The world in the palm of your hand by Douglas E. Welch August 30, 1999 © 1999, Douglas E. Welch Today it seems like everyone is trying to put the world in the palm of your hand. Palm Pilots , Palm PC’s , Newtons, cell phones, digital voice recorders. Everyone seems to have the perfect solution to getting you organized and on the road. If only it were that easy. Not quite there yet The hard truth is palm computing is just not for everyone. While it may sound like computer heresy, it is only a few hardy people who get the most benefit from these small computers. With any computer, you have to be willing to adjust the way you work to the vagaries of the computer hardware and software. With palm computing, you may need to adjust your entire lifestyle. There are some people who can make great use of these device, especially those that travel extensively and maintain a huge set of contacts. They also have to learn how to enter information in a new handwriting style; how to get the synchonrization software to work reliably; how to make sure that the data they need is on their device when they need it. In the case of most high-level executives, they will have a staff member or members to assist them in maintaining their electronic information. They don’t have to know how to enter information, someone does it for them. They don’t have to wait while the device synchronizes with their desktop computer, someone does it for them. Those of us struggling through business on our own just don’t have this luxury. We don’t have the time to spend hours learning, fiddling and waiting. We just need a device that works. Despite our best efforts we have found ourselves reverting back to tried and truth methods of data storage and access. In most cases this is the trusty date book, address book and notepad. Despite the best efforts of computer manufacturers, they have not yet found a replacement for pen and paper for the stubs of pencil and scraps of paper that fill our wallets. It is a fact of business life that when the crunch time comes we all revert back to the "comfort tools" we know how to operate without looking at a manual. But we really, really want it! This is not to say, though, they we don’t want a replacement. I think every business person today would gladly switch to a palm device if it were as easy to use and as cheap as pen and paper. Computers have been around long enough that we understand the need to search through our information. We understand the need to cross-reference. We just haven’t found a tool that allows us to without jumping though hoops. My sister, owner of her own computer training company, has tried several palm devices, starting with the Newton up to her current classic PalmPilot. She has worked to integrate it into her work and personal life but despite her best efforts the palm device ends up being less and less useful. Instead of finding more and more uses she finds more and more problems. Surely, in the future we will see the fulfillment of our computer dreams but for the moment enter the world of palm computing with open eyes and deep pockets. Douglas E. Welch is a freelance writer and computer consultant in Van Nuys, California.He also writes Career Opportunities, a weekly column on high-tech careers and A Gardener's Notebook. You can find more of Douglas' writing on his web page at: http://www.welchwrite.com/ He can reached via email at douglas@welchwrite.com