While much of the speculation among Appleophiles revolves around color screens and video for the next generation of the fabulous iPod, I think its natural evolution moves more towards the mundane. Thanks to a $20 helper app, I now use my iPod as my portable contacts and calendar carrier - a poor man's PDA. I'll admit it, I can't stand carrying an appliance for every single function under the sun. But they'll pry my old school StarTac (the equivalent of the Clyde Puma in the cell phone world) from my cold dead fingers (or I'll chuck it when it finally dies). The classic black flip-phone works - it makes and receives calls. But in the past year or so, I've stopped using my Blackberry and ditched both Palms and a Pocket PC - making for a pricey little junk drawer in my house. These days, I'm using iPodSync, a nifty application that takes my Outlook calendar and contacts, and drops them onto my iPod. Since I listen to music almost obsessively as I travel, my next appointment is always handy. Sure, I give up perfecting a lame alternative script or tapping in new contacts and appoints - but isn't that what my laptop or, gasp, my notebook is for?
