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Ancestry Daily News
4/10/2002 - Archive
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Rootsworks: PDA 2001 - Kitchen Sink |
Rootsworks: PDA 2001 - Kitchen Sink
There are things that you can do with a PDA that you can't do with
any other kind of computer. First of all, it's the most portable computer you
can find. Second, it seems like it can't be long until someone is able to duct
tape one to a portable phone with a diskman in the middle. Expanded functionality
and high portability lead to a future that is, as we say in Texas, "Pure D Possibility."
Today, we'll talk about things that you can only do with a PDA, as well as some
things that readers are actually doing with them.
What Is It?
We discussed PDAs, their software, and genealogy software for them in the previous
three articles. See http://www.sharbrough.net/genealogy/genarticles.htm
to review. In addition to being able to duplicate the functions of most office
and e-mail programs, and to carry a reference version of your family history
research, you can:
Carry a photo album of your family, or ancestors, or genealogy friends in
your pocket. Fireviewer is the most popular program for this.
Attach a GPS receiver to your PDA and use it as a compass. NavComp is the
Palm program for this.
Plot your position on a map, as you walk ancestral homesites or gravesites.
There are several programs for this. Delorme and Rand McNally both make one.
Watch a movie, although you would need an oven mitt to hold the unit when
it got hot, and an extra battery. You would need the IBM Microdrive, and a multimedia
PDA, like the Sony Clie N760C.
Read today's paper. AvantGo.com has many pieces of content available for
free download, including the NY Times, the Economist, USA Today, Variety, local
movie times, and movie reviews.
Sync to content on any Web page. We recently tested this by putting the
GENTECH 2002 e-Newsletter on a PDA.
Jordana Flash Rom
Kevin Havre wrote, "My Mom (the genealogy buff) sent me your article on PDAs.
She always wondered what PDAs are for (she won't believe me); and now she does.
Thanks for the straightforward explanation. I think you have laid out the market
landscape very well, and your advice on how to pick one is great!"
Then Kevin taught me a lesson, and was very nice about it. In the first PDA
article, I wrote that the Jornada did not have a flashable ROM. It sounded important
to me. In a patient way, Kevin explained,
"Just a note, the Jornada does have a flash ROM. We just won't have a utility
to upgrade it until the next full version of PocketPC. Patches are MUCH easier
to deploy using RAM, and feels just like loading any other SW application. If
you still have ActiveSync on your computer, look in the Tools menu under Add/Remove
SW; anything you have loaded onto your PC can be loaded or unloaded from your
PocketPC by checking/unchecking the desired patch or application. And, you do
not have to worry about backing up your data and starting from scratch..."
Kevin S Havre
Jornada Alliance Manager
Hewlett-Packard Company
Thanks, Kevin, for a compliment and a lesson. It would appear that a Jornada
is at least as updateable as Microsoft Windows.
PAF on PDA: An Instant Connection
Thomas B Lerner wrote, "I have been using the free version available with PAF
and really like it. It gives me instant access to look at data wherever I am.
Recently, as an Olympic volunteer, I talked to several people from countries
my ancestors were from (as well as many other countries). I was able to provide
them information as to names, locations, and dates. This did not provide me
with any new information, but it provided an instant connection with us."
Connection, and the Personal Reference Boundary
Alan Seibold expressed the dream of a single database for PDA and desktop, "So
why not have a way to input your new information into the genealogical database
on the PDA? While we are at it, we need to be sure new material is well marked
(even if the only item changed is the middle initial of cousin Henry) so we
can retrieve the new information and get it into the main database.
"It would be real nice if synchronizing between genealogy programs and a PDA
'viewer/ editor' were as easy as synchronizing my daily events/ journal calendar
between desktop and PDA. But that can be dangerous -- a mistake in one is reflected
now as a mistake in the other. Syncing is via a 'time-stamp' within both the
database and PDA. The latest change wins over an earlier entry. Even if the
latest change proves wrong -- no going back here."
As to my advice in the article on PDA Genealogy software to decide where your
Personal Reference Boundary is, Alan also wrote, "I appreciated your essay,
it certainly did help me figure out where my 'line in the sand' was. We may
have a difference in philosophy here, but please don't take my comments at all
as criticism."
Amen to that, Alan. I hope that people make their own choices about what is
appropriate for entry, instead of accepting mine. Keep up that independence.
Transfer from iPAQ
From Catherine Ramsey-Hammond: "I read your article about PDAs and would like
to share my experience with mine. I have an iPAQ 3630 running WinCE. I have
downloaded and used Pocket Genealogist, which I am very impressed with. I use
it as a viewer. However, to transfer files from Pocket Word or Notes, I simply
dock my PDA, go to the main computer to Windows Explorer and copy the notes
from the PDA to the main computer. I then go back to the PDA and delete the
notes - freeing up space. I find it very easy. Hope this helps."
Editor's Note: Parts I, II, and III of Beau's series on PDAs are available
online at:
Part I, Hardware
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A506001
Part II, Software
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A516601
Part III, Genealogy Software
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A529301
Beau Sharbrough is the former president of GENTECH, and the founder of the
GENTECH and FGS websites. The RootsWorks series of articles focuses on genealogical
applications for generic technologies. He would like to hear from you at rootsworks@sharbrough.net,
but due to the volume of e-mail received, he is unable to answer every e-mail
message received. Please note that he cannot assist you with your individual
computer problems, as he is generally busy developing The Virtual Excuse, a
product to promote harmony in family life. Visit Beau's website for links to
previous articles and updates on TVE. Beau is the father of two college-age
girls who make excuses adroitly, and is a proud graduate of Texas A&M University.
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