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"Shrink-and-cram" is a term used in the handheld computer market to describe users' expectations to stuff their desktop's features into a device that fits into a shirt pocket. We all know where this is headed. Eventually, we'll be carrying wireless multimedia powerhouses the size of cigarette packs that will deliver high-quality video, audio and always-on Internet. Sony is trying to invoke that future with the promotion of their Color Clié handheld.
The much-hyped Clié ($499 Sony Style) is part of Sony’s very successful Vaio line of computers. These products have distinguished themselves as being multimedia-forward, slim and sleekly designed, and (oh yeah) expensive. The Color Clié continues this tradition. The Clié cuts a small, handsome, silvery profile; it’s about the same size as the Palm V. And like the V, it also sports an operating system. As you might expect, all of the standard Palm organizer functions are included, but since the Clié is billed as a multimedia PDA, it also comes with a color image viewer, video playback software (for playing AVI, MPEG and QuickTime movies) and MP3 music management software. In keeping with the multimedia profile, the Clié ships with a decent set of Sony ear-clip headphones and an inline remote control (that cleverly doubles as a stylus). Since the Clié is a Sony, it has the company’s own Memory Stick storage slot, found on most of their digital products (and scarcely anywhere else). These stick-of-gum-sized wonders can hold up to 128MB of data, but they come at a high cost. One of Sony’s ads for the Clié shows a dad watching home movies of his son’s baseball game on a plane. You don’t have to know too much about computers to do the math on this one. Even with one 128MB Memory Stick (which will set you back another $260), you’d be lucky to see more than heavily edited highlights of junior’s game. To watch anything of length would simply be cost-prohibitive. Then there’s always the issue of battery life. Color uses more power, audio playback uses more power, watching continuous video uses more power. The Clié’s battery only offers three hours of MP3 playback. Listen to some tunes and watch a few iFilms on a business trip from NYC to SF, and you might not have enough juice left to go over your meeting notes in the cab from the airport. The Clié certainly offers a tantalizing glimpse of our handheld future, and with its Memory Stick slot, today’s Clié may even be able to upgrade towards it (e.g., a TV tuner Stick is in development). But given the price of the unit, and the memory cards required to live up to its multimedia billing, this is clearly a gizmo for early adopters only. See also: |
