But the price is right. $179 for the 2MB Visor with a USB cradle.
It sure is. But so is the newly, competitively priced Palm IIIe (which is also $179). Skip the cradle-less $150 Visor Solo. Bad things happen to people who don't back up their data! Although Handspring doesn't have the track record of Palm Computing, it's owned by the people who invented the PalmPilot and later left Palm. Given their history, the risk of buying from Handspring is probably pretty low. But for now, all other things being equal, you should stick with the known quantity, Palm Computing -- at least that's my opinion, which I've been reminded does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publishers.

But hey, what about those swoopy new Springboard modules? Aren't you all jazzed up about those?
Not really, and at least for now, I don't think that many of us non-techie types will be.

Handspring's innovation to the Palm concept isn't in the software, it's in the hardware. Each unit includes a slot in the back, dubbed the Springboard, that allows users to easily plug in an accessory module. Pagers, cell phones, and game cartridges all go in with no muss, no fuss.

But why? Jeff Hawkins, one of Handspring's founders and the inventor of the PalmPilot, says that everywhere he turns, Palm users tell him they "want to have more software, add a GPS, take digital pictures, and especially add wireless communications."

Jeff and I are obviously hanging with different crowds. I've yet to even lay eyes upon a GPS unit, a digital camera, or a wireless modem. I've certainly never used any of them. Have you? If so, you've probably wandered into the wrong column. I don't even carry a pager or a cell phone.

I think that regular folks like us are looking for things to make our lives simpler. Like a Palm device. Now all my "written down stuff" is in one place. I'm skeptical that a cell phone makes my life simpler. I know that a pager doesn't. An MP3 player? Don't make me laugh.

I realize that I may be in a shrinking minority on the cell phone bit. I see way more cellular phones than Palm devices, that's for sure. But even for those who tote more hardware than me, it's still not obvious how kludging these things onto a PDA brings much benefit.

Another concern with the Springboard concept is Handspring's implicit suggestion that products that are essentially software -- like games, maps, and books -- are better implemented as hardware. You can download software from the Internet, with no manufacturing, shipping or handling costs. When you stuff it into a module, somebody has to build the module -- Handspring figures $6-8 for that alone -- store it in a warehouse, and then ship it. That's a waste of money. To be sure, Handspring is right when they say that the module approach makes installation and removal easier than loading from the Internet. But the way to overcome that hurdle isn't to imprison software inside hardware, it's to develop a technique that allows one-button installation of Palm-compatible software from the Internet.