The University of South Dakota is the first college campus in the United States to hand out Palm handheld computers to every student. This is a very cool thing. Students will be able to keep track of homework, read many handouts without ever printing them on paper, and check e-mail completely through their Palms. Heck, they can even HotSync at IR stations built into the walls all over campus.

I’ve been a fan of Palm organizers since I bought a IIIxe. It lasted about two years before I dropped it and the screen smashed into smithereens.

Right now, my trusty m515 is charging on its cradle. It goes with me almost everywhere I go. On it is my homework, appointments, games, Bible, and more. During my free time, I’m working on getting it set up for offline blogging – more on this when it’s finished.

Anyway, Palm handhelds rock. They eat up less memory and less batteries than their Pocket PC rivals, and they’re a lot more intuitive to use. One place where Pocket PCs have a head-start is Wi-Fi access. This will soon change.

I’ve been a strong advocate for getting a Palm into the hands of every student that can read. It’s better for high school and college students, but I think our increasingly technology-oriented children will get the hang of it. If nothing else, a Palm campus will help prevent back injuries. Of course, I see the potential for much, much better uses as well.

(Original link via the University of Washington AccessIT page, which is itself an interesting read.)