Yeah, But Does It Come With a Cool Pole?

Just saw a segment on my local TV news here in Denver (no, my neighborhood isn't actually on fire) about Pocket Mobility Inc. They publish PalmOS software that firefighters here in Colorado are using to fight our various blazes more effectively.

Columns

The Perfect Writer's PDA

If everyone's needs are different, then follows that everyone's PDAs will be different as well. One size, as it turns out, does not fit all. So what would make a PDA perfect for mobile writers?

I got to thinking recently about what makes PDAs a compelling purchase for consumers. It's a tougher train of thought than you'd think-- or at least tougher than I thought-- because everyone has different needs. The perfect device for a doctor may be quite different from mobile nirvana for a construction foreman. A student's PDA might be worlds apart from that of a soccer mom. You get the idea.

So I narrowed my thinking to mobile writers-- after all, that's who this site is really for. As a mobile writer myself, I came up with a dozen features my dream mobile device would have to have...

Columns

The Price of Mobility

No matter how you look at it, mobility in computing comes at a price. Is it worth it?

I got an interesting questing last week. A reader who recently bought a Jornada for writing (among other uses) asked why a mobile writer would buy a PDA at all. Why not just go with a laptop?

To me, it all comes down to mobility. My Jornada 565, with or without a thumbboard or Stowaway as appropriate, goes with me everywhere I go. I've taken it to hockey games, amusement parks, parties, on my bike. I'm typing this sentence on my thumbboard in a local McDonald's. Slipping quickly and easily into the pockets of my cargo shorts or khakis, my Jornada gives me the ability to write and store my work digitally in places even the smallest, lightest laptop would fear to tread.

But mobility comes at a price...

Where Would We Be Without...

I just got done watching The Three Musketeers, and couldn't help noticing how much it resembled The Musketeer, not to mention characters from The Man in the Iron Mask, and that's just from movies within the last ten years. Of course, the similarity is obvious, as they're all based on the novels of Alexandre Dumas, written roughly 150 years ago. It's easy to see why Hollywood has used Dumas as a source again and again and again. The Three Musketeers may be THE classic adventure story, and it's hard to mess up a movie if you know the story has enduring appeal.

It got me to thinking. What if the current media congloms get their way, and copyright becomes essentially permanent, eternal? What if such changes to the law work retroactively, like the Bono Act, so that everything in the public domain reverts to the heirs of the original copyright holders? Would we have seen 10 Things I Hate About You and O if the studios had had to track down the legitimate heirs of "Wild Bill" Shakespeare and pay a hefty licensing fee?

Clearly, copyright must have limits. Anything over the term of a human lifespan does a disservice to humanity. Storytelling is an evolutionary art. We build on the stories that come before our own, and sometimes just retell those same old stories in modern language. New stories grow from the old, not from nothingness.

Administrivia

Well, the people have spoken. The responses in favor of more content, more frequent columns and just more of everything have been overwhelming. So, we go back to the beginning. In my very first column, I wrote, "This column will be published on the rigorously defined schedule of 'whenever I get around to it', but I hope to have them out weekly or so ('or so' in this case meaning anywhere from daily to monthly, depending on what other writing projects I'm working on)." (Yes, I realize I ended the sentence with a preposition; ah, the embarrassments of youth...) Well, from now on I'll play it even looser, posting columns as soon as I finish them. Since we no longer have to wait until Mondays-- and theoretically, I can post via email if Blogger ever gets their act together-- look for more breaking news, timely commentary, and a great deal more rambling from yours truly. In fact, look for not one, but two columns later today.

Closing the Digital Divide

CNN.com - India to roll out cheap, handheld computer - July 5, 2002 The Linux-based Simputer is almost ready for release in India, selling in different configurations for 10,500 to 23,000 rupees, or $214 to $469 USD. That doesn't sound like much for the StrongARM-based devices until you consider that the average income for an Indian citizen is about $450 USD a year. Still, the devices allow personal data to be stored entirely on expansion media, making it possible for an entire village to share a single device. The Simputer includes features like voicemail and text to speech, and is aimed at bringing more of India's poor and illiterate into the digital age. Thanks to Alert Reader Bill Tanch for the link.