Sony Clié handheld: RIP

By Mary Lojkine on 07 March 2005, 6:00pm

News that Sony has finally killed its Clié handhelds, even in Japan -- where you can probably buy PDAs from vending machines -- has left us crying into our drawer of discontinued hardware. The Clié will be joining the Psion Series 5 in the graveyard of gadgets that we've loved and left behind. The tragic thing about these devices is that they can still do their job well, but that's not enough. No PDA is an island. Once the accessories dry up and the software support evaporates, it's hard to keep your data flowing. A PDA that's out of synch with its surroundings is about as useful as a paddling pool in the desert. Just add water? We would if we could.

We're particularly sad about the Clié because it suited us so well until now. The TJ-37 combines the user-friendliness of the Palm operating system with the good looks and multimedia support more typical of Pocket PCs. With its high-res colour screen, built-in camera, MP3 and movie playback, Wi-Fi and Memory Stick slot, it has almost everything (although Bluetooth would be nice). It's small, light, stylish… and doomed to obsolescence. It'll labour on for another year or so, but it'll never get upgraded, which is a sad end for such a beloved gadget. -ML