Backbytes

August 31, 2002

D’ya nard ‘er?

Notwithstanding my comments in the last issue, reader, I acquired one. An HP Jornada 568 that is, following Neil Cameron’s tempting review in issue vol 13, issue 1. A tribute to the power of the media.

Despite its present lack of Internet connectivity, it is now my ‘preferred mobile solution’. It updates from and synchronises with my office network PC via an elegant cradle – the keyboard is not needed.

I tried to hang onto the Psion by referring to its calculator with a notepad for immediate recall of memory functions. Well I can live without that, and I can still use the Psion as a desktop calculator substitute.

I tried to hang onto the Psion by concentrating on its world map feature. However, the ‘Citytime’ software once you have downloaded it and paid the required $14 is in fact a great improvement. You get three extra cities, it’s in colour and you can see where the day is coming from. That is, you can watch the light and the darkness creeping in from the East as the world spins on its axis. “As oe’r each continent and island, the dawn breaks over another day” becomes graphic reality.

Palmtop books

And yes, I have even been impressed by the e-book software and have downloaded a fair number of out-of-copyright novels. Whilst I couldn’t repeat Neil Cameron’s Bleak House feat, I do recommend Raphael Sabatini’s Captain Blood which whiled away a recent train journey. n