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But isn't this what companies that make software for the Windows OS do everyday? And Mac? Hardware and software makers are part of a symbiontic relationship based on cooperation and support of mutual standards and goals. You are also interdependent on the makers of the PDA's themselves and your work load is in part dictated by how often they change their OS or how cooperative they are in disclosing code, etc.

You must trust that all members of the remote community will act in their own self interest of self preservation. Philips will not stop making Pronto's and will not stop supporting the software unless it becomes unprofitable for them. Your support of the Pronto CCF platform will encourage future use of their software but NOT the purchase of their hardware. In other words, a market of users will develop from the PDA side of the equation - people who own PDA's but NOT Pronto's will buy your program to use in conjunction with the FREE ProntoEdit. It is possible that Pronto will start charging for or licensing their editing software in the future. In this case, it would be wise of you to stay the course in developing your own skin program so you can support new customers. However, I would design your skin program to be able to import and edit a .ccf file, and I would do everything possible to mimic the look and feel of ProntoEdit.

I am by no means an expert in the field of intellectual property rights and software licensing, so I don't know how your future development is affected by legal constraints. I do think you are insightful in realizing you have a market bubble to tap by making your software .ccf friendly. Get your customers to the dance.