I'm a technology junkie. Actually, it goes even farther than that - I'm a tool junkie.
I hate having to do something without the right tools (ok, I hate doing a lot of things whether I've got the right tools or not). I'm not the kind to use a hammer where I should use a screwdriver and I'm not the kind to use a manual screwdriver when I can use a powered one.
On the other hand, as you might have guessed from some of my older writings, my concept of what is the right tool for the job might clash with some of my more technologically bent peers. I've been known to tell a customer that they really didn't need a computer, they needed to fire their secretary/receptionist. I've also been known to resist computerizing a particular task until there really is an obvious gain in productivity or at least parity with doing it "the old fashioned way". Don't get me wrong, I am a believer in computer technology. I wouldn't be writing this on a computer workstation for all you adoring fans to read via the Internet if I wasn't - I'd be writing in my personal diary like any other sane 18th century businessman.
A case in point is my use of a written diary in the past and a Palm Vx now. I used to use the Daytimer Junior to keep track of all my appointments and expenses and notes. I have boxes of them from back in the mid 1970's when I first started out as a salesman for Bell & Howell's business products division. One book per month - initially the "Senior" edition but I moved to the Junior, smaller version about the time I started with the Internet in the mid '80s.
My computerization of my daily functions started with a Timex/Microsoft Data-Link watch. I still have it - 8k of RAM and a 1 bit camera which reads bar-coded programming off the screen of my PC - at least it did until I started using LCD monitors :(
My watch would take programming from a number of sources, eventually from Outlook (adopted during my reign as Director of MIS with iSTAR in 1996) but it meant I still had to put information in my Daytimer since it really didn't hold enough and has almost no user interface to retrieve things that it could store - like phone numbers. It's best use was to remind me of appointment times and times to look in my Daytimer so I didn't have to get it out as often. Problem was this beeped-prompt finally broke me of the habit of getting the Daytimer out at all unless I heard a beep; not a good thing.
There were a number of other machines in my life up to that point including the Radio Shack pocket computer (2k of RAM and a BASIC interpreter in ROM and a bit of a calendar) and the Radio Shack Model 100 "notebook" - 16K of RAM and again BASIC in ROM - but a little too big to fit in my suit pocket. I also have a Casio calculator - PDA, little thing with an alpha keyboard and abilities to store addresses, dates, etc.
As noted above, most recently I've acquired a Palm Vx - 8 Megs of RAM, lots of useful programs and some "interesting" ones that I've received from friends who have more time to browse than I do - including such notables as "PalmaSutra" (you don't want to know) and Frotz (like the old D&D text game) and my favourite, "BigClock"
The Palm seems to fit the bill - and is the device that all else in the PDA world is now measured by. I got mine in fact because I was given the job of working up the design for some new devices that would compete with it. I thought I'd better know the competition.
With it I also got one of the "technogami" (bastardization of origami - for folded paper sculptures from Japan) keyboards - the Palm one - absolutely brilliant engineering IMHO.
The Palm (and many competing products now) is actually pretty good when it comes to competing with paper and pencil. It has a large enough memory that I still have not come even close to stressing it (I just checked - I have not even used 2 Megs yet!). It also has a long enough battery life that I have never had it go dead on me. I have the normal docking station and a separate travel power cord so I can live with a 10 day charge just fine. My cell phone requires charging every 4 days or so, so the Palm gets charged about that often most times too.
The Palm is about the same size and weight as my old Daytimer, and every bit as convenient. It beeps at me like the Timex did - and brings up the appointment too - which the Timex really didn't properly do.
It syncs to my PC calendar (Evolution running under Linux - thanks Ximian for doing such a great job) just as it would to Outlook and a number of other pieces of software.
About the only problem is that the keyboard doesn't find its way into my pocket often enough and I find myself writing on pieces of paper instead of into the Palm - probably why the memory isn't full already :)
But what of the future? Is the Palm exactly what I want? Or is it just another step along the way towards portable technology Nirvana?
Well, you guessed it. My current state of affairs with portable technology still has a long way to go before I'll be happy with it. I've been carrying a voice recorder for a number of years too - and a camera, still most times but video too. These items need to be included in my technology toolbox before I'm happy.
And one other item that is really only just becoming practical and cost effective - GPS, Global Positioning System.
You see, I have a need to diarize where I go. The need stems from the fact that the Canadian government's revenue people (CCRA) want me to prove that I actually use my vehicles to visit customers; and I have a number of vehicles to choose from, so the device must be with me, not with the vehicle.
So..., what I really need is a PDA with an external camera, capable of some video recording as well as voice recording and GPS. Throw in voice recognition for those times when I don't want to get out a keyboard, and I'd be in seventh heaven.
We're getting close. Cell phones with built-in cameras are now out, so are laptops and some of the clam-shell PDAs. Most can be equipped with enough flash that storage is not a problem, and there are now GPS cards that will fit into slots. Now all I have to do is find one that has a really well integrated software package that pulls all this together and I'm home free.
In actual fact, some people have gone the extra mile and are creating the prototypes for what is in reality a "life recorder" - a device or set of devices that creates a running diary of where you go, what and who you see and hear, etc. Written to immutable storage, this can form the basis for all manner of interesting fun. Problem is that with the continued expansion of various governments' incursions on our privacy, I'm not sure I want that much detail kept about where I've been or who I've seen and interacted with. It might get me into a lot of trouble.
On the other hand, I see so many interesting things in my travels that I sometimes want to relate to other people that having a picture and some words to go with it might be worth the risk.
We'll just have to see how long I can resist the next step. If you see a guy running around on a Honda GoldWing with a camera strapped to his helmet and a GPS antenna on top, it might be me ;)
Richard's Digital Rag Daily
http://blog.pacdat.net/article.php/20071009155822444