When I was in school my mother would always take me back to school shopping in the week right before school started and purchase me a dayplanner I could use to keep track of assignments, club meetings, and tests. I was in the office supply store the other day and watched a similar event. A mother was taking her daughter of maybe 12 back to school shopping at Office Depot.
What struck me as strange in this particular instance was that rather than purchasing her child a day planner, this mom was purchasing her child a palm pilot. A palm pilot? I have to admit I was first taken aback; a palm pilot seems a little extreme for a child that age. Then I started to think about it.
Colleges in my area have started requiring that every student come to college with a laptop. Duke has even started finishing off their computerized campus with giving every incoming freshman an iPod as well. A palm pilot isn’t too much of a stretch, and in the computerized world we live in not a particularly bad choice.
I looked at the palm pilots that were available in the store and some models start at around $200. While $200 is a little expensive for a day planner that is going to only last a year, if you have a responsible child then you could expect that palm pilot to last at least there or four years, perhaps more. A palm pilot will also allow the user to store word and excel document which could be great for a child who wants to carry around some of their school work in their pocket.
I think my main concern with buying one of these for my child would be the price tag. $200 seems like a lot of money to spend on an electronic that could easily be damaged in a book bag or on the school bus.