TAPPING INTO LIFE: A Palm Metamorphosis
Jul 08 '01
The Bottom Line Advancing technology is an inexorable part of our lives. Personal Digital Assistants introduce the user to the cutting edge of innovation. Organizing your life is merely a by-product.
***WARNING: Parts of this Personal Digital Assistant Epinion contain material that may be objectionable to some readers. Viewer discretion is advised.***
LIFE BEFORE TECHNOLOGY
Technology is expensive. Usually, the more interesting the gadget, the higher the price tag. I shopped around for a simple word processor when I was released from active duty in the United States Navy because computers were simply too expensive. A computer would require me to buy a companion printer, monitor and all manner of other peripherals which I could scarcely afford. I bought a Brother WP-500 which was a compact unit: It had its own half-screen monitor and Daisy Wheel printer onboard. At the time, it was the most expensive electronic component purchase I’d ever made. I used the word processor for writing papers in college, a task for which the machine was well-suited. By the time I graduated from college, I had traded up to a Brother WP-3400. I even used it in my first year of law school.
I started using paper planners in college, too. My mother set me on that trendy path by ordering me a leather-bound deluxe planner with the year embossed on the spine. It became a tradition for her to buy me a planner each year I attended undergrad. Then, for graduation in 1995 my mother did an unexpected and wonderful thing: She bought me an electronic Rolodex. The Pocket Rolodex File by Rolodex held 32 Kilobytes of memory. The organizer boasted a rubber keypad, a perpetual calendar (“…look Ma, I was born on a Monday!”); a calculator; a Card File or address function; a Letters function; a Call Sheet function; and a Review key. But the most technologically advanced feature of my Rolodex was that it could transfer data through an infra red port on the side of the device. I was ecstatic.
A NEW BEGINNING
Eventually, I outgrew my word processor and my Rolodex. The word processor used three and a half inch floppy disks to save files, but those files could only be read by a Brother word processor. I could not really take advantage of the law school’s computer lab if I wanted to continue using the word processor. One day, I took the plunge and converted myself to Windows NT. After that, I did all my work in the computer lab. The Rolodex took a bit longer to ditch.
In September of 1998, I used law school scholarship money to buy my very first desktop computer. Finally, I could commune with the computer lab from the comfort of my home. I had gotten a taste of the Information Age, and there was no turning back now. In July of 1999, I purchased a used Toshiba Satellite Notebook computer from my buddy Mikey. I used that little laptop to take notes in class during my last year of law school, and boy did that ever help things. When it came to exam week, I had the best outline for Constitutional Law that anyone had ever seen: Even my professor said so.
In December of 1999, I bought my first Palm Pilot: A Palm IIIe. After that, I put the Rolodex in a desk drawer and turned my back on the byte-less bliss I had previously known. My paper organizers could not find the trash can fast enough. My disorganized world – it was a-changin’.
YOU’RE SAYING THIS PALM THINGIE SAVED YOUR LIFE?
Well, not exactly. Let me put it to you this way: Before Palm, I was perpetually late, and my friends would take turns warning me the day before assignments were due. Okay, okay. It wasn’t quite that bad, but there were some very close near-misses. The problem: Although I had a calendar program on my computer called Calendar+, my laptop did not go with me everywhere. Plus, my Toshiba was the cheapie version with just the system beeper and no speakers.
Palm changed all that. With the Palm, I could set alarms and get reminder pop-ups, not to mention any other information I needed. Not only had I discovered a new toy: I got a trusty little companion whose loyalty knew no bounds – so long as the batteries were fresh.
PALM PARANOIA
Once upon a time, I thought the Palm concept was uber-STUPID; tres DUMB; muy SISSY. I thought people looked like dorks as they tapped thoughtfully on that fragile and illegible screen in their secret language with that teeny-tiny stylus (read: Impotent); wearing Oxford shirts and Dockers and Birkenstocks. That idiotic tapping noise drove me nuts: tap, tap, tappa tap-ta-tapp tap TAP. What did they have to tap about? What the hell could be so important? Were they tapping about me???!! Don’t think I didn’t see them, because I did. They were everywhere. Everything about the Palm turned my stomach: The price; the pretentious geeks; the fragility; THE NERVE!!! HOW DARE THEY PALM AROUND ME!!! *Insert Psychotic Break Here*
WE NOW RETURN YOU TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM
A-hem. Right, then. Anyway, I went searching for a new PDA one day. I went to Best Buy, where my only intention was to purchase a PDA that would back-up its information on my computer. After using the Rolodex for 4 years and carrying it with me everywhere, I discovered its biggest flaw: Once you put the information in there, you couldn’t get it back out any other way. That meant if I wanted to stop using the thing, I’d have to hand-copy all of the information out of it. Tres boring, dude.
The first time around, I decided to save money. I bought the least expensive PC-compatible PDA on the shelf (read: Sharp YO-190). However, that cheap PDA with the keyboard that I purchased would NOT exchange data with my computer. I took it back, and bought another, slightly more expensive one. Still, the thing would NOT exchange data with my computer. HELP!!! Back to the store I went.
I resolved not to be so cheap this time. I went to Office Max, hoping to find a better selection than I’d seen at Best Buy. When I’d played with all of the connected organizers on the shelf, I discovered that the Palm devices held the most amount of information and had the most features. All the devices which had a keyboard looked incredibly cheap. I had actually decided to buy a *gasp* Palm knock-off by Sharp (now discontinued); but the thing was so popular that it was out of stock. So, I paid $50.00 more for a Palm IIIe, instead. The rest is history.
WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT A PALM?
Absolutely nothing, except for the fact that the Palm platform is probably the most flexible information storage system in production for its size. Most Palm products are just slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes. Think of it this way: For about $150.00, you can buy a pseudo-computer that fits in one hand comfortably, has the ability to go online, and can accept hundreds of third-party software programs that are easily found on the Internet. For simplicity’s sake, this pseudo-computer even has dedicated buttons which access a Date Book for appointments; an Address Book for contact information; a To Do list; and a Memo Pad or Note Pad for scribbling notes.
There’s no “booting-up”, no delay, and very little headache involved with using a Palm. But if you feel the need to boot-up, simply turn to your desktop computer, where the Palm Desktop resides. The Palm Desktop program is a complete interface program which mirrors your Palm. The Desktop allows you to access and manipulate the same information stored in your Palm. How’s that happen? You connect the Palm to your serial or USB port and then back-up the data in a process referred to as a Hot-Sync. Hot-Syncing data is generally fast, easy and uncomplicated. Simplicity and ease of use coupled with a configurable nature has won Palm a huge market share.
OKAY, ALL RIGHT ALREADY. BUT WHAT DO I DO WITH IT?
That’s the beauty of the Palm: You can do with it whatever you like. Here’s an abbreviated list of the things I use my Palm for:
CONTACTS: At this point in time, I have 380 telephone numbers stuffed into my Palm. Included with most contacts are residential addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, website information, birthdays and the like.
DATE BOOK: This is perhaps the most important feature for me: I put just about EVERYTHING in my date book. It’s like a little journal. I keep track of appointments, important dates, and important purchases. I also use it as a check register: Each check is listed by date and amount.
ONLINE BANKING: My bank offers online banking. Using a Palm program called iSilo (http://www.isilo.com), I download my banking web pages to my Palm. Now, I always know how much money is in my account. I also have a history of all expenditures.
EMAIL: Almost all Palm PDAs have an onboard email program. This program downloads email from your computer and saves it on the handheld. You can read the email, and even answer it. Then, when you next Hot-Sync, the mail is sent out via your desktop computer’s email client.
DICTIONARY: I do a lot of writing, so spelling and word usage are important. A free dictionary called Noah Lite (http://www.arslexis.com) **...is that a dictionary in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?!** has become indispensable to me. I also use WordSleuth (http://www.landware.com), a handy thesaurus program for the Palm.
WORD PROCESSING: With my Palm, I don’t have to be at my computer to actually write a complete story and fully edit it. I use WordSmith (http://www.bluenomad.com) to write, edit and proofread documents which are transported whole-cloth to my computer.
WEB CLIPPING: Since I have a Palm M505, I have 8 Megabytes (plus 16 MB with my Secure Data card) to play around with. The AvantGo (https://avantgo.com) web clipping program is an avant-guard browsing system which allows me to pre-select certain pages from the Internet and then save them very quickly to my Palm. In the space of no more than a minute, the program downloads The New York Times on the web, The Wall Street Journal.com, PC World.com, and a few other interesting websites – all for later viewing on my Palm.
CONCLUSION
These examples are just a small sampling of what you can do with a personal digital assistant. Of course, there are many types of PDAs. But the Palm Operating System gives you the most flexibility in what is arguably the simplest format. Your only true challenge would be learning Graffiti: The special combination of pen-strokes which enables you to enter information into the Palm more quickly. Graffiti is easy to use, but tricky to master. Then again, what’s life without a challenge?
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Epinions.com ID:
chipperx
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Location: New York, USA
Reviews written: 7
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About Me:
I'm an honest person who loves to talk about my experiences with gadgets.
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