Re: organizers

Hal Finney (hal@rain.org)
Fri, 27 Dec 1996 17:36:43 -0800


Several people where I work have Pilots, and I have been thinking of
getting one. I have wanted a PDA for years but couldn't bring myself
to spend the money.

The pilots are quite compact and if you wear shirts with pockets should
be easy to carry. However I don't think they are robust enough to be
carried in a pants pocket, particularly not a seat pocket. I see that
they sell a belt clip case, for that "Revenge of the Nerds" look.

A couple of people have complained about losing data through various
mishaps. One guy sat in a position where two buttons were pressed and
somehow this drained the battery. Overall though they seem happy with
the devices. They are certainly easier to carry than a Newton.

The input is done using Graffiti, a stylized pen gesture system, or by
poking at an on-screen keyboard. The main unique feature is that it comes
with a cradle that attaches to your computer. You plug in the Pilot and
it hot-syncs its data with what you have on your disk. This makes the
accidental erasure less of an issue.

The home page is http://www.usr.com/palm. I'm going to try downloading
the demo software and see how it looks.

Hal