Comment Reach out and touch somebody/I know where you live (Score 1) 296
Of course, PDA's would be able to do more...probably just about the same stuff the PC can do. I'm talking about stuff like instant messenger, Quake deathmatches, e-mail, etc. to anyone (who has one), anywhere (within whatever zones are covered), anytime (he/she has it on). You could probably be able to attach a microphone and headphones to it and get involved in a realtime chat with someone else (or a group of people).
Of course stuff like the Palm VII can already send e-mail and browse the web, but you get charged by the byte. Prices will probably drop once more people use this stuff (like how online services and ISPs used to charge by the hour and now charge just a flat monthly fee for unlimited time usage).
On the other hand, with all this information going over airwaves, privacy would be a bigger concern. Information could be received by anyone who has access to the brodcast signals. Governments could also have access to whatever is being sent between people. Hell, someone's EXACT location could be pinpointed whenever they have their PDA on.
Kinda like cell phones, I guess...It's not like your telephone conversations can't be tapped into anyway or your position triangulated by your distance from broadcast towers. The main difference is the fact that this is all dealing with computers. Large corporations get bitchy when it comes to computers as evident with MP3 crackdowns, DeCSS, etc. Companies are gonna make a big scare about X, Y, and Z being able to be done (or even being done) on PDAs that are almost as powerful, if not as powerful, as the desktop PC.
I'd still consider getting one...
Of course stuff like the Palm VII can already send e-mail and browse the web, but you get charged by the byte. Prices will probably drop once more people use this stuff (like how online services and ISPs used to charge by the hour and now charge just a flat monthly fee for unlimited time usage).
On the other hand, with all this information going over airwaves, privacy would be a bigger concern. Information could be received by anyone who has access to the brodcast signals. Governments could also have access to whatever is being sent between people. Hell, someone's EXACT location could be pinpointed whenever they have their PDA on.
Kinda like cell phones, I guess...It's not like your telephone conversations can't be tapped into anyway or your position triangulated by your distance from broadcast towers. The main difference is the fact that this is all dealing with computers. Large corporations get bitchy when it comes to computers as evident with MP3 crackdowns, DeCSS, etc. Companies are gonna make a big scare about X, Y, and Z being able to be done (or even being done) on PDAs that are almost as powerful, if not as powerful, as the desktop PC.
I'd still consider getting one...
