As the owner of a Sony Clie, bought for less than $100 and offering 320×320 screen res in color, I was hardly excited about the $149 palmOne Zire 31 without the same sharp screen. Mike Cane disagrees. His thoughts follow.
I must strenuously disagree! You miss the point. The new Z is the upgrade for all those people–and there are many!–who bought the original mono non-backlit Z. They’ve tried a PDA, liked it, and want more but not at a lot of bucks. This $149 jobbie gives them MP3, card storage, and the real possibility of finally trying e-books. I’m sure most people are like me: trying to read e-books on a mono screen (my Clie S320) is just hell on the eyes and not important enough to risk ruining our eyes. I think you’ll find a whole new crop of people trying–and raving about–e-books, thanks to this cheap color Palm. In fact, they might then look down on the Sony Librie for its mono screen! “It costs that much and no color? I have a color screen for just $150!”
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Related: In the near future, I suspect, the Librie or equivalents will almost surely offer color. Today’s E Ink and the like are just the start (link via eBookAd). For yet another perspective, see Zires Get an Update in Writing on Your Palm, which says the 31 has “just about the worst color screen you could get on a PDA.” Still, I’d love for Mike to be right in his theory that the 31 will encourage more people to try e-books. Perhaps that’ll happen.
