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PDA Addict's Confessional
I have a confession...several of them actually. I've been enthralled by computers since I first heard of them. Like Bill Gates (and I assure you, this is the only similarity) I saw the Altair advertised and thought that was about the coolest thing I could imagine...your own computer! But I lacked the funds to buy one, so my first computer had to wait for the Osborne 1 (circa 1982), the first 'portable' computer...at only 27 pounds. My love for computers was perhaps only eclipsed by my fascination with small things, and at that time, the Osborne was about the smallest thing around! Many computers followed, the most notable among them being the TRS-80 Model 100 (circa 1983) (the first true laptop, and by the way, mine still works!), an original 128K Macintosh (upgraded many times) and the first Sony PictureBook (the other computers in between were...hmmm, not very notable). But my love of computers and small things was on a collision course with the advent of the PDA. So in my list of PDAs I have owned (and mostly, still own):
I have obtained "deep usage" out of each of these devices...the main reason I usually get another PDA is because the one I have won't do what I want to do...with my Pocket PC devices (Jornada and iPAQ) I can do things wirelessly that I used to have to do with a full-on computer. Email attachments, pictures, sound and video, are all a part of Pocket PCs. Palm, bless their leadership in driving adoption of these devices, has not kept up with the technology available. Now that people see what they can do, they want to do more. Unfortunately, the most current Palm device doesn't actually do all that much more than my original PalmPilot Personal, so Pocket PC is where I want to be!
In my 'day job' I talk to many people about handhelds, and a number of them mention how they don't want to be that available (i.e. wireless email, etc.) I take a different view. If you remember that ultimately, you can shut off all these devices, then you might think about the possibility of getting work done while you are doing other things that you want to do, or at a place that you want to be, rather than at work or stuck behind a computer somewhere...then the liberating nature of the portable device becomes evident. I can work where I want, when I want, and not be a slave to a box stuck in an office somewhere. Think about the possibilities!
Current liberating technology kit: This is what I carry on a daily basis.
(Okay, I admit I'm a geek...)
Check out the PDA Resources page for links to useful information!