The use of a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) such as a Palm Pilot can add great value to a personal knowledge management strategy. But one of the key inhibitors is the speed at which text can be input.
Palm’s use Graffiti, a form of stylised writing. Although effective, it is not as tolerant as our ability to ignore errors in handwriting. That is, slight errors in Graffiti writing often leads to the wrong letter being displayed. Continual backspacing and correction reduces efficiency for large amounts of text. Longer words also tend to use infrequent letters for which remembering the Graffiti is difficult - slower again. Further the letter stylisations are different and tire you easily if not used all the time. Portable keyboards are available and quicker but one more thing to carry (and buy).
This entry is being written using a tool called TextPlus. Like predictive text for SMS on a Nokia phone, TextPlus suggests words based on the first few letters. It suggests phrases as well, saving even more time.
In line with an approach to trialling software, over the 30 day trial I will use TextPlus ‘in anger’ to determine its worth. So far it has saved time and contributed to a longer article. Time will tell.