I have to add my brilliant opinions to both Mike and Tim’s post about GTD. GTD sounds like yet another framework to waste ones money. This is going to surprise little Mikey, but I no longer advocate the use of PDA for many of the same reasons you have listed in the earlier post. I have purchased three PDAs over the past 12 years. I was one of the first users of the modern PDA in that I was stupid enough to purchase the Apple Newton while in college. The Apple Newton was considered as portable as cell-phones were in the early 1980s – like talking on a grey masonry brick. I used the Newton for a entire three weeks before shoving into my dorm room’s desk drawer.

Once in the world of big business, as I held down my first management level position, I decided to purchase a Handspring Deluxe PDA. I purchased this sometime in 1998 and thought I would give the PDA another chance since I was now required to schedule 60 or more employees on a weekly basis. This experience was much more positive in that I relied on my Handspring and used it daily to schedule, remind, and contact clients and employees. I even bought a carrying case so I could be a true geek and carry it on my hip throughout the day. The Handspring lost its appeal with me sometime in 2001. So I was consistent with its use for almost four years.

Fast forward to 2004, I started a new career and had a nice cash flow along with a fairly intensive travel schedule for the new job. Hence I decide to purchase a PDA for when I travel so that I can surf the internet and use e-mail while on the road (as long as there is a WIFI hotspot). I bought a HP Pocket PC 5150 (I think that’s the model). C-Net had rated it as the top PDA but also one of the most expensive. It has a built in keyboard, million color display, WIFI (802.11b), Bluetooth, Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, a MP3 player with built in headphone jack,web browser, and still a shit load of memory. Anyway, I have used it when ever I fly out of state and it performs wonderfully as I can check and write e-mail and still get my daily fill of CNN.com and PROTOZOIC.COM. Okay, it did cost as much as a low end laptop would cost, but at the same time my gimpy ass can’t lug around a laptop when I travel – so the Pocket PC was the way to go. This said, I don’t use the Pocket PC for day to day scheduling and to do task. The Pocket PC just sits on my desk as a paperweight as I use a good ole fashion uni-ball gel impact 1.0mm pen and notebook pads and index cards. To keep my life in order I use Outlook on my PC at work. Its synced up to the World Wide Web so I can check or edit my schedule or contacts anywhere in the world. So what is the point of my ranting? Buy a couple nice pens (but not too nice cos you’ll lose them too!) and some notepads. I have learned by experience. While Mikey won’t be getting a PDA I still think getting one tattoo is something everyone should have – even if it’s a simple bar code so the government can better track us.