PDA Decline due to terrible Marketing Stratergies

[Mr Gobz]

My God it`s barely believable the level of poor marketing that exists with the manufaturers of high end PDA`s. Take Dell for example from 2005. The x50 & X51 series with 2700g graphics. By far and away the most redeeming feature of these machines are the multimedia capabilities, video in particular. Basically with the free TCPMP player for example you can download all the divx/xvid encoded DOcs and TV programes you like and then just throw them onto a CF micro drive of SD card and then the unit will play them back perfectly with no need to re-encode them at all, coupled with VGA resolution there has been nothing that can really beat that at all.

When you bought an axim did Dell ever make you aware of this or of CF micro drives or now cheap high storage SD cards ?, never. What on earth are they all playing at, PSP`s and Ipods are left trailing in the dust as they have to have these files re-encoded at a lower bitrate on account of the fact that they have poxy cpu speed in comparision, and having to re-encode anything is not even worth the bother, it`s just a cheap thrill at the end of the day.

You can`t beat an X51v as a pocket media machine, even the new cheap portable media players are limited in the bitrate that they can handle ! and as for phones, well they are just a joke in comparison.

I think that Dell and makers of high end PDA`s have missed a great marketing opportunity here, allowing there products to be seen as nothing more than glorified diaries for bored buisinessmen.

Also with internet browsing, WIFI is great if your near an unprotected network, but what about the rest of the time, these days something like a 3G CF card would be nice, but where is it ?, a year or so ago a CF modem that actually works could have helped fill in the gaps, but where was it, nowhere !, I got one once but couldn`t for the life of me get it to work !

Also there is a really poor supply of games that use the 3D accelleration obviously due to the low user base which stems from them shooting themselves in the foot over the media marketing thing.

The Pocket PC is dead . . long live the Pocket PC !

What do the rest of you think, did they all stuff up big time or what ?

I agree with you.
The perfect MP3/Media player is a PocketPc with big flash memory (you can have that with big CF and/or SD). Have great Screen, Bluetooth,WIFI... Look at the cost of the Zune!!
The only bad thing is battery life!!!
I agree with you also on the 3G card for PocketPc.

[rohanch]

...seen as nothing more than glorified diaries for bored buisinessmen

I agree completely. When I tell most people I have a PDA, they instantly think organiser-type thing. They have no idea that it can actually play videos or music or games or browse the internet as well and people are always like "wow I didn't know they could do that" when I show them. In fact many people I've shown actually are considering buying one for themselves now!

So most people in my experience never even consider buying a PDA for the multimedia functions. If they were advertised more I think PDAs would be selling much, much better, particularly the Axim series.

Well stated! If I could only utilize the Ax like a smartphone or BB, I'd have no reason to carry anything else when I travel. It still is my device of choice when travelling on personal business. No need for the laptop. If it had better support for music subscriptioin services, I wouldn't need a separate MP3 player.

[peeps]

but it sure is a beating to carry around all this extra crap (airline/car adapters/battery extenders/spare batteries, etc...) just to be able to use it for these functions for more than 2-3 hours. Try using it on a series international flights (economy class) and let me know how you feel about it being the ultimate media machine. While you are searching for ways to power your PDA on the plane and at airports during layovers, the guy with the ipod is laughing at you....trust me...I have been there on a flight from the US to Zambia while trying to maximize the use of my x50v for music, movies, games, etc...

And, if you can compete with the ipod battery life, I can only imagine you have spent quite a bit more on extended batteries and alternative charging adapters that your ipod counterpart...or even buying a low end PDA and an ipod

[Mr Gobz]

Of course I have a double sized extended battery as well, you can buy them now from sellers on ebay for less than a tenner, don`t buy from Dell all their accessories are a complete rip off.

And you can swop batteries over easily too, therefore battery life is not a problem.

Whilst watching 350MB saved divx TV programs I think that I get around 4 - 5 hours playback using the standard battery plus 1 double sized one as a back up, more than enough for most journeys/flights etc. I love to watch Lost, Documentaries, 24 etc on the bus to London myself.

I don`t think that I could even bear to watch ( especially films ) stuff on a video ipod, so the battery life on them could last for a million years but they would still be crap, after all a battery powered farting woopee cusion could have a really long battery life, but that still wouldn`t make it any good eh ?

Most video ipod owners are very ill imformed folk and one day they will all die in blissful ignorance, ah bless `em , same goes for alot of mobile phone users too. The main reason for this is of course the fact that pocket PC manufacturers haven`t made these `simple` folk aware of what an Axim etc can really do !

May I suggest that next time you come accross a video Ipod user, lean over as they are trying to watch a badly encoded film on it and have a really good hearty belly laugh at their futile attempts to entertain themselves, ha ha:approve:

but it sure is a beating to carry around all this extra crap (airline/car adapters/battery extenders/spare batteries, etc...) just to be able to use it for these functions for more than 2-3 hours. Try using it on a series international flights (economy class) and let me know how you feel about it being the ultimate media machine. While you are searching for ways to power your PDA on the plane and at airports during layovers, the guy with the ipod is laughing at you....trust me...I have been there on a flight from the US to Zambia while trying to maximize the use of my x50v for music, movies, games, etc...

And, if you can compete with the ipod battery life, I can only imagine you have spent quite a bit more on extended batteries and alternative charging adapters that your ipod counterpart...or even buying a low end PDA and an ipod

[Bobsf40]

I agree completely. When I tell most people I have a PDA, they instantly think organiser-type thing. They have no idea that it can actually play videos or music or games or browse the internet as well and people are always like "wow I didn't know they could do that" when I show them. In fact many people I've shown actually are considering buying one for themselves now!.

Same here! One of my class mates actually went looking when I showed him my Axim +keyboard.

The battery is the major downer. Although for the comparison to the ipod, the ipod only gets 2hours for video playback, and you cannot change batteries.

[~DC:UK~]

I used to regularly watch Geekbrief TV podcasts on my x51v using tcpmp but I got really frustrated with the choppy playback (not to mention the poor battery life).

The video iPod is great for podcasts and any mp4 video but the axim has versatility on its side.

Its certainly not the ultimate media machine though!

[jpp]

True but they also produced a product that should have a much less scary method of locking onto various wifi networds and should have come with a simple usb slot.

I just had to add that I LOVE my x51v but I also have an video ipod and while I know I have the abilityt to view video on the axim (I had done it on my old x30 a number of times on trips) I have no problems using both devices. In a pinch, I take the axim but being a lady who can toss both into my purse I feel I get the best of both worlds in most cases. Like others have said, the ax battery life (in my opinion) is not as strong as the video ipod. I can watch 3 or so hours of tv on my ipod before the battery dies. I do wish we can change batteries like the ax since I do have an extra one for that .

I do agree though that the PDA marketing teams just didn't give it much of a chance. But at the same time I do like that I have a "toy" that not everyone else has because of mass marketing. I had an axim x30 before I had my ipod but I got my ipod so that I could specifically dedicate it to music and videos and I am happy to have both:)

PDAs have been around long enough that I just hope we can continue to support the lines so they dont go away!

[AndyO]

I don't think there is so much of a marketing failure here as a failure to develop the product. It would have been relatively easy to build a decent amount of storage and power capacity into the thing which would have given a great deal more flexibility and viability to the final product, but none of the PDA manufacturers seem to have done so. I suspect the primary reason is that by the time the PDA had begun to mature, convergence had already pulled the market in a different direction, and the actual market of potential customers had gone into decline.

Don't get me wrong, having just bought ax x51v that I am delighted with, I can see the potential and the advantages of ownership, but these have traditionally been weak and feeble platforms for handling anything serious, and woefully inadequate in hardware terms for coping with media and entertainment functions.

Even the x50v/x51v screen is too small for the device to be a useful business tool above and beyond personal/organizational value, and while the small footprint gives it pocketability of the sort just about every techno-junkie would want, having to carry around a bag of spare batteries and memory cards, or investing in what has until recently been rather expensive large-scale storage devices has hampered development and deployment of media and entertainment products at sufficient market penetration to be worthwhile.

Whether we like it or not, Apple quite clearly got it far more right in media terms - as can be seen by the volume of sales of iPods. That an x51v had a larger screen and more functionality is undoubted, but it's clearly not the product the public want - or have ever wanted and I think that's why production of PDA is in decline. People want functions that are not readily deliverable by PDA - constant availability of data for example, hence the growth in cellphones with integrated organizational tools and/or constant-on email and messaging, and if the failures of such things as tablet PCs and sub-notebook portables in the past is anything to go by, there has really never been a widespread need for the sort of things a good PDA can do.

What there is is a relatively narrow market of people who either need the functions these products can deliver, or who like techno-toys enough to buy them. But to the vast majority of people, a PDA is peripheral to their daily life and hasn't the power or resources to be much else, while a narrowly targeted product like the iPod is a pervasive technology that has far more appeal and purpose.

I totally disagree with AndyO. The product is a great product.
Screen too small for a useful business tool??what kind of bussiness??Image editing??
Carry around a bag for spare memory cards?Have you seen a SD card?
The screen is much better than the one on the Ipod or any other MP3 player.
The volume of sales of Ipod?MARKETING!! It is not even the best Media player out there. Most expensive!!You even have to buy the charger as an extra!!No FM radio...not to mention others...
So that is what this thread started... the failure to make a good marketing campaign for the PocktetPc. That is why they have a narrow market.
BTW: For me PocketPC and Smartphone (Windows Mobile) are on the same group.

So the Axim X50v is cheaper than an Ipod Video and not much expensive than Ipod Nano 4Gb.
As a side note Blackberrys are a success.
So, perfect convergent device would be a Dell Axim Smartphone with 32Gb Flash memory (wait for Samsung) and Toshiba fuel cell batteries.
I think in 2 or 3 years will have it. And by that time the simple MP3/Media players like Ipods (and consumer Digital cameras) would be out of the market due to the Mobile phones integrating these features.
My opinion.

PD: It would help the Axim as a Media Player if the buttons and controls where better designed for that purpose.

[jpp]

It needs the bugs worked out too,,,see all the posts just on here about all the quirks in sync and operating systems.....my problem is the quirly wifi connecting.....as long as it is used in conjunction with as opposed to instead of a pc the storage isnt a real big issue but I think battery life is.

[Wehawken]

This seems a little like comparing apples and oranges to me. I have my trusty Zen for music so I don’t care if my Axim can play music.. I have my blackberry so I don’t care if my Axim is not a phone.. Video is nice but that is not what I wanted a hand held computer for.. There is plenty of room in my briefcase for the hand full of little devices that I drag all over the country. Maybe the guy next to me on the plane can watch a video and listen to a zillion songs on his Ipod.. but I would like to see him login to a company network and reboot 16 routers 12 states away with that Ipod.

At the end of the day.. market trends don’t mean didly to the hundreds of thousands of road warriors that need computers that are small, flexible, and will fit under the seat in business class.. or a first class upgrade if you get lucky. Someone will always make them because there is a need for them that these smart phones can never fill.

I never had a problem with wifi on my Axim....But about Media Players..only Zune have Wifi... and useless... but I don't get what does this thing have to do with the discussion. All hardware out there have bugs... that is why they have firmware upgrades...(also to add new functionalities)

It needs the bugs worked out too,,,see all the posts just on here about all the quirks in sync and operating systems.....my problem is the quirly wifi connecting.....as long as it is used in conjunction with as opposed to instead of a pc the storage isnt a real big issue but I think battery life is.