Shifting Priorities19 January 2004 The perfect handheld is a moving target, and sometimes other factors (like price) can influence your aim. Having a thick skin is part of a writer's job; sometimes people won't agree with what your say and they'll be rather, ahem, passionate about it. Such was the case on a recent comment thread on PalmInfoCenter. Someone calling themselves Courante had some severe issues with this column of late, and railed about them in the thread. While I'm not sure how much weight to give Courante's arguments (he/she's known to be a Pocket PC troll that hangs out on PIC just to bash anything not of Windows CE), the argument got me thinking about what I look for in a handheld, how that's changed over the years, and what features on which I'm willing to compromise. On of Courante's many arguments was that if I was really devoted to using handhelds for writing, I would have stayed with Pocket PCs as long as the Palm version of TextMaker remained unreleased, as it's obviously a better word processor than WordSmith, Documents To Go or anything else available for the Palm. On the surface, this argument makes sense. TextMaker is a fantastic word processor, and if that were the only thing I used mobile technology for, I'd probably still be using a Pocket PC (although probably one with more than 32MB of RAM). But as focused as I am on writing, it's not the only thing I do. In many ways, my Palm is my primary computer, the one that I have on me all the time. It's a true personal computer. I use it for writing, yes, but also for reading, life planning, health management, email, journaling and even a game once in a blue moon. And yet, it's not my only computer, either. My PDA has to synchronize with my PC simply and reliably. So why do I use a Palm? Documents To Go 6 doesn't have all the features of TextMaker. Heck, it doesn't even handle footnotes and comments as well as WordSmith. But it does everything that I personally need. It handles spell checking, word count, tables, allows me to save documents in native Word format (which allows me to pop my SD card into a portable USB card reader and bring those files up on any PC, no syncing required), and most importantly, doesn't destroy styles and formatting like Pocket Word. The extra features TextMaker has over Documents To Go are features that I don't really need for writing fiction and essays. If both word processors are "good enough", what tips the scales? PIM stuff is pretty much the same on either platform, but it's the supporting software that counts. There's no outliner on the Pocket PC that even comes close to either ShadowPlan or Bonsai (or Life Balance, which I'll get into next week, unless palmOne has an announcement that I need to comment on). None of the Pocket PC journal applications have the power, simplicity or desktop application/conduit that I get with DayNotez. As I've had to tell several Pocket PC users since my last planning column, there is no Pocket PC alternative to Slap, a great note-taking/brainstorming application. And for the three years I used a Pocket PC, I never found a financial application that helped me live within my means like Quik Budget does on the Palm. I've also found that HotSync manager 4.1 is far more reliable than ActiveSync 3.71, and my data syncs flawlessly on the Palm, without the duplicates (or more troubling, missing records) that often plagued my Pocket PC. But here's the thing. When I recommended the Pocket PC for those three years, it was the best solution for me at the time. The Palm is the best solution for me now. In the future, who knows? I love what PalmSource is doing with PalmOS 6, but a 5.5-inch screen Tablet PC would be pretty damn cool. After seeing the VGA screen on the Toshiba e800, I might even consider a Windows Mobile 2004 device where that kind of resolution is natively supported by the operating system. The only allegiance I have is to constant change. I constantly try out new software, new solutions. As elements of my life have changed over the years (including a massive career change from IT to retail sales), my tools have changed with me. I try out new software on a weekly basis to see if it does a better job than what I already use. Most of this software doesn't last 24 hours on my device, but some of it makes the cut. The stuff that has worked has made my life better. Just because I recommend something this week doesn't mean I'll still be using it next week. Because it all comes down to this: if you don't keep trying new things, you'll never have it any better than you do right now. Jeff Kirvin
Jeff Kirvin is available for consulting on mobile technology. Email me today! |