Hello everyone,
Ive only just joined the list, I am based in Glasgow and I am currently investigating the use of PDAs in higher education.
There is an overview of what we are up to at
http://www.ninelocks.com/projwebPPC or PalmOS ...a sometimes contentious issue :-)
Personally I prefer Palm (but then I am slightly biased as I write PalmOS programs) but do also own a PocketPC. I find the PalmOS interface simpler and it is easier for non computer people to learn. PPC on the otherhand looks like windows, so to a windows user it feels familiar. But Windows is not always well suited to a small screen device. In the past PocketPC/WindowsCE was cursed by the different varieties of hardware meaning that for a given application you had to make sure that the copy you got was suitable for the specific processor on which your machine was based. Whereas a Palm is Palm. (Though there are now applications that will only run on the newest version of PalmOS, older applications will on the whole still work on the latest devices)
As always its worth remembering that PDAs are PERSONAL devices so there is not a best for everyone and what suits you may not suit a colleague.
Also Palm and Microsoft have apporached the design of PDAs with different philosophies.
If possible go and try both!
As for Tablets, well you cant easily carry a tablet in your pocket all the time, whereas you can have a PDA with you almost all the time.
Theres a couple of books in this list at
http://userweb.elec.gla.ac.uk/j/jont/projweb/links.htmlThat may be worth checking out. The Erik Bergman book as it explains the different philosophies that were behind the design of PalmOS/PocketPC and Symbian.
and this link
http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/docs/zenofpalm.pdf is also quite an interesting read.
Which schools are you working with and what age ranges?
best wishes
Jon
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