JeffKirvin.net

We’ve all heard it. “The PDA is dead.” The verdict is in, and the traditional PDA market is moving to smartphones. The PDA’s reign is over.

Or is it?

I’ll be the first to admit that PDAs don’t have much viability as organizers. Smarter cell phones do an adequate job of handling calendar and contact information (sadly, even many PDA users underuse the tasklist). Some phones can play MP3s, check email and some websites and play games. Isn’t that what PDAs are for?

It used to be, but not anymore. Just as phones encroach on the PDA’s traditional turf, a new venue has opened: real handheld computing.

Have you tried to go through airport security with a laptop recently? Takes a while, doesn’t it? You almost wish you could just drive to frickin’ Milwaukee. You have to disassemble the darn thing like a rifle, then put it back together, turn it on to prove it works, all without the use of your shoes. It’s so much easier to just throw your PDA and foldable keyboard into a carryon bag and let them go through the X-ray machine. You have your shoes to worry about. Don’t worry, the X-ray machine won’t hurt anything, and you’re far better off that way than futzing with a laptop or even trying to explain why you can’t turn on your folding keyboard.

What about when you get where you’re going? Can a PDA really replace a laptop for a businessperson on the go? Depends on the PDA, but yeah. About the best thing out there for business travelers right now is the PalmOne Tungsten T5. I know the geek set isn’t happy with it, but imaging the following scenario:

Bill has to go on a business trip. His company is sending him to Kalamazoo for a big presentation. To save money, the company has bought him a PalmOne Tungsten T5 and a PalmOne Universal Wireless Keyboard for $470 instead of a laptop for $1,600. They’ve also upgraded his phone to a Bluetooth capable model and subscribed him to a data plan as well as voice.

In his office, Bill plugs his T5 into a USB port on his PC. Opening File Transfer on his PC, he drags and drops everything he can think of that he might need into his PDA. Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, text files, the all-important PowerPoint presentation he’s supposed to give in Kalamazoo, some MP3s, and even a funny MPEG video his brother sent him in email. Everything gets transferred and the video is even automatically converted to a much smaller ASF file for viewing on the PDA. Bill hotsyncs to get his PIM data updated, then grabs his T5, the cable and charger and throws them in his carry-on bag. He’s off to the airport.

Making it through security in record time (Bill’s wearing slip-on shoes), Bill makes it to the terminal with plenty of time to spare. He pulls out his T5 and opens the media player. He starts some MP3s playing on his headphones, then opens the web browser. The T5 connects automatically via Bluetooth to his cell phone (still in his pocket) and connects to the internet. He surfs around, checks news and stock prices, then it’s time to get on the plane.

After the plane gets to cruising altitude and he can turn on electronic devices again, Bill takes out his T5 and watches the video his brother sent him. Oh, that wacky Ted! Then he queues up an audiobook from Audible and settles in for the flight.

When Bill lands, he checks the reservation info in his T5 Calendar and goes to his hotel. He’s tired when he gets in, and forgets to plug in the charger for his T5 before he goes to sleep. At least he remembers to set the alarm on the T5 to wake him up.

He gets up the next morning and gets ready to make his presentation. He grabs the sync cable and his T5 and takes a cab to the office where he’s supposed to make his presentation. When he gets there, he finds out that his T5 is dead! He used up the last of the juice listening to MP3s while he got ready that morning.

Bill is taken to a conference room which has a PC attached to an LCD projector. He pulls out his sync cable and connects the T5 to the PC. The T5 pulls power out of the USB port and bam! That’s enough juice to enable Drive Mode. The T5 shows up on the PC as a drive letter and Bill copies over the PowerPoint presentation. While letting the T5 trickle charge in the background Bill gives his presentation from the PC. When he gets back to the hotel, he plugs it into the charger and connects to the internet through his phone to check his mail. There’s an email from the boss: his presentation was a success!

Is there any reason why Bill would have needed a laptop in this scenario? A laptop wouldn’t have been any more functional, would have cost more, been more to carry, taken longer in the airport, and eventually caused Bill horrible back problems.

PDAs are not PDAs anymore. The concept of a personal digital assistant can be taken over by cell phones. Devices like the PalmOne Treo, PalmOne Tungsten, Tapwave Zodiac and HP iPAQ are handheld computers, with all the capabilities that implies. And in terms of cost, mobility and convenience, they’re superior to laptops.