Vanity: What can one do with a Palm Pilot?

me | 1/17/02 | me and you

[Kermit]

This is a pure unadultered vanity. If you're not into computers or Palm Pilots, skip this thread. You've been given fair warning.

I won a sales contest at work and can choose from three prizes, one of which is the Palm Pilot M505. In the past, I've shyed away from Palm Pilots, not seeing a practical use for them in my lifestyle.

Now, that I can get one for free, I'm re-thinking it, since the other two prizes I either have or I'm not interested in.

How do you use your Palm Pilot? What are the most valuable things you do with yours? Do you need accessories? If so, which? What are the pitfalls or problems with the Palm Pilot?

[twocents]

No, he didn't. The original IBM PC had as little as 64K of memory, and a whopping 4.77 MHz processor. Whilst the Palm IIIxe (the model that I have) weighs in at 8 MB of Ram/storage, and an 8 MHz processor (though I don't know how to compare the dragonball to the 8088 in terms of megahertz).

[twocents]

Not to mention that the newest palms (like the 505) can display thousands of colors, and have slots to put extra memory/storage (up to 64 MB). Plus, I can play Bejeweled with my palm, can you do that with your 8088? :)

[Don Joe]

Unless your PC came with a monitor and keyboard, you got took.

I don't know about you, but me, after 6 or 8 hours with a tiny stylus and wince-hole "screen" Vs. a monitor and keyboard, well, let's just say that there's a reason for the existance of the phrase "no brainer".

But don't mind me, I'm an old fossil. Go ahead, issue Palms to your secretaries, data entry clerks, and just for s&ggls, your programmers. Oh, and none of that "develop on the desktop and port to the palm" stuff, that's for sissies. Since the Palm is so far superior to a KB/Display machine, I'm sure they won't mind coding on one, right?

OBTW, that "as little as" jibe WRT RAM -- poor form, tsk tsk. Are you a Palm salesman?

[Don Joe]

"Plus, I can play Bejeweled with my palm, can you do that with your 8088?"

Since I have no idea WTF that is (and I'm not about to ask), I'll muse that I can't use my PC as a hockeypuck or door-jammer either, so to each his own.

[DouglasKC]

I have a recently purchased Sony Clie with a 64 MB memory stick...the resolution is the best on the market. I keep photos of my family on it, bibles, religious literature, e-books, games, addresses. I think it's a neat thing. It really satisifies the need to have portable, fast information.

Thanks to everyone else on here for app suggestions...

[Calamari]

You can have street level maps at your stylus tip with apps. such as DeLorme's Solus Pro or Mapopolis. Mapopolis is freeware. DeLorme's Solus Pro is not free but can be purchased for about $30.00.

[twocents]

OBTW, that "as little as" jibe WRT RAM -- poor form, tsk tsk. Are you a Palm salesman?

Well, that's because the original IBM PC came with a variable amount of memory.

Plus, who ever typed anything about using a palm pilot to replace a desktop? The palm pilot is a tool, like a pencil or your brain (and like all tools, you should use them if you got 'em).

BTW, "Don," can you keep easily carry your original 500 pound IBM PC with you? (including keyboard and monitor)?

[twocents]

Since I have no idea WTF that is...

What what is?

[lewislynn]

You can have street level maps at your stylus tip with apps. such as DeLorme's Solus Pro or Mapopolis. Mapopolis is freeware. DeLorme's Solus Pro is not free but can be purchased for about $30.00.>

Would those be the same maps you buy at the checkout counter for a dollar...the ones you can actually see?

[ozaukeemom]

We love Freeport! Next time we go there, I will check it out.

[RWG]

I have a less sophisticated cousin, the Handspring Visor. I keep track of my appointments and contacts. I have gotten a keyboard and can make fairly complex documents which I can load onto my iBook and then print. I use it for notes at meetings with the screen keyboard. I am getting better at taking notes and have avoided the clutter of bits of paper and the tendency to lose them. It is easier to get up and going than my iBook or pc and I am developing the habit of noting concepts and ideas for projects for which if I had to boot up my lap top or pc I probably would not bother.

[Big Bunyip]

I had a Palm that my wife gave me, and it was next to useless. Couldn't get used to writing in Graffiti ('though many people master it easily), the screen broke, and generally it was a pain in the postern gate. Well, about two months ago, I was in a bar when an old friend comes in, and he's got an H-P Jornada pocket pc. It runs windows, syncs like snap, has 128K of memory, and a color screen as good as my lap top. I treated myself to one the next day.

First, it's practical design, protected by a metal flap. The software is easy and quick to navigate. With a folding keyboard and snap-in modem, it's possible to write long but legible reports (I've done a couple of almost 1,000 words).

There are 300 books in mine, and every morning I download about 16 US and international newspapers and Web sites. Slip it into your pocket when you go to the john, and you don't have to be seen carrying a newspaper through the office as you head off for a quiet read in the middle of the day!

If you're going to get a PDA, the Jornada pocket PC is the way to go. More than a toy, it's genuinely practical and entirely useful. Get one and you'll never the room, let alone the house, without it.

Oh, yeah, it's got nifty sound, too

[SharonLorraine]

I love my Palm Pilot. I like the fact that if I am out somewhere and I need to make an appt. or I enter data into it, when I get back to the office I just sync it to my computer and I don't have to do anything twice. It's like having a daytimer with you at all times cause it fits in your purse.

Also if someone else has one they can just point there Palm and yours and with the hit of a button, you instantly receive their cyber business card into your contact list. Voila!

[Texas Mom]

I don't know but my son has one and he swears by it. He doesn't leave home without it.

[Don Joe]

"who ever typed anything about using a palm pilot to replace a desktop?"

LibKill, in post #6: "Palm Pilots are very versatile and can do more than the original IBM PC ever could."

How quickly they forget...

"BTW, 'Don,' can you keep easily carry your original 500 pound IBM PC with you? (including keyboard and monitor)?"

Well golly, "twocents", that wasn't the issue under discussion, now was it. Trying to reframe the debate so early into the thread? You must be a salesman! :)

PS: 500 lbs? Do I detect a smidgen of hyperbole?

[Don Joe]

"What what is?"

What what you neglected to include in the material you quoted was. Shall we conclude this with a succint "nevermind"?

[Don Joe]

Before everyone piles on, I'll note that my wife has a Palm, and I will be writing some software for it (or more precisely, for tens of millions :) of others out in the world), using hers as a debugging platform (my development kit runs on my desktop machine, of course).

I also have (somewhere), a second-generation HP handheld, can't recall the model number at the moment, it runs WinCE 2.0. I bought it so that I could write an article about it (IOW, I made some nontrivial bucks on the deal), and after it was published in the deadtree pub, the article made its way to MS's site where it was available for probably close to two years. (I stumbled upon it there one day while looking for something else.) It may still be there somewhere, but my bookmarks can't find it.

So I'm not entirely bereft of exposure to the little devices, and I'd like to think that my thoughts and comments are not based on rank uninformed ignorance.

You may now resume flaming...

[ko_kyi]

Here is why I like the Palm Pilot: 1. I like to daydream, and I have an awful memory. All the mental energy I used to use to try to remember stuff to do I now use to daydream, since I put it in the Pilot. 2. I ride subways and I can improve my chess game on the Pilot during long rides. 3. Chicks dig them.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

American Psycho! I loved that movie! It really kept me guessing. Half the time I couldn't figure out if all the mayhem was actually happening or if it was all in his head. And the ending had me wondering even more.