bridges vol. 12, December 2006 / Letter from the Editor

by Philipp Steger

Among all the well-deserving and well-written articles in this edition of bridges, I would like to pick out for comment Stefan Kalt's column relating his experiences with his Tungsten T3, a Palm Pilot. The reason for this is simple: His article not only affects me deeply on a very personal level, it is also very timely. Without knowing it, Stefan Kalt has written a beautiful eulogy for my own Tungsten T3 which - I am sad to report - is no longer with me.

Less than two weeks ago, while my wife and I were vacationing in Europe, our house in Washington was burglarized. (Up to this incident I didn't even know there was such a word as "burglarize," but it's the term that our neighbors have consistently been using in their condolences.) When the call informing us of the burglary reached us in Nice, we were dismayed, but also relieved to learn that the thieves had modest needs and limited themselves to stealing a few small items, had not wrecked the house, and had apparently decided against kidnapping our two cats for ransom.

Upon our return, I realized that one of the items stolen was my Palm Pilot, which I had left at home for fear of losing it during our travels. Were it not for Stefan Kalt's column, that theft would have been a very unceremonious end to what was a long and productive relationship. That I owned exactly the same kind of PDA as Stefan Kalt is not a coincidence. It is, rather, the product of unmitigated envy which seized me when he showed me this marvel of modern technology for the first time.