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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
An inadvisable visor, a tip-top tip, and someone who thinks PalmPower is hip
In this installment of letters to the editor, a Visor customer is left forlorn, a reader reminds us of one of those tips that's an "oldie but a goodie", and a new PalmPower fan is born.
Inadvisable Visor After receiving my Visor deluxe I learned that it's not Flash upgradable…period. If a Palm OS v4.0 comes out and Handspring makes a Palm OS v4.0H, I can't upgrade! For this reason alone I'm about to send it back. Whoever made the decision to not include a Flash ROM was an idiot. People with Palm III's will be upgrading and I'll be in the dark ages. Yes, it does what I need now but will it keep up with updated Palm devices in six months to a year? This is an investment that goes nowhere.
Gilbert Bollinger
Sprint Paranet
Managing editor Denise Amrich responds
Device upgradeability is a big issue for many customers. However, one of the things that Handspring has attempted to do, and in our opinion has succeeded with, is to produce lower-cost devices. Sometimes, where cost-reduction is an issue, some features must be sacrificed. However, it's possible that your degree of animosity is probably more than necessary because we don't want to rule out the possible magic of the Springboard interface. Also (and don't tell anybody this), one of our editors has reported that there may be some undocumented extensibility inside the device (although we have no confirmation on this).
A tip-top tip I hope I read it among your excellent Tips, but one of the best that has helped me is using removable tape to cover the Graffiti area of my Palm device! I was struggling for a few months until I put some tape down over a month ago. Voila!-- once again I could write! So maybe you or someone could mention this great Tip again and perhaps save a few more users from frustration!
News Editor Heather McDaniel responds
Here's the tip, the way we ran it almost two years ago. Have Fun!
I am Graffiti challenged. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to make Graffiti recognize my handwriting. There are all sorts of things you can do. In a past tip, we mentioned that you can do things like write really big and really slow. I tried that and several other things. Nothing seemed to work.
So, I hopped around the Internet and here's something that I found on a bulletin board that worked: Scotch tape. I know that to some users who have been around for a while, this is an old-school tip, but if you're new to the Palm device, this is a good hint.
Most folks recommended Scotch Tape type 811, which comes in a blue package. It's a simple solution to a frustrating problem!
PalmPower is hip I lost a sense of time Saturday morning with the latest issue of Palm Power. The content is attractive and well presented but what I noticed most was the fact the magazine came up on the computer right away as did the individual features including links within some features. We get so disappointed with broken links and other problems accessing material from some sources. Kudos on your professionalism.
John Royse
Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz responds
Thanks John. We use a number of methods to make sure everything works, including having real editors. We do edit passes that include testing, by hand, of each link in each article. We also use some automated tools as part of our patent-pending ZENPRESS technology (used to produce the journals) that also confirm links. Of course, as time goes on, some links do "rot", but we try to make sure everything works when the journal is released.
Bulk reprints Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
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