For several years, I’ve been trying to find a replacement for an old teeny computer, what we used to call “PDA”, a Garmin iQue3600a running PalmOS. It’s an amazing little widget, considering that it was made in 2004. Or maybe not even considering that.

The thing has on-board well-integrated PIM software, GPS navigation, multitasking OS, pen/finger touch-screen, open-source software development kit. It incrementally synchronizes data with a normal computer with open data formats across a usb connection or an occasional network link.

On the minus side, it lacks cell-phone hardware (though there exist cell-phone PalmOS devices), wifi (likewise), video media, and the OS is not open-source.

It is network-poor, and I am starting to love that. The machine is self-sufficient for so many tasks, without paid data carrier subscriptions, and without reliance on someone’s “cloud” service in which to bigbrother (is that a verb yet?) one’s personal data. Why is it that there exists so little FOSS networked+offline PIM data management software? Why isn’t there a single modern gadget that can do a strict superset of what that seven-year-old doodad can do?

Regarding my new Notion Ink Adam, what he said. Plus a nascent GPL violation, not cool.