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Thursday, February 08, 2001 By David Radin
PDA users tend to have better habits -- or at least they try to have them. Anybody who uses a PDA (personal device assistants) has decided to make himself more productive on the road, and make it easier to deal with contacts, appointments, and tasks, by making them more readily available anytime, anywhere.
The most successful PDA users throw themselves into PDA use completely -- and don't look back at nonautomated methods of organizing their days and contacts. At a recent evening event, I bumped into an associate that I hadn't seen in years. I gave him my business card. He immediately entered my name, phone and e-mail address -- then handed me back my card. I was impressed. That takes devotion to the process.
But what happens when the PDA breaks down? You're out of business.
That's what recently happened to a number of users of Compaq iPaq PDAs. Compaq, in its infinite wisdom, has included the ability to upgrade the read-only-memory (ROM) of its iPaq PDA -- a great feature if it works well. But on this occasion, the upgrade rendered the entire PDA unusable for some. Those who unsuccessfully tried to upgrade ended up with a piece of scrap metal and no appointments, tasks or contacts -- a situation that can absolutely kill you in business. After all, most PDA users would be using their devices to store mission critical information, without which they can't function.
Compaq says the problem is not in the upgrade software, but in the software that installs this upgrade, which, by the way, is only a minor upgrade. I'm sure that doesn't console the users who lost valuable time and information -- maybe even cold hard cash -- by attempting the upgrade in vain.
Although PDA use is not limited to people from large corporations, this incident points out that PDA users should use the same types of precautions that large corporate IT departments use.
First, make sure that you maintain proper backups. The easiest way to do this is to synchronize your PDA data with your personal computer -- then back up the personal computer on a regular basis.
Second, only upgrade selectively. You really don't need to have all the bells and whistles in every upgrade. So don't upgrade unless you see a specific bug-fix or enhancement that you've been awaiting -- or that will have specific positive impact on the way you use your PDA. Skip the others.
Third, don't jump on the upgrade as soon as it comes out. Let somebody else work out the bugs. Finally, if you want to ensure minimum impact on you in case of a crash, keep an extra paper copy of the information that you normally carry on your PDA. I do this with my contact list. I don't always carry it with me. I just make sure that it's available in case my contact management software goes down permanently or temporarily.
Browser add-in
We just came upon a unique browser add-in that can make it easier for people who spend lots of time on the Web -- especially when you have lots of open browser windows. NetCaptor allows you to organize multiple Web pages into a single window and select between them with a page tab interface similar to the one found in Excel. This unique software package also allows you to create a group of Web sites that you want to open concurrently -- so if you have a favorite set of pages that you open all morning, you can open up the group, and they'll all be available in this unique browser application.
David Radin is host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Internet Insider," a local version of which is aired on KDKA AM 1020 on Saturdays at noon. You can ask him a computer or Internet question by following the instructions at www.post-gazette.com/interact, where you can also find an archive of his previous Q&A columns.
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