smithj@jacobs.cs.orst.edu (Jeremy Smith) (05/28/91)
<penny farthing's worth on>
The HP95lx (jaguar) is a machine aimed at financial types. Of all
the market segments it could have been aimed at (financial, surveying,
scientific, note-taking (e.g. journalists and travelling executives),
and generic) the financial is the one most likely to return the most
dollars, and quickly. This is good in that it will bring in funds to
develop the next one (in the series?).
The one I really want is the `generic' - a vanilla PC. It still
has all the neat features (for instance, DOS in ROM), and none of the
silliness (such as non-removable applications).
The note-takers would have a full keyboard, and proper - a row of
number keys along the top, and the number pad buried in the right hand
keys. This might be considered for all machines, except perhaps the
financial machine.
Making a PC (of any size) without a floppy or hard disk drive is a
risky business. HP has done it before, and bravely does it again, this
time in an altogether different computer climate.
I haven't had the impression the HP made the 95 as part of a plan
but rather developed the technology and then looked for a market. A
while back there were rumors of a `wizard-killer' which suggests making
a machine so much better than the wizard that it would bury it rather
than building the ultimate handheld computer.
Here's a quote from a local paper:
"...a representative from Lotus called HP to talk over an idea for a
small computer with Lotus 1-2-3 built into it.
A meeting was set up, and when the Lotus representative was
explaining the idea, he pulled out a small wooden model from his
briefcase.
Coincidentally, HP had been working on a similar idea and had
already developed a prototype."
It suggests that HP had a prototype and were looking for a where to
aim it. It could have been, as above, financial, surveying, scientific,
note-taking, or a generic PC, but the financial one (Lotus) just
happened to have been there at the right time. What if a representative
from a BIG surveying outfit happened to have an idea for a small
computer, or if Poqet thought they might work out a deal?
And then from PC Week:
"Will hand-held PC maker HP one day provide a Mac-compatible 95LX? HP
says no. Lotus exec Don Casey privately disagreed last week, saying
when 1-2-3 for the Mac goes into beta this summer, anything's possible."
My concern is - who is running the show, and, more importantly,
where is it heading. My impression was that it is running, but in any
direction that happens to have money where its mouth is.
And now this, from the June 1991 Chip Chapter Newsletter:
"HP 95LX - Update Rumors: An internal HP document indicates that the
95LX is the first in a family of palmtops. This seems very plausible,
since with different software in the ROM, entirely different markets can
be addressed. Perhaps there will be a technical machine with
programming capability."
There is hope. I would like to see a 95 with a full sized
keyboard, eventually a fast 286 (386) version, definitely a full sized
screen (80 x 25 characters, and graphics), and a plummeting price.
<4/6d worth off>
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smithj@jacobs.cs.orst.edu (Jeremy |-) Smith)