On the PalmPilot pages...

The PalmPilot is a small, hand-held computer that provides scheduling, address-book, to-do, and note-taking capability, and which has the ability to run third-party applications, including graphics programs, games, and document and Web browsers. It falls into a category of computing device called a Personal Digital Assistant, or PDA for short.

In operation, information is entered using a pencil-like device with a soft plastic tip (called a stylus). The stylus can be used to tap or draw on the PalmPilot's pressure-sensitive screen. A special set of symbols, known as Graffiti™ to PalmPilot users, are recognized by the device as text characters.

The PalmPilot is easily connected to one's personal computer (I can vouch for PCs), and all of the information on it can be backed up in roughly the time it takes to format a 1.44-MB floppy disk. The device runs on two AAA batteries, one set of which (alkaline, natch) will last about 30-40 hours.

I have always been ready to use an electronic device as a personal information manager. The only problem has been, however, was that all of the devices I'd seen and used before simply did not measure up. I had found through experience that you can successfully plan your time only if you use one planning device (use two or more and you open up a huge time sink with little or no benefit). This was not possible with early electronic "organizers" that either lacked capacity, features, or convenience of use and backup.

So, for three years, I used a Franklin organizer and didn't think much of replacing it with an electronic device. Actually, what I did think about from time to time was the prospect of losing my organizer, the very idea was pretty scary: all of my contact information, all of my goals, appointments, notes, and so on, were in there. (I actually did lose it once, at Kennedy airport in New York. Some kind soul turned it in, and my afternoon spent finding and recovering it is one I'll not long forget!)

Paper organizers are also not exactly pocket-sized, and I often found the bulk of mine to be objectionable. And despite the excellent organization of the Franklin product, I still felt there was too much work involved in cross-referencing items so as to be able to find them again later.

In November 1997, a friend showed me how he used his PalmPilot. His informal demo was a real eye-opener. The next day, I opened my wallet and bought my own unit, at a FranklinCovey store. After three days with the Pilot, I was hooked. After a week, I started leaving my paper organizer at home. After two weeks, the paper organizer went in my closet.

Everything is so easy to get at: buttons at the bottom edge of the unit will power the unit on and launch the corresponding application; and the unit has what I view as a "suspend/restore" button that powers the unit off and on while keeping you in whatever place you are (software-wise) at the moment.

Learning how to input characters with a stylus is a lot easier than it first seems; instead of having the PalmPilot learn to read your handwriting, you adjust your writing in such a way as to make it easy for the PalmPilot to identify the characters you input. If you really feel fumble-fingered, you can punch out text with the stylus on a touch-sensitive keyboard displayed on the Pilot screen. All of this sounds more complicated than it is.

Finally, should the unit succumb to any of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (such as getting run over by a truck or stolen), I stand to lose only a fraction of the information I've accumulated over the years (one day's worth, to be precise, because it's easy to back the unit up every day).

(19 April 98: During a recent trip to Europe, I had the misfortune of putting this, um, feature to the test: my Pilot was stolen in Lisbon. After itching for a couple of days after my return, hoping to be able to wait out the arrival of the new Palm III, I decided to get another Professional, since this unit turns out to be, for me, literally indispensable for me to function at work. HotSync-ing my new Pilot restored all of my information at one shot. The loss of my first Pilot aside, the restoration of my personal "database" made me a real happy camper.)

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