PDA Watches

By: Brian Leinfuss
Ranging from $50 up to $300, the worst idea to come out has got to be the PDA watch.

Please prove me wrong, but have you ever seen anyone wear one of these? Or better yet use one? They tend to be bulky. Using one is great if you want to waste a few minutes.

To interact with the watch, you either have to rely on the old fashion 4 buttons on the sides of the watch or some manufacturers have come up with a touch screen method.

These watches are fun to observe people using. In the picture below, (continued...)Fossil touts that their Wrist PDA is a touch screen. Please note the tiny stylus that is supposed to make it easy for a user to use. Drop that tiny stylus and you will be using a toothpick as a replacement.


PDA watches can be bought with either a Palm OS or Microsoft’s SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) severely scaled down applications.

Both offerings can sync your address book, calendar, allow you to jot memos, use the calculator and access your to do list.

Microsoft’s MSN SPOT Watches allow you to get News, Weather, Sports scores, Stock Quotes Daily Diversions, Horoscopes, and Lottery beamed via FM Radio frequency for the price of $39.95 a month. (FM transmission is only available in the SPOT service area)

All this on a screen that will have to be a foot away from your face in order to see the information.

Additional packages are available like One-way personal messaging and the ability to Outlook calendar synch for only $20 more a month (can you read the sarcasm in my voice?).

My advice to you, the prospective user?… save your money, and BUY A REAL PDA.

My advice to Palm and Microsoft… Invest the time and money that was put into these almost useless products and focus on putting some of the innovative technology like the FM Radio updates for the real PDAs.

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About The Author:
Brian Leinfuss is a project manager for a software company in New Jersey. He has co-authored a number of technical books. Brian travels about 75 percent of the time and uses his mobile devices on a day-to-day basis. Read More About Brian