ABSTRACT
Although some people prefer to keep their lives in line the “Big Chief” way (for those who may not remember, Big Chief was a brand of writing tablet once used by school children in the United States), many others have discovered the “Palm.” Palm is the brand name for a line of personal digital assistants (PDA), handheld computers that are also known as palmtops (Whatis.com, 2002). PDAs are used mainly for personal organization, wireless e-mail, note taking, and electronic gaming. Most PDAs are approximately the size of a small calculator, and contain a microprocessor, operating system, memory, batteries, an LCD display, input and output ports, and software. They are capable of storing and processing data, as well as downloading and uploading information to and from the Internet. Information can be added to the PDA through a small keyboard, which is often available as a separate peripheral, or through a stylus, a penlike tool that can electronically write text, draw lines, or highlight information on the PDA’s screen or a separate surface. A unique feature for many PDAs is their ability to recognize handwriting. Using a stylus, users can scan handwriting into the PDA, which is then converted to text. Some PDAs are better at recognizing handwriting than others.
