(You know: "Sorry, ohhhhh, it looks like I'm scheduled to change the air in my
tires, give my cat a bath, and apply for astronaut training this afternoon.
Maybe we can get together after I get back from the moon.")
Whatever . . . my life's just never been so busy that I felt the need to schedule
it minute by minute, so if PIM were all that a PDA was really good for, I wouldn't
even include it here for your consideration. With better screens, faster proces-
sors, more memory, and greater expandability, these PDAs (such as the one
shown in Figure 3-1) have become a whole lot more than digital card catalogs
and calendars.
To get the full use and benefit of a PDA, it's really necessary to have a com-
puter at home. Most software programs, for example, must be loaded onto a
PC and then transferred, by means of a USB cable or cradle, in a process
known as syncing.
Figure 3-1: A handheld device maynot look likemuch, butdon't let the size fool you.
That's not to say that the PIM function of a PDA is a total waste of time --
quite the contrary. But these handy and compact devices are capable of that
and a whole lot more -- for example, a well-equipped PDA can
Browse the Web: With a decent Web browser (I discuss PDA Web
browsers later in this section) and an Internet connection you can surf
the Web and e-mail with a PDA in a fashion similar to (although maybe
not exactly the same as) that of a laptop or desktop PC.
Recognize handwriting: My dad was a math whiz. He communicated
best by scribbling equations on restaurant napkins while we sipped
coffee. I usually only made it through the first napkin. If he could've writ-
ten on a PDA, we'd have saved several trees (and I could have taken the
equations to a math professor to explain what my dad was telling me). If
you write a lot of napkin notes, then you'll love this feature.
Part I: The Wonderful World of Wireless Fidelity
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