DIY Planner - Technology - Comments

I did

jonglass — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 08:51:56 -0400

But I moved to an ancient Treo 650. I'm happy with the marriage of phone and PDA. I was really leery of it when I bought it. My Tungsten died, and T/Xs were so expensive, and I don't trust, older, used Palms to still be in excellent condition--and then I found this Treo cheap. I've been very happy with it, the battery life, and it hasn't been anywhere near as awkward as I thought it would be.

I don't think the 680 is the Palm for heavy PDA use, but from all I've heard, the Centro is a decent replacement for the 650. If you could find a mint 650, on the other hand, that might also be worth it. In any case, don't fear the convergence....

-Jon

End of the PDA era

liz_n_cats — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:37:38 -0400

I don't think the PDA can compete anymore ... the last PDA I bought was a Palm T|X for $399 (I think). Just a couple weeks ago I bought an Acer laptop (Aspire One) that is smaller than a piece of paper for $350. With prices and sizes like that, as well as smart phones, etc, I don't think we're going to be seeing innovation in the stand-alone PDA anymore.

Say good bye to PDA

infrequenttraveller — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:14:56 -0400

It seems the big companies have decided for us that the days of the PDA are over. My wife's Palm Tungsten is crashing constantly, and when she asked me what to get instead I didn't have an answer - what you can get is either low end or it's a smartphone. and even those, Palm OS based like my Treo 680, seem to run out: the new Treos all are using W*ndows mobile instead of Palm OS (which, I fear, might be a problem on my Macs as well in the office as at home).

So, I have the impression we won't see any development in the PDA field: regardless of system or OS, all the new devices are smartphones - the stand-alone data terminal just seems outdated. Yes, the iPod touch could be a replacement. But with all these quirks? Also,maybe it's my fault, I'm annoyed by its organizing my contacts - which is by first name. not very helpful if you know some people called Peter. no copy/paste function, at least not with the standard software that is delivered with the device.

It ain't rocket science, true. But it seems the companies (and the software developers) have embraced the idea that the market demands either entertainment devices or smartphones or both wrapped into one. nothing to get your work done.

I agree wholeheartedly with

Ken — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:24:10 -0400

I agree wholeheartedly with Evernote. It works well on both my work laptop (pc), my home laptop (mac) and on my iPhone. I can't edit files on my iPhone (yet), but I keep index cards with me for quick notes-- anything worth keeping is migrating into Evernote. For contacts, I've been using Plaxo for quite a while now. It's well worth the $50/year to keep all my contact information synced regardless of what tool is in front of me. A nice feature is that if you blow up your contacts by accident (which I have done when trying to get my old laptop ready for my sister) you can go back to the last weekly server backup and restore all of your contacts.

simplify

jonglass — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 09:56:50 -0400

I use my Palm Treo still, but I also use a Mac and the new MobileMe--and Google Calendar.

I think the key to all this syncing garbage is to not try to sync everything. What I do is synce my Palm to one Mac, and my one Mac to MobileMe. I subscribe my wife to my addressbook and iCal, so that, if she needs, she can look at me. If she used iCal much, I would subscribe to her iCal, and no more--not try to sync them all, just subscribe--one calendar per person, and no more. Syncing has always seemed to be an achilles heel to just about every system. The only way to get around that is to do what Now and other enterprise systems do--have a server-based system, and all the users as clients. I doubt you want to do that, however, as the costs are through the roof.

I look forward to the day that Apple perfects its MobileMe service, and gets syncing working, but honestly, I don't hold my breath--but if anybody can do a non-centralized sync system, then it would be Apple--Palm ended up blowing it, even! (Therefore, I don't hold out much hope for Apple--they blew it with the Newton, of course)

Anyway, to summarize, try subscribing instead of syncing. You might find it works better.

-Jon

PDA problems

supenguin — Thu, 7 Aug 2008 03:54:28 -0400

I've tried using PDA's twice: Handspring once and then a Palm Pilot. I feel your pain. The Handspring had a brief life as a frisbee when handwriting recognition kept showing G's and C's as a 6. One smashed PDA.

Later a friend was upgrading his Palm Pilot and sold me his old one for $30 so I decided to try it again. It worked fine until I dropped it 3 feet onto carpet. The way it hit, the screen cracked but just on the input area, making it impossible to use!

I have decided to hold off getting another PDA until I can find one that has good handwriting recognition, is easy to use, and can survive being dropped a couple feet.

I do have an interesting idea but no clue if it is possible. How about the Amazon Kindle? I'm not sure how it is for entering information, but I seem to remember there is an option to view PDF's on the Kindle. So how about scanning paper documents in as a PDF and loading them up on your Kindle? I don't have one, never used one, and have no clue if anything like this is remotely possible. One advantage would be the internet connection option on the Kindle.

-Kenny

no advice, but lots of empathy

Rivercat0338 — Wed, 6 Aug 2008 19:04:04 -0400

I used Palm devices from '97-'04 when I finally decided to go back to paper. While the PDAs did not crash very often, the batteries invariably died at the most inconvenient moments, and synching just became a royal pain (especially with Outlook at work, which insisted on displaying completed to-do items from several years back).

A friend of mine was still using her Newton as of about 2 years ago, but has probably moved on to the Touch by now.

Windows, Palm, Centro...

nay nay — Wed, 6 Aug 2008 18:46:55 -0400

Well, I am a windows user, so cannot comment on Mac devises and programs... But, I have had a lot of experience with Windows/Palm programs and devices and used to train employees on their Palm Pilots a while back!

I currently use Outlook at Work and Home for Contacts, task lists, calendar, photos, and memos. I sync this with my new Sprint Centro containing the Palm Application. So, I have all of my planner stuff (color coded for work and personal), and my phone, email and web access all in one. I have had this for about eight months and have had no problems syncing or crashing. All in all, I am very pleased with this phone/palm. (Knock on wood so that it does not crash today! ha ha).

I really like the Palm App. I think it is simple because it is based on Outlook which I have used most of my life. I write important notes in the memo area so that I carry all info with me. I have my task list set up GTD-like with @Home, @Work, @Car, etc. My calendar on the Centro is color coded so I can see right away the separation of work and personal. Same in my Outlook. I can actually click "busines" or "personal" on my calendar at work and see the appointments separated out (same on phone). So far, so good.

Just a little insight on the palm/windows apps...

nay nay

Chandler Software

LizPf — Wed, 6 Aug 2008 18:13:28 -0400

I'm beta testing Chandler which, assuming it goes in the direction I hope it does, will solve a lot of digital problems.

http://chandlerproject.org

As Chandler stands now, there is a desktop application (free, multi-platform, open source) and a web server. You can create a "collection" of events and notes on the desktop, then publish it to the server. You then get two URLs -- one lets you only read the collection, the other lets you read and write to it. Synching between the desktop (or several desktops on different computers) and the web server works smoothly. Since you use an ordinary web browser to see your collections, it works on many devices.

However, Chandler is still "not ready for prime time". It is still buggy, and is missing a few features that will really make it sing. But if you are willing to put up with beta software, take a look.

{I am not being paid by Chandler, just a fan.}

Witty science & science fiction t-shirts
http://www.printfection.com/cartesianbear

Same experience here

Eck — Wed, 6 Aug 2008 05:51:32 -0400

I'm still using my Newton as the main element of my GTD setup. I have tried many other things, e.g. TiddlyWiki, a homegrown Ruby-on-Rails GTD application, pen and paper, and even on the Newton, it took me a bit to figure out how things work best.

I did have to implement my own app for the Newton, but the operating system is extremely flexible when it comes to developing, and I was able to fully concentrate on how to structure my workflow.

Beyond GTD, the Newton is an incredible device for data collection and storage, which is pretty much the core of what a PDA is supposed to do. I don't have to worry where my information is, the Newton is the master data storage.

I have only two issues, the bigger one being my crappy handwriting which makes data entry on the go less suitable for me. For that purpose I'm back to pen and paper, like an extended inbox. The other issue is that the Newton struggles in the area of connectivity, anything internet related is not really feasible, and synchronizing data is not working across the board either.

Still, I haven't found anything which could beat the Newton in terms of productivity, the next best thing would probably be pen and paper, and that doesn't connect to the internet either ;)

Register with fake name & address

Lex — Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:18:34 -0400

I can't be the first person to think of registering with a fake name and address for personal ID security.

Moved to a paper PDA, and I used to train Palm users

sporter — Tue, 5 Aug 2008 23:17:18 -0400

I finally gave up on electronic gadgets for calendaring and to-dos. I finally realized that seeing time electronically was not the way my brain worked. The analog way of seeing pages as weeks suited my thinking style. So, I am using a paper-based PDA and capturing items in an In Box, using a Next items list, etc. I love it. I use a leather Levenger cover and love the immediacy of it. I do miss TextTwist that saved me from many a boring meeting! I used to train users on the Palm platform so I knew what the machine could do. Just didn't fit me. I teach an educational technology class so have to stay up-to-date. I have a Palm and a Dell Axim to use for demos.

sporter
"To fly, we must have resistance."

New MacBooks

Rollafool — Tue, 5 Aug 2008 21:26:44 -0400

The rumor I heard was that the new MacBooks are going to have glass trackpads that support the gestural language of the iPod Touch/iPhone, and the screens themselves won't. :-(

When I bought my PowerBook years ago, I swore that my next Mac computer would have no physical keyboard -- so reepicheep I like your rumors much, much better! :-)

Agreed that handwriting recognition is an essential missing element. There really should be a stylus option too, especially for typing. The lack of across-the-board cut-and-paste (and the ability for apps to copy and paste behind the scenes between each other, e.g. copy e-mail text or a calendar event into a to-do list) is a major drawback. Once Apple introduces that one, I think it will be a shot in the arm for new professional and business apps.

perfect timing..

frano — Tue, 5 Aug 2008 18:00:45 -0400

Your article couldn't have been timed better! I have a Palm TX that has been sporadically refusing to turn on and requires a soft reset. I've been thinking of springing for an iPod touch (don't want to switch to ATT phone) and using that in place of my Palm ... you've convinced me not to!

"The only problem I have is with transporting large amounts of digital data like notes, long digital task lists, outliner docs, proposals-in-the-rough and so on."

ditto! I have a wireless keyboard and Docs-to-Go (my "poor man's laptop") and have found I can get a lot of work done in odd places. Plus of course carrying tons of archived data, much of which I would not want to carry around on paper, both because of volume and because part of why it's useful is the digital search capability of the TX.

I bought a Moleskine 18-month pocket-sized planner and have switched to it for the time being. But... I love my pop-up reminders via iCal and find that I come home and enter everything into iCal (which of course necessitates remembering what said changes are long enough to do so... Plus I've had to put my contacts onto my cell phone now rather than carrying my address book in the Palm - annoying since my cell phone is generally off and tucked in my bag rather than on me.

By the way, having played with both Things and OmniFocus, I'd heartily recommend Things. The interface is more intuitive, the 'areas of responsibility' fits my needs well - as an academic I am constantly getting in new assignments to grade, which goes into an 'area' but doesn't really constitute a 'project' since it's never done. Also the learning curve on OF seems much steeper to me than that of Things.

Another option if you work well from simple lists is TaskPaper. It's an interface that manipulates *.txt files - allows tags, crossing off of completed tasks, and archiving of the completed tasks down at the bottom of the list out of the way.

Disclaimer - I've no affiliation with any of these software companies.

Try to keep it simple

Fokke — Tue, 5 Aug 2008 15:34:32 -0400

Your experience is what I hear every now and then. And I have experienced some of it myself. Very frustrating. What I have learned over the years of GTD'ing is to try and keep the system as simple as possible. Nothing fancy just the plain obvious. I have found this to be a challenge at some point. For tasks/projects/calendar/mail I am set now. Evernote and Exchange. For contacts I am still struggling.

D*I*Y Planner - Technology - Comments