Pens or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)?

[thefsb]

I have two PDAs and don't use either one of them. I prefer my trusty Far Side Desk Calendar.

the boffins are going to have to work a lot harder to produce some electronic gizmo that can out-do a far side calendar.

[Philip1209]

Truthfully, my palm pilot has been collecting dust since I bought a nice fountain pen and a moleskine reporter-style notebook. I use it for to-do's and basic calendars. The phone numbers I need are in my cell phone, and all of the other concrete info, like addresses, are on my computer.

[JeffTL]

I keep my calendar, address book, and most of to do on an Apple iPod Touch PDA, which syncs calendar and address to my Mac and has a good Web browser and email client to boot. It goes in my shirt pocket each morning right alongside the pen du jour and any papers I am carrying about.

 

I used to have a Palm, but neither the hardware nor the software met my standards of reliability. So I didn't get another PDA until the iPod Touch was around -- it has the durability of all other iPods, and a Unix operating system.

[pmsalty]

I use a Treo because it's supplied by my employer. I only have company meeting on it. I use a paper planner as my to do calendar, much more flexible than any electronic device and more portable. After having PDA and computer crashes I just don't trust having my life totally dependent on them.

I carry several FP's, a 3x5 briefcase and my planner.

PMS

[barny]

Now, the PDA is a real backup only. Everything I need is in a computer somewhere, most is in google online services. It's possible that the PDA may disappear from my life soon.

 

I agree that a PDA is a real backup only. Most that I need is also stored in online services and in a computer. We are heading to the future of technology that should make our lives easier but with all the upgrades and update in a way makes our us somehow miserable. Whenever I attend meetings or conventions I see a lot swithching buttons to rev up their gadgets to take notes (maybe pretending) and when I pull out my pocket notebook, they would usually glance at me but then I draw out my fountain pen like a sword they are all mesmerised especially the young ones. Even remember one said to me "Wow! where's the ink bottle?" He thought that my fountain pen is a dip pen.

 

 

 

 

_{mens sana incorpore sano}

[MikaLa]

I have looked and looked for the perfect way of managing my time & effort over the last couple of years. Previously this was not an issue, as I was primarily employed as a researcher, but now that I am involved in uni admin I have a lot to juggle on a daily basis.

 

I can recommend a book that helped me to think straight about all this: Getting Things Done by David Allen. My system is a lightweight application of GTD trimmed down of a comprehensive filing system and sensitive to having two desks, one at home and the other at the dept. I do not want to work with everything on my PDA; it ties you down and I love to write stuff with my FPs on my notebooks. I use outlook on my computer and my Nokia smartphone to remind me of tasks & appointments -- that apart everything is analog. I have a rolling to-do list on my Field Notes notebook. I have a few notebooks at home for different contexts, ie research & reading, other ideas.

 

This seems to work for me. I'd love to get back to research, though.

[Deirdre]

Address book in PDA, calendar and to-do lists on paper.

I do all the above digitally, with the exception that if I have ToDo items for the day, I'll write them on paper.

[merzig]

FP and Sukie agenda book!

 

(the sukie book, I might add, has really nice FP-friendly paper. plus tear-out to do lists. plus pockets. plus stickers and sketch section. so in love!)

[tmenyc]

I keep my calendar, address book, and most of to do on an Apple iPod Touch PDA, which syncs calendar and address to my Mac and has a good Web browser and email client to boot. It goes in my shirt pocket each morning right alongside the pen du jour and any papers I am carrying about.

 

I used to have a Palm, but neither the hardware nor the software met my standards of reliability. So I didn't get another PDA until the iPod Touch was around -- it has the durability of all other iPods, and a Unix operating system.

 

Hmm...you like the Touch, eh? We're getting a macbook this week for my inlaws, will get a free ipod with it, maybe I'll take a look at the Touch. Appreciate the thought.

[tmenyc]

Now, the PDA is a real backup only. Everything I need is in a computer somewhere, most is in google online services. It's possible that the PDA may disappear from my life soon.

 

I agree that a PDA is a real backup only. Most that I need is also stored in online services and in a computer. We are heading to the future of technology that should make our lives easier but with all the upgrades and update in a way makes our us somehow miserable. Whenever I attend meetings or conventions I see a lot swithching buttons to rev up their gadgets to take notes (maybe pretending) and when I pull out my pocket notebook, they would usually glance at me but then I draw out my fountain pen like a sword they are all mesmerised especially the young ones. Even remember one said to me "Wow! where's the ink bottle?" He thought that my fountain pen is a dip pen.

 

 

 

 

_{mens sana incorpore sano}

 

Absolutely -- digital as I am, heads still turn at meetings when I doodle with my fp.

[Garageboy]

Paper is faster for me

[Federalist Pens]

Pen and paper here as well. I am one of those people that needs a "things to do" list!

I use the computer (e-mail) for address info!

[rakim]

I use an A5 Moleskine which I have GTD'g using tips from David Allen's book Getting Things Done. Unfortunately, I use a ballpoint and pencil to make entries in this :embarrassed_smile: as the paper is just not FP friendly.

[Blade Runner]

For my needs pen and paper work just fine.

No more paying alot of money for devices that last for a few years, have features I don't really need,

don't add that much productivity in my circumstance.

[barny]

I use an A5 Moleskine which I have GTD'g using tips from David Allen's book Getting Things Done. Unfortunately, I use a ballpoint and pencil to make entries in this :embarrassed_smile: as the paper is just not FP friendly.

 

 

I agree with you that Moleskine are not FP friendly although I use one and still use FP with an EF nib.

[london]

I've used a Filofax type thing for about 20 years. But over the last eight or so years had a PDA too. The latest being a work provided Blackberry, which has ousted my IPaq. I tend to type things up on the PC after taking notes in FP, and printing out my to-do list etc. My job is far too fast moving for a paper basde system to keep up. Particularly when I might have 60 research interviews in my calendar over a month.

 

I really miss the time when a paper based system was sufficient. Nowadays I seem to be in a constant battle with myself over what time management system and tools to use. Do I keep project reports in my Filofax, in the project file, or on the server....the ever expanding to-do list, the 100 email days....

 

Oh, and I have a small Moleskine for my personal life.

 

- Mark

[Randal6393]

ah, the PDA dilemma...been there.

As a confirmed fp user, I've also been pretty digital for a long time. Got a TI gadget around ten years ago, then migrated to Palms, went through all of them as far as a Treo 650, then, having changed jobs and no longer needing to be on call 24/7, went back to a plain Palm E2 and a cell phone. So I know this one. I also am a very active digital person, and now synchronize my calendar via my assistant's outlook calendar and google's calendar, to my home computers. At work, we synch with each other via my palm, although that's soon to happen via google.

For me, the PDA route has never been perfect, although the Treo came very close while it worked. Version issues abounded, constant synching was annoying, and somehow it never caught all the changes and events. I have, throughout this time, also carried index cards, and write lists and notes on them (with my walkaround pen), rather than in the PDA. When Palm's graffiti language was king, i really tried to be cardless for some months, but always seemed to end up with cards in the pocket.

Now, the PDA is a real backup only. Everything I need is in a computer somewhere, most is in google online services. It's possible that the PDA may disappear from my life soon. Also, there are very few of them left to buy! There is the Palm, but the Palm operating system is almost dead, a real loss (don't get me started on Microsoft please; I still use it at work, but at home either use a Mac or my used-to-be-PC-now-linux box). Beyond that there is the iPhone, which is beautiful, but only for ATT customers, and I live in Verizon land here in NYC. The Ipacs are, friends tell me, not terribly reliable. Don't know of any others.

 

If you can find one, the Asus A626 is great. It is a small, Linux-based PDA, similar to a Windows PDA. But with the advantage of reading and using palm files as well as windows. I find it very convenient for reading ebooks on. And will put a few notes on as well. But for serious notes, first notes, lists, etc., nothing beats pen and paper.

[donwinn]

Tried the paper organizer route, got tired of keeping it up. Tried the PDA and didn't get much use out of it. So now I have the phone numbers I need in my cell phone and let Outlook remind me when I have an appointment or meeting. Paper notes are great to remind you of things that aren't time specific but can't audibly remind you when it's time for a meeting. However, I am thinking of getting a Blackberry type phone next time.

 

You would do better to get an iPhone. I had a Blackberry from my previous job, and before that, used a Treo for my personal phone. As mentioned, a paper organizer does not alarm for meetings, and a to-do item can disappear in the pages, but not with a PDA.

 

In any case, I preferred the Treo to the Blackberry, but it was not my choice for the work phone. My new job furnishes an iPhone, and it is much better than either the Treo or the Blackberry.

 

I use fountain pens for all my paper writing, but for organizing, the pda beats it, for search capabilities, and alarms.

 

donnie

[marigolds]

I use my iPhone for pretty much everything. I sync it every night while it's charging from the laptop. All my addresses, emails, calendar appointments, etc. I do keep a paper to-do list, mostly b/c iCal's to do functionality sucks. (Soon I will no longer need to sync, as the next iPhone update will give it push-sync functionality - so every time I enter a change on either laptop or iPhone it will automatically sync through .Mac.)

 

I carry a small Moleskine for jotting notes, etc and have an A5 for my daily use notebook; master to do list is kept in the back of the large Moleskine.

[tmenyc]

ah, the PDA dilemma...been there.

As a confirmed fp user, I've also been pretty digital for a long time. Got a TI gadget around ten years ago, then migrated to Palms, went through all of them as far as a Treo 650, then, having changed jobs and no longer needing to be on call 24/7, went back to a plain Palm E2 and a cell phone. So I know this one. I also am a very active digital person, and now synchronize my calendar via my assistant's outlook calendar and google's calendar, to my home computers. At work, we synch with each other via my palm, although that's soon to happen via google.

For me, the PDA route has never been perfect, although the Treo came very close while it worked. Version issues abounded, constant synching was annoying, and somehow it never caught all the changes and events. I have, throughout this time, also carried index cards, and write lists and notes on them (with my walkaround pen), rather than in the PDA. When Palm's graffiti language was king, i really tried to be cardless for some months, but always seemed to end up with cards in the pocket.

Now, the PDA is a real backup only. Everything I need is in a computer somewhere, most is in google online services. It's possible that the PDA may disappear from my life soon. Also, there are very few of them left to buy! There is the Palm, but the Palm operating system is almost dead, a real loss (don't get me started on Microsoft please; I still use it at work, but at home either use a Mac or my used-to-be-PC-now-linux box). Beyond that there is the iPhone, which is beautiful, but only for ATT customers, and I live in Verizon land here in NYC. The Ipacs are, friends tell me, not terribly reliable. Don't know of any others.

 

If you can find one, the Asus A626 is great. It is a small, Linux-based PDA, similar to a Windows PDA. But with the advantage of reading and using palm files as well as windows. I find it very convenient for reading ebooks on. And will put a few notes on as well. But for serious notes, first notes, lists, etc., nothing beats pen and paper.

ah, for a minute there I thought there was a PDA out there that ran linux...but it's windows. I'm decmicrosofting my life and just can't do it. In all other respects, it does look like a great little PDA!