My first SMART P(ersonal) D(igital) A(ssistant)

This was a post by the Straits Times this morning.

So nostalgic. I owned a Palm top

I fact, I had no desire to own one for a start... as gadgets did not really appeal to me; well, it's still the same today... I do think twice before placing my order - though these days, I must admit, the reason behind the 'buy' is more like a 'want' rather than a 'need' to. I think it's a blessing that my desire to own such gadgets have not changed much over the years (unlike the way that I would splash for food) :P

One of the push factors (to get the Palm Top) was largely because of work - the portfolio that I newly "acquired" then - so, to some extent, it's an expectation that the ICT Head should be one who look out for new technologies for exploration and assessment (on its relevance to teaching and learning in classrooms). Well, I recall I only bought it after more than half the colleagues in the room had one... and yes... it was also an "encouragement" from people around me...

It was pretty exciting to had that device on hand, though it's monochrone. By the excitement did not last long, probably because I was one of those slower learners when it comes to handling devices. I probably had too high an expectation of the gadget and forgot the need to look into managing "change". I must admit, my "change management" for this instance was a disaster. That's also why I did not harbour the thought of getting an iPad until I had assessed all the potential issues that I need to addressed to.

Well, two things that I will not forget my encounter with the PDA:

1. It was the first time when friends were surprised why I could 'press' the keys so fast ( thought I was using a handphone) when replying to SMSes. Hahaha... I appreciated the stylus a lot then.

2. Life turned chaos when I decided to abandon my A4 size planner and moved all my schedule to the device; and I had to switch back to pen-and-paper. Well, think about it... because of that lesson, I learn to plan my 'implementation' more carefully and now can manage my life much more smoothly with the Google Calendar!