Back in 1996, the first Palm device had 128KB of memory, a lo-res monochrome screen with no backlighting, and no communications capability beyond its serial port-equipped docking cradle. From a hardware standpoint, today's Treo 650 is an extraordinary improvement in nearly every way (battery life is a big exception!)--but Palm data syncing has barely changed.

The Treo's bundled software still assumes that you'll sync data between the handheld and a PC with a USB cable--or maybe, if you're daring, via Bluetooth. But the Treo's wireless data capability and overall power make it a plausible PC substitute, so assuming that you'll frequently have a PC handy, and only letting you transfer data when you do, seems archaic. What you really want is syncing that happens silently in the background, so you're always up-to-date.

Then there's the fact that Palm's syncing software is still calendar-and-address-book-centric. The Treo does e-mail, Web surfing, music, video, word processing, spreadsheets, digital photography, and...well, just about everything a PC can do. It cries out for wireless syncing that's such a core part of the OS that it doesn't much matter what kind of information you're talking about: The Treo will sync it, without you having to give it much thought.

(The stuff I'm wishing for, by the way, is probably the purview of PalmSource, the company that develops the Palm OS, more than that of Treo manufacturer PalmOne.)

Now, it's true that a bunch of third-party apps fill in some of the Treo's syncing holes. (DataViz's Documents to Go handles Microsoft Office synching like a champ, and it's bundled with the Treo; companies can use products such as Good Technology's GoodLink to do true wireless e-mail and calendaring.) And syncing is enough of a technical challange that no products out there have it completely nailed in every respect, including Treo rivals built on Microsoft's Windows Mobile.

Still, a Treo with superb syncing truly built into its DNA would be a vastly more powerful product. Think we'll get one someday?