Technology gone mad: I need your advice

Okay, technology is something I love. Truly.

When it works.

But now it’s got to the point where it is ridiculous. Nothing is communicating with anything else and I’m “thick, thick, thick up to here” as a very old English comedian used to day.

I have in my possession:

• a hiptop3/Sidekick3 which no longer talks to Outlook2003, despite several downloads and uninstall/re-install hoops (and has never spoken to Outlook2007);
• a Dell Axim x51 pda with a broken screen (it got crushed in airport baggage handling) which is now useless as Dell don’t sell pdas anymore;
• a Linux-driven Asus EEE PC (I am refusing to load Windows onto it, because it starts up so quickly under Linux and I’ve never known a computer start up quickly under Windows);
• a filofax/day planner, because a) I love the tactile nature of writing, and b) at least I can carry something with me that I can sort of keep up to date.

All I want is to be able to synchronise my various computers and use my EEE PC as my electronic filofax.

But Google Gears doesn’t yet let you keep offline copies of your contacts and diary.

The PIM (Personal Information Manager) in my EEE PC doesn’t allow me to sync my calendar with my Google calendar (which if it did would at least allow me to keep my diary fully electronic and synchronised). It certainly doesn’t allow me to sync any contacts.

My Hiptop/Sidekick is a wondrous piece of technology and I truly love it. But not being able to sync it to Outlook (oh, believe me I have tried; I have wasted over two dozen hours trying to get the effing things to talk to each other!) causes me more heartache and stress than is healthy in someone my age.

My E3 cruzer usb stick is a marvel of technology, but I am exceptionally scared that it will one day break, fail, or otherwise lose my password data, secured as it is by ‘SignUp Shield’. Of course, the E3 stick only works as an E3 tool under Windows… rendering it as just another drive under Linux and not loading any of the E3 programs like ‘SignUp Shield’.

So I have resorted back to pen and paper, which I consider a ‘failure’ of both the technology and of myself; Mrs BetterComms gloats over the fact that my beloved technology cannot yet beat pen and paper.

Please help me. I am in despair. I need to have everything current — calendar, contacts, tasks — across phone and personal information system(s). What technology would you suggest in an environment that is not ‘always connected to the internet’?

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