In Remembrance of the Term PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)

[Former Member]

How long has it been since you stopped using the term PDA? It occurred to me the other day that the PDA has played an important part in my career and I should not let it pass away without a ceremony of some sort.

Let's all stop what we are doing for 4 minutes and hold our breath while we ponder the passing of the Personal Digital Assistant. OK... how about 30 seconds as we need to keep Moore's law in mind.

The PDA has been replaced by iEverything and smartphones. However, it was an important gadget that paved the way for the mobile technology advances of today. It opened our minds to the possibilities of keeping on task, even with poor memories. It helped generations of soccer moms remember where each child was dropped off and when they needed to be recovered. It allowed us men to seem organized despite ourselves.

PDAs started the concepts of software applications, music and photos in our pockets. PDAs kicked-off companies like Palm and motivated people like me to begin blogging.

It is time to be silent, take a moment, bow our heads and reach down into our pockets while trying to remember the last place you used your stylus before it disappeared.