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I
made the decision to buy a handheld computer reluctantly. Life
in a two-earner family with an active five-year-old got so complicated
that a better organizer was a must, so my wife and I both got
Palm Pilot organizers. The Palm Pilots have worked very well
to ensure that someone picks our daughter up from school—however,
had I known how useful the Palm would be for kayaking, I would
have bought one years ago.
A
handheld computer for kayaking? Have you ever forgotten your
tide table? Wanted to go for a moonlight paddle, but didn’t
know when the moon would be full or what time it would rise?
Have you ever needed to know when the sun sets to ensure making
landfall before dark? Needed an alarm clock to wake up early
to beat the wind? How about books to read or games to play or
a word processor to write with when stuck in a tent waiting
for a break in the weather? How about getting all of these things
in a six-ounce package?
Although
the Palm was developed to provide a calendar, a notebook, and
an address and phone book, its success is due to its tiny, shirt-pocket
form, elegant interface, and the thousands of applications written
for it. Although most of us go kayaking to avoid our calendars,
notebooks, and address and phone books, many applications are
wonderfully useful for the kayak adventurer.
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