Are you a career road warrior?

Palm VII: Fast access, highway and otherwise

(CNN) -- Of course the handheld wireless Internet devices vie for your attention as the Web-ware of the near future. But is one of these babies a career investment or just a Net-nifty novelty?

Well, there's no denying that with the best-known family of handhelds, you're on the Web with no strings attached.

Using a cell phone or wireless Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) you can -- and here I'm about to write the most over-used cliche in the wonderful world of wireless: get stock quotes, find sports scores or check e-mail.

But you can really do a whole lot more. Here's one application that saved my neck.

My drive was from the northwest side of Chicago to the north side of Milwaukee. I distinctly remember being told that I was a guest on WTMJ's 'Noon News.' But as I glanced at my schedule, I saw that the news isn't at noon at all. It's at 11a.m.!

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I glanced at the clock. 9:38 a.m. Not only did I probably not have a snowball's chance of making my appointment but I also couldn't stop to pick up directions to the station.

I wasn't sure my Palm VII, with its wireless Web access, was really worth the $450 price tag. In addition to that, I didnt feel too good about spending 40 bucks a month for just 300 kb of downloads from the Web. But this was the chance for my Palm VII to pay for itself.

Road test

As I headed toward Milwaukee, I fumbled in my bag for the Palm VII. I've never written with a stylus while driving and it suddenly dawned on me that this was truly the Information Superhighway, accessing the Web at 70 mph. I entered my location and WTMJ's address into the MapQuest application on the Palm VII.

Not only did MapQuest tell me exactly how to get to WTMJ, but it also told me the station was 90.8 miles away and that it would take one hour and 44 minutes to get there. I only had one hour 22 minutes. My right foot went to work.

Miracles happen. The traffic gods were with me and I pulled up at 11a.m. I was on the air 10 minutes later.

There's no way I would have made it without my wireless Palm VII. Suddenly, the $450 and $40 a month seemed a pittance and I'm happy to report that Palm now offers unlimited downloads for $45 a month.

Finally, I'll do the calculations for you. A distance of 90.8 miles in one hour 22 minutes means I averaged 66.4 mph. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank MapQuest ... and to apologize to the Illinois and Wisconsin State Police.

Ed Curran has covered the world of high-tech for more than a dozen years and is the publisher of Technogadgets -- www.technogadgets.com. In addition to his weekly column here at CNN.com/career, watch for Curran's reports on CNN television.

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