Editing on iPhone: This is news?

The New York Times reports that iPhone users will get cut, copy and paste ability at long last this summer after a software upgrade. Uh, I've had this feature for at least 9 years since my first Handspring/Palm PDA in 2000. What's next? MMS (multimedia messaging service)? Oh, still doesn't have that either except through 3rd party work arounds? Remind me again why this device is worth camping out for?

Granted, I have had my share of days drooling over, scrimping and saving to get the lastest sparkly tech tool (Previous: Treo line from Palm. Latest? Nokia e71. Review: Nokia E71 Is a Legit iPhone Killer — We’re Serious This Time) and having a child has forced me to curtail my early-adopter tendencies in favor of less sparkly, non-sexy items like college funds and medical insurance co-payments. Still, call me a heretic, but me in the Apple store is like Elton John at Hooters: I don't feel anything for the iPhone. My mouth is not agape and it's definitely drool-free.

Now for all my cheerleading of Palm, I can admit it's not perfect either. In fact, with the Palm Pre announcement little more than rumors and blurry web shots last fall, I had to ditch my trusty Treo 680 after an incurable resetting glitch. But I passed my 650 along to my smartphone newbie mom and still keep the 680 for archival and nostalgia reasons.

I stuck with Handspring/Palm for nearly a decade because it captured all the tools and applications I needed in one handy, albeit slightly thick, package: phone, calendar, web access, laptop tethering using the PDA's unlimited data plan, SMS, MMS, MP3, camera, web radio, cut, copy and paste from every program to every program, QWERTY keyboard, and Microsoft word document creation and editing. It also grates cheese and can be used to flavor soup base. Kidding. But it was a workhorse for me and although I love having wi-fi now, I miss many of its innate charms, including the touchscreen.

Reading about the iPhone cut, copy, paste excitement (I'm still: "Uh, okay.") reminded me that content creation tools were a major part of the Palm's appeal - ones I feared I'd lost completely when I switched to the Nokia e71. It does most of what I need, but its cut, copy, paste function is a bit limited compared to the Treo line, forcing odd workarounds, like having to forward then cancel messages to make them editable for copying text (say a Fedex tracking number), then pasting the number into the browser for tracking a package online.

On the Treo, I could used the touchscreen to copy a line of text in a web page to e-mail to a friend, easily copy and paste a web address (this has become more important with the advent of Twitter and TinyURLs), or highlight and copy a name or number to paste into a contact. These things can be done on the Nokia, but it's awkward, not intuitive, and requires multiple steps.

That said, the e71's wi-fi and ability to run multiple applications at once and hardly make a dent in the crazy-long battery life are huge improvements over the Treo. But even here, I miss the ability to charge the PDA through the USB synch cable. Treo could, Nokia can't.

I know that everyone's "perfect" device is subjective and a personal decision, like deciding what constitutes the "perfect jean." For now, the Nokia has most of what I want in one sleek, speedy package.

Big Treo announcement tomorrow

I use a Palm Treo 650 phone/PDA for just about everything: phone, e-mail, mo-blogging (mobile blogging), writing and editing documents with a foldout keyboard like the one on the left, web surfing, getting driving directions, listening to MP3s, and more. In a word: power user.

So you may be able to understand my excitement to learn that Palm's founder Jeff Hawkins is planning a big announcement tomorrow at the D5 conference organized by Walt Mossberg and Kira Swisher of the Wall Street Journal. Info about the Palm announcement is available on the CNET blog Crave.

I've been with the Palm operating system since they were used in Handspring PDAs. I even had the goofy first generation Handspring Visorphone attachment that slid into the back of the unit and made the already-chunky device bulkier than a Maxwell Smart shoe phone, for those of you old enough to remember that mid-1960s comedy about a hapless spy with wacky gadgets. I didn't care: I was a convert and I evangelized the device to everyone I knew, eventually convincing at least two co-workers in my newsroom then to jump on the Handspring bandwagon.

Seven years and multiple devices later for this early adopter, I'm itching to up upgrade again. But I don't want one of Palm's newer offerings with Windows Mobile OS. I want to stick with the Palm OS because of all the third party software that's available for the devices. So I sit. And lust after smaller, cooler, smartphones from Japan with smaller bodies but bigger screens (think supermodels of the PDA set), faster connections, wi-fi, and more, and consider switching. But I can't!

I've waited this long. Guess I'll cool my jets and see what tomorrow brings. Some rumors say Palm will roll out a Linux OS that's been in the works. Others says it'll be an iPhone killer, which is surprising, since the iPhones have barely hit the market yet. But Palm and Hawkins have revolutionized the industry before, so I'm not alone in my eagerness. We shall see if the actual announcement lives up to the hype.