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Diary
of a Palm Piloteer By T.K. Maloy GLEN ECHO, Md. - My 75-year-old father beamed as I opened the last of my Christmas presents, revealing beneath the Santa wrapping paper a shiny new PalmPilot IIIe. A superannuated Net surfer, my pater-familias had been knocking around various online technology reviews to find me the perfect present this year. And this item was topnotch, to be sure "Thank you Sir," I said. "Now I can join the Palm gang." However, there was one caveat: First I would have to actually learn how to use it. I had written about the Palm Pilot and other PDAs for the last several years - but like many journalists, though I wrote about certain new tech items, I had yet to own them or use at any length. Yes, I can assemble a computer from the mother-board up; I know UNIX, and HTML, and everything Net, but in general, I still fumble around with all things techno. There were obviously things I would have to learn about the world of Palm computing. First, I installed the Palm software, plugged in and configured the sync cradle, and started doing some data entry on calendar items and address books. Then, I downloaded some documents from my PC to the Pilot. But perhaps the biggest challenge was learning the Palm interface on the unit itself. Later, I investigated Palm shareware and upgrades,
not to mention more game downloads. Also, I knew that I would have to find
Palm and PDA-related Web sites, newsgroups, and listservs to stay current.
Among other websites, I checked out the "unofficial" Palm Info Center (i.e not company sponsored) Five years as a technology journalist and it had come to this: I was a "late adopter" of a device that had become almost a cult item. Learning the PalmWhile the PalmPilot is just one of a number of PDAs on the market, it is one of the most popular due to its price range -- $150 to $600 (street) depending on the model - and its usability. In fact, as a journalist, when I interviewed Palm users it was like an exercise in free advertising for the company, since the majority of them uniformly praise the product.As for function and usability, the Palm applications to do the following with relative ease: Address and phone book (5000-plus names), expenses, calculator, to-do list, and date book (with an alarm reminder function). There is also a "find" function for all of the above. Also very useful, but a little harder to use (but not too hard), is its data-entry function that lets you take notes. This requires learning the Palm's "Graffiti" penstrokes (done with the Palm equipped "stylus"), which can be invaluable for taking meeting or conference notes. Most of the Graffiti is similar to the regular English alphabet and initially, it takes about 30 minutes to learn. I did, however, spend hours perfecting my note taking skills. The Graffiti's recognition capability is nearly flawless, and stands in marked comparison to the such "proto-PDAs" as late-lamented Apple Newton, which was the subject of much lampooning over its handwriting recognition. The Palm Pilot also boast a small QWERTY keyboard (the standard layout of most typewriters and computer keyboards) that is part of the screen, and is handy for inputting address information and other material. For large-scale data inputting, the Pilot syncs with your PC (a plug-in cradle) and lets you use your PC keyboard to enter up to 5,000 names from your computer address book, 1,500 to-do items, 200 email messages, and 1,500 memos. For large-scale data entry, I recommend using the PC keyboard, of course, as it is somewhat hard to enter hundreds of addresses using a one-inch, on-screen keyboard. This synching feature is one of the most popular features and with it, a user can update and organize the Palm address book function and calendar as frequently as they might like. My early experiences with the Palm IIIe have been superlative, and it has begun to quickly replace a great deal of the paper that had been using, and my antique DayRunner book, stuffed with all kinds of addresses, memos, and notes, was quickly being usurped. For the price of $175 I would have easily bought the Palm IIIe for myself, had it not been gifted to my by my generous father. Tech Note: The average PalmPilot unit is under 6 ounces in weight and is 4.7 inches tall. On average, the Palms have from 2MB to 6MB of memory. Most units are powered by two AAA batteries. To find out more about the PalmPilot specifications
from the "official" company websites, click here: http://www.palmpilot.com
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