Do You Have a PDA Love Hate Relationship?

[Bob Russell]

There's a very interesting post at PDA24/7 called The PDA ruined my Life? by Shaun McGill. It's a very interesting read, which talks about a love hate relationship with a PDA and the related web site work, and it got me thinking how:

-- PDAs can be a real lifesaver. You can organize and carry all your most important information, and have it at your fingertips.

-- PDAs are a great tool to do many other things. Watch movies, check TV listings, read books, keep up on news, play games, manage your diet, navigate on roadtrips, etc. The list seems almost endless because of the rich selection of 3rd party applications and hardware options.

-- PDAs can be a life organizer. Many handheld owners are using a methodology like GTD to keep their life in order and bring focus to the things that they want to concentrate on. It can be a real help in keeping your life balanced.

But...
-- PDAs are not just a tool and device to everyone. It can also be a hobby in and of itself. Or even grow into a distraction and a habit. It's not hard to become a slave to the very device that is meant to help you. And if you love to constantly make things work better and be more automated, you could spend your entire life just making that PDA into the perfect tool with the perfect setup.

I think a lot about balance, and work hard to keep a balance because I'm definitely one who would be happy to work on the computer and PDA for a week and never leave the house. I love to fiddle with PDAs, and I give it as much time as I can justify to myself. It's a great hobby, but it has to stay in its place. I guess it's kind of like desserts, because they're great in limited quantities, but you can't live on desserts alone.

Which reminds me... I need to lose some weight!

[TadW]

It is like with every other hobby, no matter whether you talk about computers, gaming, or sports. It is fun as long as you don't exaggerate it. Everything has to stay in balance, as Bob says. Otherwise, a hobby becomes quickly an addiction (no pun intended, Sammy ) with all its ugly aftermaths.

[Antoine of MMM]

Funny your write this. I wrote similar on MMM not to long ago. Its a tool and a toy and so very hard to stay away from that dividing line.

[Chaos]

I might be unusual, but my PDA is more a tool to me than anything else. I don't find myself doing a bunch with it, unless I have a need of it. It's quite useful for school, and reading news/books/etc., but I don't use it much beyond that.

Don't get me wrong, I love having it, and it's great to use... But I just see it as more of a tool.

[Bob Russell]

Originally Posted by Chaos

But I just see it as more of a tool.

Ahhh, but don't you have just a little bit of that temptation to play around with your favorite tools? To clean and tune them up, and keep them in perfect condition?!

Like a tennis racket if you are a tennis fanatic.. wouldn't you be tempted to learn to string your own rackets? (Yes, I did that when I played, so okay, maybe I'm a little obsessive. )

Kind of funny, though. I love to do that sort of thing with sports equipment or electronics, etc. But a car or lawn... what a nuisance it seems to keep it maintained! I can't understand my silly neighbors that like to cut their grass so much that they're cutting grass even when it doesn't need it!

I guess it comes down to whether it's just a tool or if it's a tool and a toy!

[Chaos]

Originally Posted by BobR

Ahhh, but don't you have just a little bit of that temptation to play around with your favorite tools? To clean and tune them up, and keep them in perfect condition?!

Well... Sometimes. More with my laptop than my Clie, but to some degree with both. Every few weeks I actually take a damp cloth and clean my Powerbook... I don't like it having smudges on it. *sweatdrop* (I know, it's a bizarre habit...)

I guess it really is both. Although the PDA is definitely a useful tool, and more purely so than the laptop (the endless hours I've spent on this laptop reading some webcomics, like Ctrl+Alt+Del, Penny Arcade, and most recently 8-bit Theatre...) And of course the massive amounts of anime I've accumulated... Somewhere around 260 episodes (half an hour each, more or less...) I must be considered an addict by some definition!


Whoa. I got offtopic. Wait, what's the topic again?