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Technology Watch |
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| January 2001
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PDA's What the heck does PDA mean? It stands for Personal Digital Assistant and is designed to help a person replace bulky, heavy paper organizers such as Day Runner or Franklin planners with a small, battery driven electronic device that can perform all of the paper functions of a planner and more. I must say that some of the PDA's do so quite well! There are three types of PDA's on the market today; electronic organizers, Palm based organizers and Windows CE (or Pocket PC) based organizers. All three can be used without a computer, but the electronic organizers are the only variety that don't have the ability to interface with a computer. Sharp was one of the first companies to mass produce these very thin and light gadgets. To store information into them, the user used a small keyboard to enter names, addresses, birthdays, etc. They have very small screens and take a lot of dedication to set up, but they can be purchased for as little as $20. The most popular (more than seventy percent of the market) PDA's come from the world of Palm. Palm based organizers capitalized on building a small, easy to carry (less than seven ounces) that recognize hand writing. These little wonders are a sight to behold. There are more than 200,000 programs available for the Palm thanks to its simplistic use and wide deployment. In addition to the standard applications (date book, phone/address book, to do list, expense tracker, and note pad), a Palm user can find a program for literally any interest or application including maps, dining guides, games, and calculators of all types. Two of the main industries that use Palm based devices are medical professionals and pilots. In the last year, Palm has licensed its technology to startup success, Visor and Sony among others. Palm based products start around $129 and go up to $500 for the most expensive versions which include wireless access to the Internet and email (in some cities). I used a Palm III PDA for over two years and recently upgraded to a Visor Handspring Platinum not because the Palm III didn't work any longer, but I outgrew my Palm because I use it so much. (I sold my old one on Ebay). In addition to the simplicity of these devices, the beauty is that unless you use it for almost every aspect of your life, you can use them for years without worry or upgrading. The last major category of PDA's includes the Microsoft Pocket PC devices. Starting at $400 and quickly moving to $600 and beyond, these devices appeal to those who want the ability to have a mini-computer in addition to the organizer abilities. I personally think that these devices try to do too much. If I wanted all the abilities they try to pack in, I would spend a couple hundred more dollars and get a full blown laptop computer. One of the attractions, however, to the Pocket PC PDA's is the color screens (which Palm and Visor now have as well). The down side of color on a palm sized device shows up in increased weight and decreased battery life. There are a few other minor flavors of PDA's. One of which is the long standing and slowly growing world of Psion devices. PART II Once you acquire one of these very helpful devices, you will want to customize it for yourself. Accomplish this feat by downloading, installing and trying out the thousands of freeware and shareware programs available for all these devices on the Internet. Some of the best sites to try include:
PART III Where can you buy one of these fabulous devices? The Palm based devices can be found in many places in your own community...Target, Sam's Club, Office Depot, WalMart and Circuit City to name a few. You will find products from Palm themselves, Handspring, and Sony. You can get into a fully functional unit for $150 from Palm or Handspring. If you think you are going to really put the unit through its paces, then look into a unit with a little more RAM at prices starting around $249. If you want color, expect to pay $350 and up. For the Pocket PC devices, figure on spending around $400-450 as a minimum. Finding these devices can be challenging as well, check at your office super store or electronics store. PDA's make great gifts for graduates, birthdays and holidays. ---- Call us on Saturday mornings with your thoughts and comments about this new feature. |
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© 2001 |
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