Palm OS: Not good, but good enough

I haven’t heard anyone lately claim that Palm OS is a good platform. What people do seem to agree on is that it’s good enough.

That’s both good and bad, as the developers gathering this week at Palm Inc.’s PalmSource conference in Santa Clara, Calif., ought to bear in mind.

The good part is that the limitations of the Palm platform enforce a certain level of simplicity upon the applications that can run on it. You can’t do fancy formatting with documents that live on the Palm platform, for example, and other kinds of content are similarly limited. There are exceptions, where developers manage to transcend some of the limitations — Cutting Edge Software Inc.’s applications in general and QuickSheet in particular spring to mind — but for the most part, simple software works best on the Palm.

I’ve been carrying around a PalmPilot Professional for about five years. A few years ago I upgraded it with a 2MB memory module that effectively makes it a Palm III. I take it with me when I need my contact database or my calendar or want to take quick notes. For note-taking, I also bring along a LandWare GoType! keyboard, which makes entering text easier and faster for touch-typists.

In other words, my Palm is not an essential accessory. I wish it were. And that’s the bad news for the Palm community.

When I make a list of what I really want in a handheld computer, it contains everything I do with my desktop computer, including capture and play back sound and video and connect to other users. (I don’t do a lot of heavy lifting with my desktop PC — no application development or video editing.) I want a notepad, music player, two-way text pager, and more in a single device I can carry easily.

I’m prepared to pay extra for valuable accessories, such as a portable camera or speakers. But I expect a full-color screen and, because it’s so important for me to stay connected, a built-in wireless connection to an Internet service provider that not only lets me exchange text-based e-mail and instant messages, but also lets me view graphical Web content.

I just can’t get all that in one handheld device today.

The machine that comes closest may be the Compaq iPaq H3650 Pocket PC — which isn’t based on Palm OS. With the addition of wireless service from Metricom Inc. and OmniSky Corp., which won’t be available until well into next year, I may have the machine I really want.

On the other hand, I can’t afford the machine I really want. The base platform is $500, the wireless hardware is $99 to $300, and monthly service is $40 to $75.

So maybe I should shop for something that’s just good enough. A Palm VIIc, perhaps?

Lessons from Elvis

Today would have been Elvis Presley’s 66th birthday. Even though he’s been dead for nearly 24 years (we think), he’s still a powerful figure in the entertainment industry. But his influence doesn’t have to stop there. What lessons can we learn from Elvis that we can apply to our jobs as IT professionals?

Don’t be afraid to take chances. His first hit, “That’s All Right Mama,” sounded like garden-variety country blues. But within a year he was singing “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” and “Don’t Be Cruel,” merging the blues with the evolving sounds of rock ‘n’ roll. The lesson? Take the initiative to expand your job duties to places where you see an unmet need in your organization.

Sometimes duty trumps desire. Elvis did his stint in the Army when he was called upon to do so, and earned the approval of his fans. Remember that if you’re a programmer stuck doing maintenance because your company is short-handed. Patience isn’t easy, but it’s often rewarded.

Showmanship works. Plenty of other performers had voices just as good as Elvis, but Elvis put on a show no one else could match. While your work may be rock-solid, don’t forget to market yourself, your department, your product. The most successful firms and individuals combine intrinsic worth with an adequate portion of self-promotion.

Do one thing and do it well. In Elvis’s case, that was singing. Have you seen his movies? That they don’t cause actual physical pain is about the best you can say about most of them. During most of the ’60s, when he concentrated on his film career, the quality of his recordings suffered. Don’t try to split your time among too many activities, and wind up doing none of them well.

All things in moderation. The medication that killed Elvis might have helped him had he not gone overboard. Too much of a good thing can be just as bad as too little. Remember that before you institute rigid policies with no room for flexibility. And don’t forget to take time for yourself.

They can get by without you. Granted, Elvis didn’t leave the building voluntarily. In his case, it was accidental death; in business, it can be layoffs or termination. Be sure you have a back-up career plan. And if you want to stick around, be sure to be a positive contribution to the bottom line.

Leave a legacy. If he were around today, would The King be as popular as Britney Spears, Eminem, or even The Beatles? Who knows? But even though he’s gone, we still enjoy his music. Make sure your organization remembers you fondly when you move on. Hire carefully, document your work, and take time to do the little things that will help your company succeed even in your absence.

If I’ve stretched the metaphor in this column, don’t be cruel and let your hound dog mess on my blue suede shoes. We in the ghetto of IT journalism sometimes get all shook up and can’t help falling in love with a concept. I’m just pleading for your suspicious minds to love me tender.

Thank ya vurry much.

The fall of Network Associates

From its humble beginnings as antivirus software maker McAfee, Network Associates Inc., through acquisitions, became an empire. And now the empire is crumbling.

I’m not surprised. Outgoing CEO William Larson built this empire by expanding the company’s offerings into marginally related businesses, and trying to package products into suites without synergy. He acquired companies, added some of their products to his own roster, mercilessly dropped others, and cut staff and R&D to the bone. Network General, PGP, Secure Networks, Trusted Information Systems (makers of the Gauntlet firewall), Magic Solutions, Dr. Solomon’s Group, and Cybermedia were all assimilated into the company.

For several years it was a successful strategy. Network Associates did well in the stock market, both on its own and by spinning out McAfee.com as a tracking stock. That infusion of cash fueled the acquisition spree.

But last week, the bottom finally fell out. The company pulled back an earlier Q4 profit forecast and issued a warning instead. The warning sent the company’s shares plunging, slicing $1 billion from its market capitalization. CEO Larson, the company president, and the CFO are all on their way out. And legal vultures are lining up class-action lawsuits alleging that company officers made false and misleading statements concerning the company’s financial results.

The immediate excuse is a surfeit of excess inventory. And that points to the underlying problem: the products of this classic marketing-driven company seldom did as well as competing offerings in comparative reviews.

Sometimes people get what they deserve. I only hope the corporate officers responsible for the company’s failures come to as much grief as those they ran over along their way.

I remember meeting with four representatives of Network General in 1997 just after it was announced that McAfee was taking over their company. I expressed my condolences. They were aware of McAfee’s reputation, but were cautiously optimistic that the company’s marketing skills would help their business.

On the contrary, the merger besmirched the good name of Sniffer, Network General’s flagship packet analyzer whose name has almost become generic, à la Kleenex. And six months after I met with them, all four of the gentlemen who visited me were no longer employed at the company.

I had another unpleasant experience with the company after Network World, where I used to be director of the test center, reviewed Gauntlet. Over the course of several phone calls, the company put the reviewer and me through the wringer trying to get us to admit we’d bungled the test. They asserted that our numbers could not possibly be correct, and wanted me to pull them from the publication’s Web site. We offered instead to let them review our logs and the firewall configuration. When it was clear we wouldn’t pull the review, they failed to follow through, and never accepted the offer.

Journalists are supposed to be objective, but that doesn’t mean we’re stupid. We examine available evidence and draw our own conclusions, sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Network Associates is finally reaping what it sowed.