. Windows CE, which is at the core of Pocket PC, can enable this with Intel's Persistent Storage Manager (PSM) driver.

Pocket PC PDA manufacturers that choose to enable PSM make it possible for software developers and users like you and me to load anything we want into nonvolatile memory. In other words, a hard reset, the sort of reset that wiped out my iPAQ at Comdex, won't wipe out anything stored in this area.

Under Pocket PC 2002, HP and Compaq have enabled StrataFlash as a storage area for their Jornadas and iPAQs. HP calls it "Safe Store" and Compaq calls it "File Store." While neither works exactly as I had hoped, HP's implementation is somewhat better.

I was hoping for a way to selectively move or backup individual applications, drivers, data, or groups of those to the StrataFlash. While both the iPAQ and the Jornada have a built-in backup application that allows me to backup to any available storage area, including the nonvolatile StrataFlash as well as Compact Flash, there's still no way for me to backup or restore only my OmniSky drivers. Well, there is, but I would have to individually copy and paste every necessary file from the volatile main memory to the StrataFlash or the CF card. I don't even know what files are necessary, what ones aren't, or where they belong. Nor should I have to. Whether this is the fault of OmniSky, HP, or Microsoft doesn't really matter to me.

While backup filtering is a problem with both devices, there is one subtle difference that gives the Jornada a slight edge over the iPAQ. Pocket PC 2.0 and 2002 provide a command to back up only your contact database to non-volatile flash, but the iPAQ backup utility for dealing with the rest of your software and data is basically an all or nothing approach. Back it all up, or don't back up anything. The Jornada, on the other hand, gives some choices: you can back up everything, just your databases, just your inbox, or just a collection of contacts, calendars, and tasks. This approach, while not perfect, is a lot more useful than what the iPAQ offers.

One way around these deficiencies is to bypass the whole backup/restore issue for the really important stuff. Instead of putting mission-critical drivers and software into the volatile main memory area, you can load them directly into the StrataFlash or Compact Flash. Installing software and drivers usually requires running Pocket PC's ActiveSync synchronization tool. During the installation process, you're asked if you want to load the software in the default directory. If you say no, it lets you select from other available storage areas, such as the SafeStore (the Jornada's StrataFlash). Unfortunately, while the installation process tells you how much space is available in main memory and other storage areas like Compact Flash, it doesn't tell you if there's enough space in StrataFlash to accommodate the software.

Finally, if you're considering buying either of these devices for corporate deployment, as a holiday gift, or to burn your own holiday windfall, here are few tidbits I've picked up during testing. The Jornada beats out the iPAQ in a couple other ways. My favorite Jornada feature is its removable battery. Pocket PCs are gas guzzlers-so you can plan on stopping for frequent refills, or bring along an extra tank. There's no extra tank option for current iPAQ models, but I've been told one is lurking just around the corner. On the flip-side, the iPAQ seems to be ready to accommodate more types of peripherals. Using a special sleeve that fits around the iPAQ, I can get it to work with just about any peripheral form factor (PCMCIA, CF, SD, etc.). The Jornada 560 has a built-in CF slot for expansion and supposedly expansion via other form factors will be accomplished through adapters that connect to the Jornada by replacing its battery with a device that doubles as an adapter and a battery. I was hoping to find something like this so that I could move my OmniSky setup (which uses a PCMCIA-based Sierra Wireless card) to the Jornada. But I couldn't find anything remotely close while trolling HP's Jornada accessories Web site.

I suspect that until the HP/Compaq merger picture clears up, the groups designing these devices will continue to one-up each other, perhaps in the hope of gaining a little job security in the merged company. 'Til then, the debate goes on.