LEADER: Lack of innovation is a Psion of the times

I was having a quiet curry this week with a friend who happens to be that irritating type of computer journalist with a long memory. Before too long talk turned to British industry. We traversed the well-trodden path of ?We don?t make anything any more ? I remember the shipyards? and ?I remember we mined coal and made steel and how many UK car manufacturers are there?? and, inevitably because we are computer types, ?What about Inmos?? Then someone mentioned UK computer manufacturer Psion.

Psion has made a good name for itself with its range of handhelds ? we both use them ? but, my colleague intoned ?How long can they last?? He had a point.

There are signs that it has been rattled by the new raft of PDAs which have been launched by Sharp, Hewlett Packard and others. But the biggest cloud on Psion?s horizon has to be Microsoft Windows CE and the new CE machines, particularly those from Compaq. Psion has a serious rival now.

That, in itself, is not a problem. Even Psion would say that competition is a good thing. But where is the Psion 4? Perhaps more importantly where were the innovations in the Psion 3c which, by all accounts, is just a slightly improved 3a. This is in stark contrast to the threat posed by the likes of Compaq and Microsoft US. And transferring data from the Psion to your PC is still a pain.

Psion soldiers on selling its innovative tool almost as a business toy, directly in the face of Compaq redefining the corporate handheld market with its CE offering. Let?s face it, Compaq doesn?t have to be particularly good this time round ? it only has to be there.

And still the Psion 4 is nowhere to be seen. In a world where Intel seems to be knocking out new chips every six months, Psion seems content to continue positioning itself against Filofaxes and Samsonite briefcases, when it really should be competing with Microsoft and Intel.

I like to think that the year 2000 will see UK computer companies profiting in the market and we?ll be moving away from a Wintel world. And, for what it?s worth, that sentiment embraces Apple as well. But Psion? A company that has dined out on its good idea for so long seems to have forgotten dinner time has finished. The Psion was an innovation, but if the company doesn?t start innovating soon it will just be a fond memory. And worse still, my colleague may be right.