The palmOne Treo 600 was discussed in Sunday's Consumed column in the New York Times Magazine. The column tends to spoon-feed the description of the integrated communicator to the reader, which is not surprising given the demographics of the print version of the magazine. Nevertheless, the fact that the column was entirely about the Treo 600 and the hypnotic effect it has on some less technically savvy people indicates that the device is making the transition from the first-adopters to a more mainstream group of users.

The big problem right now is that not every carrier in America that has a GSM or CDMA network has certified the 600 for use on their network. For instance, is T-Mobile ever going to get around to letting its large base of first-generation Treo users participate in the discounted upgrade program? Or are we just expected to wait for the Treo 610 to be released?

Speaking of the possibility of the announcement of a device called the Treo 610, let's not get our hopes up for an upgrade to the Treo 600 so soon after it's market debut. Sure, it may happen. But we should keep the memory of the rampant speculation that took place prior to the formal announcement of the iPod mini fresh in our minds. None of us want to be as let down as some of the people were who expected a $100 hard drive-based portable audio device from Apple.