And yet, whenever you buy a new Palm OS device, all these add-ons often must be chucked. That's because there's tremendous incompatibility between HotSync connectors even among a manufacturer's own models. Let's assume, for example, that you have a Palm V and want to upgrade to a sexy new Visor Prism. And let's further assume that you have a keyboard, an extra cradle, and a travel charger. If you need the same items on your Visor Prism, you're no longer just spending $449 on a PDA. You're also spending $49.99 on a second cradle, $99 on a keyboard, and $34.99 on a travel charger. In effect, to gain no net new functionality, you've got to spend $185 (plus tax and/or shipping). That's more than most of the basic Palm devices.

Many will argue that there's always a cost in switching to a new vendor. So what happens if you're using a Palm III and you want to upgrade to a hot new Claudia Schiffer Edition Palm Vx. Let's assume you again already own a cradle and a keyboard. You wouldn't need the travel charger on the Palm III-series because you'd just throw in new batteries. Even though you'd need a travel charger for the Palm V, I'm not going to factor it in because that's a cost of new capability and I'm just looking at the cost of maintaining the status quo. The Palm Portable Keyboard (at http://www.palm.com/products/keyboard/) is $99, and the HotSync cradle for a Palm V is $49.95. So, again, you're spending $150 bucks on top of the cost of the new Palm device just to stay even. That's just nuts.

Let's look at this in some depth. At my count, there are at least eleven different HotSync interfaces, shared among about 30 models. The following list is pretty interesting. Each bullet line shows the devices that share the same interface:

• Pilot 1000, Pilot 5000, PalmPilot Personal, PalmPilot Professional, IBM WorkPad original;
• Palm III, Palm IIIe, Palm IIIx, Palm IIIxe, IBM WorkPad, Symbol SPT1500, TRG TRGpro;
• Palm IIIc;
• Palm V, Palm Vx, IBM WorkPad c3;
• Palm VII, Palm VIIx;
• Palm m100;
• Handspring Visor, Visor Deluxe, Visor Platinum;
• Handspring Visor Prism;
• Symbol SPT1700, SPT1733/1734, and SPT1740;
• Kyocera pdQ Smartphone 800, Kyocera Smartphone pdQ 1900;
• Sony CLIE PEG-S300.

Nothing's black and white when it comes to this interface. For example, the devices in the Palm III series can physically use the cradles and add-ons from the PalmPilot series, but there's a slight difference in fit. And while the Visor Prism can use the same keyboard as the other Visor models, the Visor Prism has an internal rechargeable battery and needs its own special cradle. And, while the Palm III series and the Palm VII series look like they support the same HotSync interface, Palm.com sells separate keyboards for each of the two series. You might think I'd have a better answer to this, but I've actually talked to Palm's own support people and really wasn't able to get a more precise answer.