The Computer Revolution/Personal Technology/PDA's

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PDA stands for Personal Digital Assistant which involves a distinct characteristic of a touch screen. PDAs have developed into tools which fit your daily routines and in business needs. Originally personal planners were the main use for pda technology, however today they have evolved into portable computers. The various different tasks that can be completed are; checking email, surfing the internet, creating work documents (Word, Excel etc.), using it as a media tool while still maintaining the functions of a typical cell phone. Video, Mp3, radio, text messaging can all be sent virtually anywhere using connection to the internet. Software can also be downloaded that personalizes the PDA to the user's needs. There are several main operating systems that compete with PDAs: Blackberry, Palm Pilot, and Microsoft's Pocket PC; the three main companies that manufacture them are Nokia, Motarola, Panasonic, and Sony Ericson.

[edit] The Different Uses of a PDA

In a school setting, professors can use a PDA to organize information, keep lecture notes, manage his/her files, check e-mails, check students grades, file management, and a PDA synchronizes with your computer which allows it to transfers files, which is better than copy & paste.

In a hospital setting, a nurse may use a PDA as a drug calculator(for proper dosage), to organize their patients, drug dictionary which notifies the nurse as what drug would be proper to use in that specific situation. The main advantage of the PDA to a nurse is the portability that accompanies a PDA.

For the doctors, they use the PDA to complete similar tasks as the nurses except in their PDA they have Artificial Intelligence which guides them to prescribes the correct medicine and treatment. The PDA can only be used in these settings if the accurate software is downloaded to it.

[edit] Downsides of a PDA

• Small screen
• Slow use of internet
• Slow processing
• Sensitive screen; you need to learn the appropriate way to interact with the PDA. For an example, the characters are written in a disciplined manner which hinders the completion of tasks.