The Tech Zone Vs. Microsoft

Written: 9/21/2000
Written by: Moto

I knew it would happen. Mat writes a little Palm Buyer's Guide and all hell breaks loose. In the guide, Mat gives his opinion of the MS Pocket PC. He states:

Forget it.  While Windows CE is slowly creeping towards being almost as good as the Palm OS, it still isn't.  Windows CE (now called Pocket PC) devices are costly things lacking the large program base of the Palm, they have a shorter battery life, and their ease-of-use still hasn't touched the Palm.  While these devices pack more memory and faster processors, rest assures the OS bloats up to compensate for them.  The funniest thing is how all the Pocket PC ads always boast MP3 playing ability.  It's funny because on a 32mb or even 64mb device you'd only be able to pack 3 or 4 songs if you plan on running any other applications.  Of course, this still hasn't stopped the inane "solid state" MP3 player craze where these little devices come just loaded with 64 megs of RAM for a solid hour of listening enjoyment...and don't forget how much flash media will set you back...But I digress from my tirade on MP3 players, since this is a Palm Buyer's Guide.  Just stay away from Windows CE.  

With a statement like that, you would think Microsoft would be pretty upset, right? Well, that's what I was thinking when I checked my Email a few days after that article and found an Email from Beth Goza, Product Manager for Pocket PC Development. My first thought was "Oh boy. I'm in trouble now."

Beth Goza & her dog, Scooter.

It turns out the Email was not so bad at all. Instead of chewing me out, Beth invited me to come on down to Microsoft for an all day conference call "Pocket PC: Wireless & Beyond" where MS would show me the true power of the Pocket PC. 

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