tech TALK

Earlier this decade, the concept of the "personal digital assistant" (PDA) was born out of a very '90s sense of frustration. PDAs were originally designed to be one step ahead of their owners: to be a literal assistant, taking your data and processing it for you to make better sense of your life.

Early reaction to the PDA concept was mixed at best, stand-up routine fodder at worst. Apple's doomed Newton fell faster in the marketplace than even gravity would have predicted, and companies like Psion and General Magic struggled with earning acceptance for their designs.

Certain key shortcomings doomed the PDAs to failure. The handwriting recognition on these early models was atrocious, with Gary Trudeau lampooning in his "Doonesbury" strip the Newton's inability to recognize text. Secondly, devices like the Newton were too big and bulky to be of any use. Early PDAs were as big as a paperback novel and almost as heavy. They could be transported, but weren't truly portable in any sense of the word. They also required expensive add-ons to connect to desktop computers. At up to $1,000 a pop, these devices were no small investment for the average Joe.

Although PDAs struggled in the early '90s, a second wave of industry leaders is preparing another assualt on your Coop schedule. And the fighters in this rematch are leaner, meaner and designed to work the way you do.

Telecom standout U.S. Robotics has made a surprisingly strong entrance into the PDA market with the Pilot Organizer, sold by their subsidiary Palm Computing. At the same time, industry behemoth Microsoft is getting ready to jump into the fray with Windows CE, an operating system for PDAs that might bring some interoperability into the market.

The Pilot is almost all screen; input is done with a stylus on its touch-sensitive screen. Unlike the painful full-text recognition of the Newton, the Pilot uses the Grafitti alphabet, which has you enter data letter by letter using special keystrokes. It takes a few hours to learn how to make each letter of the alphabet, but you can easily be writing at 20 words per minute within an afternoon. The Pilot literally took the market by storm as a little guy: it's about the size of an index card, weighs only six ounces and gets several weeks of power from two AAA batteries.

Unlike its predecessors, the Pilot costs under $300, making it much more affordable for the average consumer. The price is kept low by emphasizing basic functionality. While expensive PDAs like the Newton fared poorly, consumers gobbled up pocket organizers like Sharp's Wizard and Casio's B.O.S.S. because they did the basics right: they kept your schedule and phone numbers and made both accessible at the touch of a button.

The Pilot's Scheduler software is intuitive and easy to use, while powerful enough to set up repeating appointments at the touch of the stylus. The Address Book, Memo Pad and To-Do List all share the same "look-and-feel."

At the same time, backing up your data is a cinch. The Pilot comes with a built-in docking station for use with your PC; plug it in, press a button, and the so-called "HotSync" process begins. With one touch, you can synchronize data between your desktop's time management software and your Pilot. U.S. Robotics also includes a functional organizer program with the Pilot; you can buy add-on programs that let your Pilot talk to other apps for a nominal fee. Dozens of freeware, shareware and commercial applications for the Pilot are also available on the Internet.

If you're looking to buy a great organizer, you probably can't go wrong with it. But if you don't mind waiting a couple of months, keep an eye on Microsoft's new Windows CE.

Designed to run on a range of palmtops from various manufacturers (but not the Pilot), Windows CE will bring a Windows 95-like environment to PDAs, allowing for common software development and communication. Bill Gates and friends have lined up a consortium of manufacturers to use Windows CE as the platform of choice for their PDAs.

WinCE is strictly hype and promises at this point, despite an optimistic November 17 release date. If you're interested, check out Microsoft's web site at www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsce. Right now, though, the little Pilot is the king of the hill among PDAs, and a great way to get yourself organized.

Kevin Davis is the coordinator of HASCS's Advanced Support Team as well as an independent computer consultant. You can reach him via e-mail at ksdavis@fas.harvard.edu.