January 16, 2005
an open letter to bill gates
Dear Bill,
First, thank you for all the Microsoft stuff I’ve used over the years. I assure you, it all came in handy one way or the other.
Microsoft keeps making new stuff in the hope that folks like me will buy it. Windows XP, Tablet PCs, all that good stuff. Sometimes you’re successful, most of the time you’re not. Sometimes Macintosh or some other competitor makes it too easy for folk like me to get their business, instead of yours. I’m sure this causes you concern on occasion.
So for next time, instead of you trying to guess what I’m in the market for, I thought it would save us both a lot of trouble if I just came out and told you staight out.
Mr Gates, I want you to build me a Tricorder.
You know the one– that wee gizmo on Star Trek that Mr Spock carried around with him. It basically did everything. It basically told him everything he needed to know. A wee computer, about the size of a small book. Very useful indeed.
Well, like Mr Spock, I need a wee gizmo that does everything. A combination of the following:
–cellphone
–digital camera
–palm pilot
–PC
–instant messenger
–web browser
–iPod
–whatever else I can think of once I’ve had more coffee.
You get the idea– something roughly the size of a cellphone that “does everything”.
Maybe with a plug-in desktop monitor and keyboard for the home and office etc.
If somebody steals my tricorder, I can just phone my number, punch in a secret pin code and you guys instantly freeze it and all its data for me. Plus the data’s backed up on the desktop. Then you send a replacement right away. All paid for with insurance. No need to talk to anyone over the phone.
Sure, you may have to strike a deal with Apple, Nokia etc in order to get this made. Your lawyers may have to get themselves in a hissy fit about proprietory stuff but hey, I’m sure they’ll make plenty of money sorting it out.
But yeah, please stop trying to re-invent the PC wheel and start working on the Tricorder instead. You and I will both be glad you did.
Best,
Hugh MacLeod
gapingvoid.com
The Treo600 does all above with the Mundu Instant Messenger software for MSN, YAHOO & ICQ. PTunes software for MP3 and streaming music inbuilt apps for web browsing and email also Pocket quicken for accounts and expenses, Eatwatch for diet control, Quickword, Quick chart, Quicksheet, Quickpoint all compatible with their MS equivalents
Thanks for the info, Geoff…
So then my next question is, how come MS isn’t trying to have a conversation with us about all this? Why are they letting Treo do it instead?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Trouble is, MS thinks they already have a tricorder, in the form of Windows Mobile or Pocket PC, or some combination of both. The problem is, as with a lot of MS products, they’ve reached a plateau in the platform and don’t seem to know where to go — they lack the vision to push past what everyone knows about pocket communicators to make something revolutionary that could kill the Treo. It’s not just MS, either, hence the Treo 650 being evolutionary rather than revolutionary. A lot of companies have this problem — lack of direction once they’ve achieved what they consider the pinnacle. How many things coming out of MS in the past 5 years surprised you (in a good way)? One of the reasons Apple does so well is that, most of the time, they do have a vision that extends a bit farther down the road than everyone else, or at least make a good show of having such a plan. To quote you, “the market for something to believe in is infinate,” and I tend to believe more in Apple having a plan than MS.
Might want to check that second link, Hugh. Doesn’t seem to have much info about tricorders on Bill Gates’ MS page.
What the others above have said. Look to Treo’s the 650. It is miles better than the 600 was.
The platform is wide open for developers to extend it and new apps come out for it everyday. Everything from Excel to a camera software.
I have to develop for my company on Treo’s major corporate competitor ( the blackberry ). Right now the only reason Blackberry beats Treo in the corporate world is because Blackberry’s have a secure server setup that is integrated with the Blackberry devices themselves allowing all communications to be secure and access from your device to behind the company firewall is seamless. If your device gets stolen you just call in your number to your IT group and they disable that device.
If Treo ( Palm Source ) comes out with a server setup for corporations like that it will kill the Blackberry’s because Treo’s are a better device they just don’t currently have the security corporate users need for daily function.
I would really like to see Sun come out with a secure server setup for Treo’s. Sun and Palm Source already have a working relationship and if the did something like that on their Solaris 10 OS, which they have already made virtually free ( I think it’s like 100 bucks for the CD’s and books but essentially free as Server OS’s go ), then that would be a MS killer in both the private and corporate sectors.
Treo already has the private sector covered should they come out with a corporate sector setup like I described I think you would really be looking at something that will take a huge chunk out of MSFTS business and give us all what we really want. Super cool handheld devices that we grew up reading about in SF stories and seeing on TV. I call it the “where is my flying car” syndrome. I want my tricorder and I want my flying car.
The technology is here for the tricorder we just need to make it happen.
In the mobile space, Microsoft are doing what they always do: get something out there, even if it sucks, then improve on that. With each successive generation of their smartphone stuff they’re getting closer to your tricorder.
I’ll be buying a Nokia smartphone personally in a month or so, but one of my die-hard-Linux-fan friends who works for Symbian was raving about his new MS smartphone the other day.
Duly noted and chages made, Jean. Thanks =)
have you ever noticed how technology in movies is so seamless? i.e. it never gets in the way of the plot line, complex stuff just works right away, everybody gets intuitively along with all kinds of fancy tech. the tricoder is a fine example of such a seamless technology.
of course thats just in the movies. in the real world, already normal everyday tasks are not so simple — even alpha geeks have to admit that.
the tricoder challenge is not so much a challenge of making things smaller and putting them in a book sized device (well there is a challenge with the energy density of todays batteries — they just cant keep up)
the tricoder challenge is a UI challenge. not more and not less. So what you really are asking Microsoft for is solve the Language recognition problem. And get somewhere with artificial intelligence. Because thats the only feasible way we will be able to interact with such devices that offer a plethora of functions: in natural language. They will need a degree of AI in there as well (and language recognition will prove to be a major milestone on the way to that goal).
Tricoder indeed, but maybe not the way you and MS have thought about it
Well, Captnswing, I think my needs are somewhat more prosaic than Mr Spock’s
I just need something that does “everything”… basically everything my current toys do, in one small, convenient package.
I don’t need to know that there are 3 Klingons closing in at Mark 7.65.
The problem with devices that try to solve too many things is that they suck in many things.
Too many functions make the UI awful. The more functions it has, the more steps you have to take to reach the function. Ever tried the BMW iDrive? BMW has put many functions in their onboard systems, that they had to take a new approach for this. I guess it works pretty well for the number of functions, but still it isn’t telepathic. (Ever noticed how the doors in Star Trek seem know, when they should open? They can distinguish between somebody wanting to go through the door and somebody just going to the door. Some things just can’t be done in real life, sorry)
The next problem, buttons that are good for a iPod might not be good for a mobile phone. And vice versa.
A good form factor for a mobile phone is not a good form factor for a palm pilot.
Its tempting to demand: “I want a device that does everything!” but the result will be less than you demand. Either you have a good phone, that has some mediocre extra functions. Or you have a palm pilot, that you can use as phone that’s too big. If you make it too small, the screen won’t be big enough for a web-browser. I think you get the drift.
Can there be some break through to solve this? Voice recognition? Mid-Air projection display? AI? Maybe. Lets see.
I think, evolution is the ONLY road we can go down. Make a thing good. Add functions. Make it better. Add more functions. The palm pilot didn’t drop out of thin air, it was a evolution. And in the end, there are no revolutions. Apple doesn’t do revolutions, they just know how to make the best of available technology (And that is not a easy thing) and they have to hope that they can sell enough until everybody figures out how to do it right. And Microsoft creates new technologies (which isn’t a easy thing either), but they have to wait until somebody shows them what they can do with it.
Just my two cents.
Ditto on the Treo. I have the 600 and love it. I just wish it had a 2 MP camera with flash, then it really would replace 4 devices (camera, mp3 player, palm, phone). As it is, it replaces the camera in a few, very limited situations. All in good time, as we’ve seen with the new camera phones coming out of east asia.
Microsoft has a long way to go on this. I had (have, but don’t use) a PocketPC 2003 device. It was my first PocketPC device, not counting 2 WinCE devices long ago, and it really was not any good as a mobile platform. The task manager was so useless compared to palm that I had to download a palm task list clone app to even use the device for it.
I’ve been back and forth a little with Robert Scoble on previous articles, but I can tell you this — Palm is currently much, much closer than Microsoft. When are they going to figure out that Windows isn’t the best interface for everything?
Brock: have you even taken a look at my Scoblephone? The UI doesn’t look like Windows to me.
I’m with Hugh — I want a small, easy-to-use device that does everything. However, I suspect that this isn’t a realistic possiblity in the near future. But that isn’t the point.
That’s right, it doesn’t matter if we can’t get it right away. I can wait for it, as long as I am confident that it is coming sometime. And this is the challenge for companies like Microsoft, Sony etc. They need to figure out what the market wants, and then let the market know they are on to it.
You see, as a consumer, I have been consistently been disappointed by some of these large companies over the years. To use Microsoft as the ongoing example (although they aren’t unique in this regard), it vexes me greatly when I am expected to be happy with being told the new “thing” (software, hardware or service) is going to solve a bunch of my problems, but all I get is a pile of shit (Windows ME, anyone?).
As pointed out earlier, some of us are more likely to put our faith in things that we are confident will deliver us the goods. That is why many people are such one-eyed supporters of Apple or Linux.
I don’t expect to get a Tricorder anytime soon, but I’ll jump on the bandwagon for whatever company I believe will get me there the quickest.
I for one actually hope that Microsoft get their “vision” together, and that they manage to deliver on their promises. Because I am not impressed by their promises; I am impressed by them keeping their promises.
As much as I despise Microsoft, I also love them. I use many of their products everyday, and for the most part I wouldn’t change that for a second. But if someone comes along and offers what I need both now and in the future, I’ll probably be switching in an instant.
I have a huge personal investment in Microsoft, but not a lot of faith in that investment. I don’t think I am in a unique situation.
Will I have an opportunity to regain my faith in Microsoft, or will it be stolen by Sony or some other big company, or will I fall in love with some new startup?
The point I think is that this isn’t a battle for target demographics or key influencers, it is a battle for hearts and minds. Give me a reason to believe…
Haiku
Hugh stabs Microsoft On platform, Robert dances Money flows to Bill…
Future Vision — Vodafone
http://www.vodafone.com/section_article/0,3035,CATEGORY_ID%253D1600%2526LANGUAGE_ID%253D0%2526CONTENT_ID%253D216753,00.html
Treo = Tricorder
I hadn’t thought about it, but as commenters point out, the Treo 650 is pretty nearly a Tricorder. Combine it with a Combadge and you can be in Trek Nirvana.…
It’s a great idea — but — the tricorder was more of a sensor device, you know for tracking “life forms” and energy readings, yada, yada, yada
The Next Revolution in Software: From Helping Hand to Right Hand Man
Software has a problem:
I already have a tricorder. Well, except it doesn’t scan “life signs” … unless someone has an SDIO life signs detector.
See what I mean here:
http://geekswithblogs.net/bpaddock/archive/2005/01/14/20020.aspx
Brandons response is why I say Treo 650 not the 600.
These are the new features in the Treo 650 as opposed to the 600:
http://www.palmone.com/us/products/smartphones/treo650/whatsnew.html
The Audiovox PPC-6601 carried by Sprint are very cool but I think the 650 has all of them beat unless you need secure corporate e-mail the the only alternative currently is Blackberry.
one word… MPX 2005 FEB
Microsoft Windows Mobile
^D@mn that thing looks cool! Now I want one of those too. But I am going to have to wait until the price comes down a bit.