Among the likely candidates were the ten or so plugged-in and tuned-in members of the still mysterious Palm OS User Council that PalmSource had invited out to Sunnyvale to have private meetings with PalmSource executives, OS licensee's (Palmsource-speak for device manufacturers), leading software developers, and other dignitaries. They surely saw the good stuff. They must have touched the toys. And, I suppose they promised on their mothers' graves not to tell a soul until the White Horse of Truth was loosed from his stable and could charge down upon the marketplace, striking fear into the soul of Pocket PC manufacturers who had made their platform choices at the tip of the Windows sword.

Yes, I was there. But I saw no "goodies." I didn't get so much as a figurative chocolate strawberry. Alas, I had to be content with hobnobbing with fellow "folk-in-waiting," only imagining what fascinating industrial designs were waiting to tempt the next $600 from my wallet. No, for the attending software developers from Cutting Edge Software (at http://www.cesinc.com), Bachmann Software and Services (at http://www.bachmannsoftware.com), Red Mercury (at http://www.red-mercury.com), ePocrates (at http://www.epocrates.com), TealPoint (at http://www.tealpoint.com), Vindigo (at http://www.vindigo.com), and others, it was simply a great time to rub shoulders with old friends and contacts at PalmSource and the press. Why, I even obtained a business card from CNET's Ian Fried along with an invitation to send him an email (uh, Ian, is that pronounced "fried," or "freed?"). So, I didn't get to see Nirvana. But the energy coming out of that place was incredible.

All in all, it was a tremendously satisfying day in "the Valley" for a guy normally content with the thrill of trying to sneak photos of "genuine Amish folk" in the local WalMart on my Sony NR70V. Still, sitting there at the Tied House chatting with long time Palm Powered users like Dan Royea (at http://www.palmevolution.com) and Craig Froehle (at http://www.memoware.com), I kept wishing I'd been able to glimpse just a bit more. I longed for the thrill of tasting the future device delights and imagining all the things great software could do with them. Ah, well. Just a few more weeks.

Michael Compeau is a Contributing Editor for PalmPower Magazine as well as the VP of Business Development and Planning for Cutting Edge Software (at http://www.cesinc.com), a subsidiary of Mobility Electronics.