RootsWorks
PDA 2005--Software
by Beau Sharbrough
Alignment. It means that local and global information make sense together, that the facts we know match the theory that we understand. When we lack alignment, Stephen Covey says we lose focus and have difficulty succeeding. The Chinese believe that if your yin and yang are not aligned, your energy won't flow. It appears that the same problem happens with handheld computers, and I'm going to propose an alignment strategy.
Palm users and Pocket PC users are in different markets. The Palm is a tool for organization and portability. The Pocket PC is a general-purpose computer. Certainly a person can use a Palm device as a general-purpose computer or a Pocket PC as an organizer. There are many millions of people using handheld computers, and some of them follow different strategies for alignment in their lives.
One other distinction between the Palm and the Pocket PC is that the Pocket PC is running a version of Windows. No Pocket PC will sync with a Mac out of the box, but you can buy sync software for it. I didn't advise Microsoft about this strategy, so if you are not in favor of it, please send your thoughts to Microsoft, not me.
Let's look at software for the PDA and how it might interest genealogists. The next article will cover genealogy software for the PDA specifically. Let's start with "office functions."
Office, Anyone?
For most people, being able to download documents from your desktop to the Palm so that they are handy is a valuable feature. For others, putting a few notes, ideas, or meeting minutes into a document and uploading it is just as important. For myself, updating my calendar, address book, and to-do list while on the run is the most useful feature.
The choice of office software has been made for you in many cases. The Pocket PC computers (the HP iPaq and the Toshibas, for example) come with Pocket Office. No extra charge. With the memory expansion cards that these devices support, you can carry just about everything you can think to pack.
Palm computers, such as Palm and Sony make, come with Documents to Go (Standard Edition). Another very good Palm Office program is "Quick Office." A comparison of all three is online at the PDA Buyer's Guide site.
The basic story on these programs is that you can upload and download word processing and spreadsheet documents. I use them, but I only go one way--I download desktop documents for reference and create documents on the PDA for subsequent modification on the desktop. I do not download documents, modify them, and then upload them. In most cases, if you try this you'll lose your fonts and graphics.
What Else?
It's hard to predict what people will do. What software are people downloading, buying, and searching for?
DOWNLOADING: The PalmGear site (www.palmgear.com) lists its Top 50 downloads, and that list is a really jumbled toy box. The following list contains the top ten and the number of downloads, in thousands:
1. MMPlayer 0.213, Movie and music player. 26
2. ZLauncher 4.30, Application launcher. 264
3. NeatFreak Pack 2.60. Spring cleaning. 17
4. Butler 2.21, and assistant, alarm, navigator, launcher, and more. 21
5. Pocket-DVD Studio for Palm 1.2.6, Movies in your hand. 13
6. BackupMan 1.51. Backup program. 24
7. Pocket Tunes Deluxe 3.0.5, MP3 player. 43
8. Pocket Tunes 3.0.5, MP3 player. 99
9. Nexus English Dictionary 1.2. Dictionary. 2
10. Aces Texas Hold 'em - No limit 1.1. game.
According to PocketGear.com, the top 10 downloads there include:
1. PocketTV Enterprise Edition 0.15.9. Movie player. 34
2. Pocket Quicken 2.02. Accounting. 25
3. Pocket Earth 3.2. Maps, cities, population, weather, gps. 14
4. Running Voice GSM 3.2.0. GSM/GPRS communicator. 3
5. All-In Hold 'Em 1.3. Poker Game. 5
6. 1-Calc - 2.0.1. Calculator. 8
7. Wordbook 3.2 - dictionary. 4
8. WisBar Advance 2.0.1.1. Task manager. 2
9. Journal Bar 3.1.1. Weather, News, Stocks, etc. 29
10. DVD to Pocket PC 1.2.4. Movie. 47
Buying. According to the 2004 Handango Yardstick, the top 5 PDAs adding software were:
1. palmOne Tungsten T series
2. HP iPAQ h4000 series
3. Dell Axim series
4. HP iPAQ h2200 series
5. HP iPAQ h5000 series
The Yardstick also includes a list of the top programs sold by platform. It includes:
For Palm:
1. Agendus Prof Edition (PIM enhancement)
2. Bubble Pop (puzzle game)
3. Backgammon (board game)
4. Aces Texas Hold'em (poker game)
5. AOL (account access)
6. CLOCK (alarm clock)
7. Agendus Std Edition (PIM Enhancement)
8. WorldMate Desktop Comp (travel asst)
9. SplashID (information security)
10. Crossword Puzzles (puzzle games)
For Pocket PC:
1. Spb pocket Plus (customization tool)
2. Pocket Informant (PIM enhancement)
3. DVD to Pocket PC (DVD converter and viewer)
4. Battery Pack Pro (system monitor)
5. S&WT (weather and stock monitor)
6. Microsoft Voice Command (app controller)
7. PocketBreeze (customization tool)
8. Agenda Fustion (PIM enhancement)
9. PIToday (PIM enhancement)
10. Journal Bar (news and weather app)
(I'm recommending that they change the name of PocketBreeze right away.)
Searching. The top 10 word searches at Handango were: MP3/Music, Ringtones, Games, Internet Browser, Remote control, Dictionary, Palm Desktop, MSN Messenger, Macintosh, and DVD/Video.
One of my favorite uses is GPS use. The GPS Nav program is good, but mixing maps with PDAs can get you into a space problem. The maps have to be downloaded to the PDA before you use them, and they can be really big. I once tried to put a map of Dallas/Ft Worth in my Palm Vx and it wouldn't fit. I've had better success with Streets and Trips PDA 2005, and my Tungsten T3.
What you can do, easily, is use it to gather latitude and longitude readings at ancestral homesites and gravesites. Remember that GPS readings are only accurate to within 5 meters, at best. That's not close enough to tell two people's graves apart, but it is close enough to help you find them!
When It Works, What Does It Do?
When you can look up important information wherever you go and make a few important notes and reminders whenever they occur to you, you're getting some benefit from that PDA purchase. I sometimes take my Palm with me when I go walking. As I have ideas--people to call, emails to write, things to do--I enter them in my to-do list or write emails for sending when I get home. Since the Tungsten talks Bluetooth and so does my cell phone, I can send messages and email BEFORE I get home if it's really urgent.
I often drag those wordy email travel itineraries to my Outlook calendar. Then all of that verbiage is in my PDA calendar when I go somewhere--confirmation numbers, rates, flight numbers, all of it.
PDA Tips
Here are a few other suggestions and observations.
-- One of the biggest differences in PDA use during the past few years is the capacity to use removable storage--memory sticks, secure digital, compact flash, all of them. Many PDA's can handle 512MB expansion cards. That's a lot of documents, spreadsheets, images, and family history data. And a movie, or two. And since color is affordable, that really enhances the portable computing experience.
-- I suggest that you clearly define your "Personal Reference Boundary"--that is, the boundary between the kinds of things you'll never modify on the PDA, and the kinds of things you will. For example, I don't modify documents and spreadsheets on the PDA. I make new ones, but I don't modify anything that would be diminished when I put it back on the PC.
-- Also, I'm careful not to modify a particular contact or appointment on both my desktop and my PDA between hot-syncs. "One or the other, but not both," is my rule. Doing so can cause the hot-sync program to create duplicate entries.
There is information to supplement this article on the RootsWorks site.
Next article: PDA 2005 Genealogy Software.
More Information
For links and more information about PDA Accessories, please see the RootsWorks site. If you want to discuss your PDA challenges, please drop by the RootsWorks Forums. Registration is free, and I'd be interested to know what kinds of issues you are facing.
Beau Sharbrough is a product manager at Ancestry.com. His articles contain his own views and opinions and do not reflect any corporate policy or statement by the company. The RootsWorks series of articles focuses on genealogical applications for generic technologies. Stop by www.rootsworks.com/forums and discuss this or any topic related to the use of technology in family history. Tell us about your experiences. Please note that Beau cannot assist you with your individual computer and genealogy problems. Visit the RootsWorks website (www.rootsworks.com) for links to previous articles and Beau's lecture schedule (next stop: Phoenix, AZ, in January).
Copyright 2004, MyFamily.com.
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