My planners have always been rather minimalist. I like them thin, small, lightweight, and flexible (to fit into a back pocket every now and then). Also, I like them made of paper.
Now, I have been called stubborn, and recently my boss challenged the strength and longevity of my faith in paper and pencil calendaring by quipping: 'Let's see what you are using in 10 years.' Wanting to show him I can be open-minded, I tested Compaq's answer to the handheld personal digital assistant, the Aero 1500.
It is thin - Compaq claims it is the thinnest in the palm-size market at 1.27 centimetres - and it is small, about as big as my present planner. So far, I like it.
It is not exactly flexible, and I would not consider 150 grams lightweight compared to my 10g paper planner, but the extra 140g will not kill me.
The Aero's graphical user interface, running on Windows CE 2.0, is immediately familiar and easily navigable.
The 1500 also comes with four customisable fast-access buttons beneath the touch screen, and a thumb-operated scroll dial and execute button on the upper left side - sorry, lefties, you are going to have to learn to write with your right hand.