199.366 - 2016 project and my PDA

every day in 2016, write a sentence or a paragraph or a poem that appreciates

PDA

oh my goodness!  PDA means so many things now!  (I looked it up in Google.)  Back when I learned the acronym, it meant Personal Data Assistant.  No, it wasn't a person.  it was a small (shirt pocket sized) electronic device that could sync with my desktop computer and could receive text messages.  gosh, it almost seems quaint now!  it held my schedule, my to-do list, folders and files of things I might need to look up while away from work or home, and maybe a few other things.  in years that seem like minutes looking back at them now, my PDA became your smart phone (I still think of mine as a PDA) with a phone that's so convenient it's all but replaced the landline phone, internet access (a browser), email, texting, weather, GPS paired with a mapping service, word processing, spreadsheets, heck, even presentation preparation, and I can't even remember what else.  there in your hand or pocket is a computer more powerful that the first dozen or so computers I worked on!  some people can even program on one!  sheesh!  I use mine for so many things, I begin to think I'm a skilled user.  I do.  until I look up from mine and say to Lindy, "I wish my PDA could do X."  almost invariably her answer is "here!  let me show you."  from hers, she maintains her website!  geeminey!  but this isn't an appreciation of Lindy and her smart phone, although maybe it should be, this is an appreciation of my smart phone.  yes, I use it for a game too.  yes, a game. freecell solitaire.  and I can do elementary calculations, about what a skilled abacus user could do without electronics.  yes, there's an app for much more complicated calculations, but I've lost track of what they mean. my PDA does almost everything I want it to, and probably does the rest if I'd just learn how.  and it can do about a thousand times more that what I've ever asked of one.  I am in awe, and grateful.