Time out. Why do kids need PDAs?

STEVE SMITH

Over the last 20 years, America has been captivated by the thought of

becoming organized. So great is our need to be organized that it has

spawned an entire industry.

The Dallas-based Container Store, run by a wonderful bunch of

people with whom I had the pleasure of working in the mid-1980s, is a

paradise for anyone who wants to pre-sort their laundry, alphabetize

their spices and tame all the cables that rest behind the computer or

entertainment center. This year, the Container Store will do well

over $100 million in business.

The organization frenzy spread directly to our homes and helped

boost the spread of closet organizing companies. Today, we have the

Closet Factory, Closet World and California Closets, to name a few.

My old import business sold products to these companies, all of

which are very successful. I tried in vain to get my own closets

organized, but they were no different from the leaky faucet in the

plumber’s house.

Apparently, there is no end to the ways in which we can get

organized or the age at which we should start thinking about getting

organized. For the Newport-Mesa school district, that age is about

11. That’s how old my son will be when he receives a free Palm Pilot

courtesy of a $700,000 technology grant received by the district.

In case you missed it, the money will be used to buy Palm Pilots

for sixth- and seventh-graders at two schools. A Palm Pilot is a

hand-held, battery-operated device that keeps track of dates, acts as

a telephone book and perform various other functions we’ve determined

we just can’t live without, including a scratch pad that can accept

notes written with the product’s stylus.

Of the half-dozen or so people I know who have purchased Palm

Pilots in the past couple of years, only one of them is using it with

any regularity.

That guy happens to be a busy, successful salesman.

But my salesman friend is not the busiest of the bunch. That title

belongs to a guy who is an executive, husband and father. He’s

probably the busiest person I know.

He bought one around Christmastime last year and tried to make a

go of it, but quickly discovered that it was nothing more than a

glorified date book. He dutifully entered all of his names, addresses

and telephone numbers and prepared the calendar template to keep

track of his deadlines and commitments.

But far less than a year after he bought his Palm Pilot, it is

collecting dust on his desk. At least, I think it’s on his desk. It

may be on his credenza working as a paperweight.

My friend found that maximum efficiency was not found in a gadget

but in a simple date book that cost about $7 and can be found in any

office supply or drug store. The date book doesn’t require batteries,

won’t become unusable if it becomes wet and can access stored

information much faster than a Palm Pilot. It doesn’t crash, doesn’t

need to boot up and can be used on an airplane at any time.

Accessing the information was the kicker. My friend found that if

he had to enter or find a phone number; enter or look up his “to do”

list; or see which day he was supposed to see Simon & Garfunkel; he

could do it in less than half the time by working with his

handwritten entries on the pages of his date book. In the back of his

date book are blank pages for taking notes, his “scratch pad.”

I wondered about this Palm Pilot experiment and whether this was

the best use of $700,000 in technology funding. I wondered whether

this was an attempt by the Palm Pilot people to get kids hooked on

their product, but that thought came only because I had just finished

“Runaway Jury” by John Grisham and there was mention of cigarette

companies targeting teens. Then I just wondered whether this was an

honest attempt to keep our local boys and girls ahead of the

technology curve.

In the end, I came to the decision that any of these motives is

bad or, at the least, misguided.

Kids 11, 12 and 13 years old do not need and should not have

personal digital assistants. What they need are books and mentors,

but those can’t be considered technology, so they’re not eligible for

funding.

With $700,000 in technology funding available, I would have liked

to see the district buy more computers at schools for kids who don’t

have access to them at home. My guess is that most of those kids live

on the Westside. I’ll leave it to readers to make any sort of

connection.

I predict that most of the PDAs given to kids 11 years old will wind up unused, broken or lost within 60 days. Most parents reading

this will think I’m being generous. When they are used, these kids

will find a way to play video games on them instead of keeping track

of their homework assignments.

Lest you think I’m some sort of Luddite, you should know that I

own and use a cell phone, personal computer, fax machine, scanner and

printer. I embrace technology when it makes sense.

PDAs for children don’t make sense. And if kids do need PDAs, the

problem is not getting them organized but getting some of the work

off their backs so they can be kids.

Sometimes the best solutions are the original ones -- even a kid

knows that.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.