Yeah I have a Palm Tungsten C. The WiFi software was horrible. It couldn't connect to have the AP's I encountered and towards the end it couldn't connect to anything. Towards the end? Oh yeah it just totally died 2 months after the warranty ran out. So yeah not a big fan of Palm.

But that's ok. I had a PocketPC like 5 years ago and didn't find it that useful. This Palm was my 2nd attempt at finding a PDA to be useful. You know what? PDA's aren't that useful. The PDA simply became a very expensive means of transporting my contacts, calendar, todo items, etc between home and work to keep them in sync. But the PDA pretends that it is something more and that doesn't work. The iPod on the other hand knows it is just a transport. It's a mobile copy of your iTunes collection. And that works.

Vern, what you describe sounds very similar to the capabilities of the PlayStation Portable. The only thing it lacks right now is a hard drive, and it tends toward the proprietary end of the pool then I normally like... but it has games, can display pics and movies, play movies (only on UMD though) and games. Has a browser, and will soon have email and I've heard a keyboard is coming.

If Apple took on the PSP, it would be interesting....

All they really need to do is shrink down an iMac some more to a palm-sized device that runs the full Mac OS X and we're all set.

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Vern, what you describe sounds very similar to the capabilities of the PlayStation Portable. The only thing it lacks right now is a hard drive, and it tends toward the proprietary end of the pool then I normally like... but it has games, can display pics and movies, play movies (only on UMD though) and games. Has a browser, and will soon have email and I've heard a keyboard is coming.

If Apple took on the PSP, it would be interesting....

My vision of a perfect PDA would be grafting an iPod onto my Sony Clie N70. The full-size hi-rez screen, keyboard which swivels and folds out of the way when you don't want it, and expandability (granted only through Sony's Memory Sticks), slapped onto a decent sized hard drive and something that plays music, shows pictures, and now videos, seemed just about right.

Swap the memory stick slot for a CF or SD slot, for compatibility with a wifi card or possibly a cellular card. Ditch PalmOS for Mac OS X Mobile (did anyone else notice the handwriting features added in since Panther?), and just watch them sell. I'd buy one, even at the $500 price point of the LifeDrive. I'd love to have one device to lug around instead of the cell phone, PDA, and iPod I'm currently stuffing into my pockets. It could be a little bit bigger, though not by much, and if that full-length keyboard is deemed too much, there's a Sony Ericsson cell phone that has a keyboard that does the same there-when-you-need-it trick that's only about a quarter to a third the size.

Apple's new iPod with video is just testing the waters - there's something else in the pipeline, provisional to more content prividers (NBC? CBS? Fox? Movie studios?) take notice of what ABC/Disney are trying. Steve never truly said "No Video iPod" - the quotes I remember say something more to the effect that the time wasn't right, and what would you play on it? Steve has a longer-range plan than just this. Think about it, putting video onto a Palm or Pocket PC PDA is still a little bit more voodoo than commonplace, even now. We'll see how iTunes' Media Store goes.

I don't own an iPod because it lacks the features I've come to depend on from my Palm PDA, and can't justify spending the cash. I have long proclaimed to others, however, that if an iPod or other Apple-branded device such as the "seed" were created I'd just have to have one. Something that keeps my contacts and to-dos handy while providing my music library, photos, videos, AND a seamless Mac integration experience? I just drooled a little.

The OQO does most of this. The guys that make it (check out www.oqo.com) were responsible for designing the TiBook. Stevie kicked their idea to the curb (but steve is dumba44 on a bunch of counts, and who knows, he's done a "read my lips no video ipods" and other such that he's gone back on).

Here's the interesting bit, being as people have been hacking the intel developer version of 10.4, I bet someone could make 10.4 for intel work on the oqo. How sweet would that be!

Wouldn't it be better just to wait for now until foldable flexible paper like screens are available and cheap?

This is right on! Mac OS X on the OQO would make me teary until I got my own little piece of heaven! I think the price-point is a little higher than Vern is discussing here, but with Samsung on the ropes, the move to flash mem, and Apple looking to make themselves the comeback story of the millenium, (not to mention those benevolent hackers who will make the Intel-ized OS X work everywhere they want it to), I can really see it happening.

I haven't cried like this since they carpet-bombed the Smurf village!

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The OQO does most of this.

Why not call it the Newton II? Apple's had successes with IIs before -- Apple II, Mac II. Or they could call it the 'iPod Newton.'

What I want is a an iPod inside an updated Newton (handwriting recognition, and Keyboard available) with all the wireless connectivity you mentioned.

It could even run MacOS X if necessary, or at least, a stripped-down version. But a better interface is certainly possible: modify the old Newton OS to make the iPod functionality easily available, and voila -- instant hit!

That's what I'm wishing for.

I haven't read all the comments, but basically you want apple to replicate the LifeDrive with a larger hard drive?

I sold my ipod on ebay after I got my life drive, and I still keep my treo650 (keyboard, video camera) and it has basically replaced my laptop.

The 4 gig hard drive is a little weak, but the keyboards that are available are more than adequate using IR.

Bluetooth keyboard? I think I may tear and thank the heavens. But sounds expensive.

All in all, you are on the right track...now all i need to do is replace my laptop with a tablet PC and I'm in hog heaven.