[ckz]

I switched back to PalmOS for my daily mobile computing a couple of years ago, so I think I've given it time for the nostalgia effect to wear off. It's still incredibly fun and absolutely doable.

To the article's point, what we do with modern devices today is just another iteration of what these do. For the average modern app/SaaS, there's a very often a Palm app that did the same thing in 2002.

There's also still active exploration in the Palm space (ARM board swaps, new expansion modules for the Visor, apps in-dev from several folks including myself).

Happy to provide recommendations.

[jhbadger]

There was even an external GPS module that you could get for the Palm (using offline maps that you could sync). I felt so cyberpunkish carrying the combo around and navigating cities on foot with directions -- basically what anyone can do today with Google Maps on their phone, but this was over twenty years ago!

[sintezcs]

Wow, that’s cool! Can you share a bit more details about your day to day usage of Palm? Are you using any third-party apps? If yes, where did you get them? Do you sync your palm with your PC?

[ckz]

Sure thing! Third party apps yes (see: palmdb.net), but obviously not typical 3rd party services (no Spotify, etc.).

I mostly use a few models of Handspring Visor, typically grayscale, so not even the latest OS. Visor Edge for something as thin and sleek as a modern phone. Visor Neo if I want expandability (similar to pg6-7 in the Ars article). There's a fun module that adds both more memory and a vibrate motor for alarms, but I'll swap that out for a camera or mp3 module at times. Charge or swap batteries once or twice a month.

Common tasks:

* Notes, To Dos, Contacts, Calendar (excellent stock calendar, per @j45 above)

* Alarms & Reminders (stock + Diddlebug, which lets you draw/write notes w/ a timer)

* Offline browsing (Plucker can crawl pages and sync them)

* Weather (note: cached on sync because my Palm doesn't have wifi)

* Calorie tracking

* Games (we have a Wordle port!)

* Longform writing - I have a foldable keyboard and usually use plaintext, but there are word processing apps that save to HTML if you want. I also often write on an Alphasmart Neo, which can IR beam back and forth with the Palm and PC.

* Personal project tracking/flows

* Photos (technically video too, but only have 8MB memory for everything)

I have newer PDAs too that can natively handle things like voice recording, cameras, video playback, etc., but I really like the grayscale ones. A late Clié like a VZ90 or some of the others in this thread will have more bells and whistles (even OLED!).

Note also that all of the above is a more manual process than modern phones (and more manual today than it was then, because Outlook supported Palms in 2002 unlike now). If you use Google Calendar I think you can still sync, but if there's an important work meeting that I want in my pocket in addition to the laptop--I do the little ritual of adding it myself.

[philistine]

I commend your dedication, but the ability to interact with the physical world is essential to a modern smartphone. How does an old Palm device offer alternative routes when driving?