Who wants a PDA in the era of the smartphone?
All six readers of this blog probably know I've been obsessed with PDAs of late, but the standalone PDA without cell-phone capabilities is obsolete, according to PDA247:
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When you start to use a Smart Phone it is difficult to imagine going back to a standlone PDA because there are so many things you can no longer do. Obviously there is the PDA and mobile phone combination and many people say this is a good way to go- I used to connect that way but never found it intuitive enough for regular use. I want it all in one device without the hassle of Bluetooth connections and all of the fiddling around.
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The only problem I see is that pulling data over cellular networks costs a lot of money. The new cellular modems for laptops do have monthly prices (somewhere between $40 and $90, I believe), but for regular cell-phone users, getting e-mail and Web content into the phone incurs a per-byte cost. It's like the days when everybody had AOL for $9.95 a month, and they gave you only a few "free" hours, charging by the minute for the rest. The whole AOL thing -- and the "online thing" as well -- didn't really blow up until unlimited plans came into the picture. It's the same with Wi-Fi today. If the only Wi-Fi available was the per-hour (or per month) kind at Starbucks, there'd be no incentive to get Wi-Fi cards, and the networks would languish. But the promise of free Wi-Fi, either through your own router or via public hotspots that don't charge is what made wireless connectivity really take off.
And as far as PDAs go, for me it's all about doing the most while spending the least. If I hot-sync the e-mail off my Palm, I'm not paying for an extra connection. The same for wireless -- I'd love to be able to send e-mail without hot-syncing, get Web content and even sync over wireless ... but I'm not crazy about paying for it. So for me, the PDA remains central to my whole technology mojo.
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Correct! Almost every gadget now has a lot of features to offer, there is this watch with MP3 and phone feature, the phone is now an all in one gadget. What’s next? A Phone with TV and DVD player? wow! That’s great, but I would rather use the phone like ">http://www.widgetsandgadgets.com/sonyericsson-w600i.html"> ericsson phone sony w600i. as my MP3 gadget… I just love music… Standalone PDA? naaaa...