> This may sound like a really stupid question but here goes!! What exactly
is a PDA and how do you use it to go to paperless caching? I have
> paper caches all over the house and would really like a new way of
caching!!
PDA stands for "Personal Digital Assistant". It's a catch-all term that's
used to describe the hand-held organizers that are made by several
manufacturers. If you've heard of "Palm Pilot", that's one brand of PDA
(although Palm doesn't use that brand name anymore). At one time Palm Pilots
held so much of the market that's what everyone called them. But PDA is more
generic and accepted now. They all keep track of addresses and phone
numbers, appointments, to-do lists, etc.
One thing all PDA's have in common is the ability to move information to and
from a computer, usually just by plugging the PDA into a cable and pressing
a button. This process is often referred to as "synching". To use a PDA for
paperless caching, you download the caches you want to hunt onto your
computer, and from there you sync them on to your PDA. Then instead of
carrying sheets of paper about the caches with you, you just carry your PDA
out on the trail, and you have all the information you need.
Depending on the type of PDA you buy and how much caching you do, you may
need to buy other software for either your PDA or your computer (or both) to
make it all work right, but that's a whole other discussion. I hope this is
the information you were looking for.
Steve
Team Tierra Buena
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