PDA's: Why Every College Student Should Get One

There's a peculiar thing about college students: they walk around with new laptops, iPods, cell phones, and digital camera's, yet the vast majority still uses a pen and notebook to take notes. The odds are, they later spend time transcribing these notes to the computer, so that they have an easily accessible version they can print out. Is this the most efficient way to take notes? No!

Its time for the usefulness of PDA's [Palm pilots, pocket PC's] in the college setting to be brought to light. A pocket pc is a miniature computer that can slip into a pocket. It is tiny, has a bright touch screen, and a stylus. They are used independently, and later connected to a laptop or desktop to transfer files. They come with an OS, and have downloadable software. Depending what accessories you get for your pda, you can also surf the web and communicate with your cell phone.

Sounds nice, eh? So where do they fall with college students? They are ultra-simple to take notes with. You can write directly on the screen, and either save your handwriting as the file, or have it automatically transcribe your handwriting into written text.

PDA's allow a student to write and save all their notes directly on it, transfer or print them, and maybe also play a game during class. They also come with an internal microphone which can be used to record the lecture. You can download dictionaries, a thesaurus, calculator, and directories onto it.

If you are taking a chemistry class, you can download an entire study guide onto your PDA and have it throughout the class. In need of the periodic table? It's simply a click away. The same goes for all classes. PDA's offer convenience little else can.

Perhaps one of the greatest things about a PDA is that professors generally don't care if you use them, assuming you keep the volume off. Laptops tend to annoy professors because of the clicking keys. But PDA's-their silent, and silence is nice.