PDA Fun

I've come to the realization especially lately that I'm a PDA dork. I mean, I knew I was a gadget dork...but I think I realized today how many things I do with my Palm Pilot.

My voyage into the weird world of PDA's started back in the day when I bought a Palm IIIxe. It was a black and white/grayscale job. On that one, the only applications I ever used were the Datebook (the built-in one) and the game Bejeweled. I never thought I'd be one of those people who relied on a Palm Pilot for scheduling, but since I've owned one, I find I'm sort of lost without it. Thank goodness it sync's up to Outlook, so that at least if I misplace it I have my appointments backed up.

I upgraded when the Palm m505 came out, my first color PDA. It was a lot of fun. I loved its slim profile and low-res color screen. It was also the first Palm Pilot that I started playing RPG's on. I got addicted to Aldon's Crossing, which is still a great game, though after you've beat it with all the different character types/classes, it loses some replay value.

After the m505 I made my first foray into the world of the PPC. I picked up a first generation high end Dell Axim. I admit, I probably first got it because of PDA envy because my current roommate had one, and I thought it was downright sexy. Ah, PDA envy causes us to make expensive purchases. Honestly I didn't use this one as much as I might have. I'm not really sure why. I had a WiFi card for it, though, and used it often to talk on IM during class. But, I had a friend entering medical school at the time, and he informed me that having a Palm based PDA would be better becasue of the apps for medical school and medical clinical purposes.

Spoiled by my experience with WiFi, I looked into Palm Pilots with integrated WiFi. There was and still is only one, the Palm Tungsten C. So I sold off the Axim and picked up the T|C. Which is where I am now. With the OS 5 and thus enhanced processer, more gaming options were open to me...now, instead of just using the date book feature, I play a lot of games. I've also since found other great programs, both freeware and software, that have seriously extended the use of my PDA. I must fully admit that the Tungsten C is the PDA I've had the most use out of. Certainly I've had it the longest of any PDA and I can't see replacing it any time soon (especially given the newest Palms that have been released).

I was tempted to write this after realizing that I spend probably 50% of my time (at least) on my Palm these days for homework tracking, thesis tracking, playing games, and keeping tabs on all my doctors' phone numbers and appointments. I never thought I'd be one to use a PDA for anything other than games, I'm still surprised to look back on my usage and realize how much of my life is stored on my T|C.