> From: Aaron J Reichow [mailto:reic0024 at d.umn.edu] 
> Do most people just want tiny iPAQ-sized (but
> thinner and lighter) devices to do their scheduling?

A number of people wonder why I carry anything as *large* as an iPAQ around
with me, when they want something truly 'pocket-sized'.  As always, it's a
compromise.  If I had seamless communication (and infinite money :-), I'd go
for a smaller-than-Palm system for pure scheduling and contacts (might even
be on a phone), plus a monster laptop with the largest screen I could find
(the new 15" screens are *starting* to be in the right ballpark), plus...
oh, there's that gap in the middle again.  I'd love to say that I'd have
something paperback-sized, but it's a pain in the neck to carry.  I have a
backpack for my laptop (which also carries the rest of my support stuff).
The PDA fits in my pocket (just, in the case of an iPAQ :-).  But what do I
do with this thing that gets lost in a backpack but is too large for a
pocket?  How do I carry it in my car, given that I sometimes drive in areas
where people may smash windows and grab obvious valuables?  Where do I put
this device when I'm walking to a train?  And so on.

		- Peter