I believe Palm, Inc. has it wrong when it categorizes the Palm unit as an "organizer." It's a fully functional computing device that can be used to perform all the tasks one commonly associates with a desktop machine. The biggest benefit is the mobility. It fits easily into your purse or pocket to be taken anywhere.

I typically carry my Palm V in the breast pocket of my bib overalls. It seems that the creators of bib overalls were years ahead of their time as these pockets are a perfect fit for the shape of a Palm V. Since there are two of these pockets, I tell people it's easy to take my modem along, too.

You have to realize and understand that in this day, computing can happen anywhere at any time, not just when you are ready for it at your desktop machine. At our farm, we have some PCs, but data flows from our Palm devices onto the desktop models. The PCs are viewed as an extension of our Palm devices, not as the main computers. In our computing world, the Palm device is the computer.

A whole herd of uses
I literally use my Palm Vx for everything. I use it for word-processing and programming (SmartDoc), spreadsheets (QuickSheet), and graphics (QuickChart). I use it to keep my schedule (Date Book), as an address book (Address List), as a sketchpad for roughing out garden plots or woodworking projects (Diddle), or as a shopping list (HandyShopper). Liz uses HandyShopper extensively on her Palm III to manage our purchasing. My Palm device also does quick text editing for memos (Pedit), functions as a watch (Analog Clock), prints envelopes and labels (SnailMail), keeps a mileage log (Trip), and tunes my 12-string guitar (Tuning Fork). Not to mention the fact that I use it for about 90% of all of my Internet access for mail (HandMail), browsing (HandWeb), and newsgroups (Yanoff).

I typically check my email three times a day: morning, noon, and late afternoon. I then take my Palm Vx with me to read, answer, and write emails when I'm offline. MultiMailPro is a great program that allows me the same flexibility in email management that one gets on a desktop machine using Netscape, for example.