By: Sanyika Calloway Boyce
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"Franklin Planner", "DayTimer", "At-A-Glance", "Day Planner" and the list goes on. If you were a corporate professional in the 80's and a good part of the 90's no doubt you've heard of and probably used one of these planners. In an effort to manage time various assistants have been created to reach this often illusive goal. We've all created "things to do" lists and "task" lists and even "master task" lists in an attempt to organize our overcrowded lives. Many people embraced these planners in many forms and some even faithfully noted every detail of their day. The biggest drawback- their size. If you needed to plan your calendar in quarters, it could mean carrying as many as ninety sheets of paper at once. Not to mention the binder itself.

As the 20th century grew to a close another assistant joined the pack. With one look you could tell there was something unique about it. Sleek and powerful were some of the words used to describe this new digital kid on the block. Introduced in 1996, the "PalmPilot" was the first generation of the Palm (www.palm.com) family that gave birth to the PDA craze. Of course early adopters, would grab these little gizmos and run, but what about the rest of us who had invested years into learning how to use the bulky, low-tech planners? Many shunned it as a fad. Others looked with cautious curiosity as they saw people whip these little gadgets from their pockets and enter information in a flash. I was one of the critics of this new technology. As a die hard "Franklin Planner" user it was difficult to conceive having to learn the ways of the Palm. How would I take notes during meetings? What if I lost all of the information? These were just some of the questions that plagued me as slowly each of my friends and colleagues began to be "assimilated into the Palm collective". I looked cautiously at this new technology that seemed to have it's on language and cult like following.

If you can relate to this, I can relate to your feelings. I just didn't understand the PDA craze. What was all the fuss about anyway? I soon found out as I cautiously but curiously joined the Palm collective. If you're wondering what the fuss is all about, read on.