Just What Is A PDA, Anyway?

by Ron Heller

You may have heard a lot of talk around the school or around the office about this thing called a PDA. So just what is a pda and why does everyone seem to have one all of a sudden? Before we get into what is a pda it helps to have a little bit of history on the pc industry in general and the pda or pocket pc in particular.

The question of what is a pda is a little more complicated today than it was when pdas first hit the market a decade or so ago. Back then what we know as a pocket pc was mostly used for organizing lists of phone numbers, names and addresses. The first pdas were mainly used by sales professionals and executives to keep track of their list of contacts, and they were capable of little else.

The pdas on the market today are a far cry from those simple electronic organizers. Today's pocket pc still has the ability to organize your contacts and find a name quickly, but they are capable of much more as well. For one thing, the storage capacity of the pocket pc has exploded in recent years. The relative cheapness of storage space and memory means that the pdas made today can store many times the amount of data of their predecessors. The typical pocket pc can hold hundreds of addresses, as well as pictures, music files, spreadsheets, word processing documents and much more.

Pdas are also designed to quickly sync up with a desktop or laptop computer. This is either done through a USB cable which connects the computer to the pda, or through the use of a hot sync cradle. The hot sync cradle also doubles as a charger, charging the battery while the pda is not in use.

A pda is in essence a small computer that is fits in the palm of your hand. With a pda you can write documents, design spreadsheets, and of course look up phone numbers. Some pdas also can double as cell phones, MP3 players and gps navigation systems. The addition of a global positioning system (gps) card and mapping software means a pocket pc can easily replace your paper map on your next business trip or family vacation.

As you can see, the pda or pocket pc is a very useful tool in today's busy world. Once you buy one, you will wonder how you ever got along without it.

Ron Heller is the owner and operator of a website
devoted to PDA, palm pilot accessories, PDA accessories, PDA computers and more.