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 Originally Posted by whmurray
...Most of us who pay $700- are entitled to expect more than to just make calls.
Well, if we are going to get technical  the 650 represents the convergence of two devices - a PDA and a phone. Now, we can debate all day long what a PDA is and is not supposed to do, but the PDA concept is clearly meant as a companion to a PC, as "assistant" to manage "personal data" (hence, the PDA name  ) So, as far as managing contacts, calendar, tasks and memos, and converge that with a phone, the Treo does what its supposed to do.
PDAs have obviously gotten very sophisticated, to the point that some geeks out there are trying to take videos on the darn things and upload them using FTP to a website right from the device without ever touching a PC (the nerve!!!! ) They take pictures, voice memos, videos, run all sorts of apps from databases to word processors to spreadsheets to presentations. Thus, the PDA has strayed off its course from a PC "assistant" to almost a standalone portable computer. It can certainly do more than any portable computer could 15 years ago.
Now, what is the point? The point is that other computing platforms have gone through similar "growing pains" and evolved along with more powerful hardware and OSes. I like to compare the Palm OS journey to that of DOS - Windows 3.1 - Windows 95 - Windows NT - Windows XP. That was a loooooong and painful journey, but we can probably agree that compared to XP, DOS was a DOG. However, at the time it came out, DOS was quite remarkable.
Palm OS is going through a similar journey. I wish companies could throw caution (and profits) to the wind and come out with the right device right now, screw shareholders and screw wall street. But, that is not realistic. They have to go in steps, make money, take another step, make more money, wait for the market to catch up, take another step, and make more money. That is how the system works.
The Treo650 was really not meant to be sold as a $700 device. Its being sold that way to meet the demands of a very specific market, but most Treos are being subsidized by carriers because $350 is a magic price point that many people are willing to pay. As you stray off $350 into $400 and $500 territory, less and less people sign on to this thing, and when you get to the $700 folks (like you), you will seem almost fanatic to the $350 folks (no offense ) PalmOne has to sell a ton of these to make money, and a $700 price point without carrier subsidy was just not going to cut it.
I think the Treo is superior to other phones from Motorola and Nokia in the fact that it does have such widespread 3rd party app support, and I can do things like run a dictionary, figure out a car loan payment, and literally hundreds of other uses that Motorola and Nokia just cant touch. But, with that functionality comes risk - risk of 3rd party non-certified developers, hackers, betas, and all sorts of other garbage floating around the net. If you are going to be in the bleeding edge, like I said, be prepared to bleed. I have regular transfusions due to my constant bleeding, and my edge is already dull due to the constant cutting myself I do, but it sure is fun... 
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