You probably heard of the possibility of renting a PDA an a daily basis. This can be hiring an iPAQ, a Palm or what ever other PDA you're interested in so your needs are met. Some people may ask - why should I rent a PDA? So let's take a look at the scenarios in which you may consider a PDA rental:

1. Your own PDA in now being repaired. This is obvious - your PDA is broken or malfunctions and it's being repaired. You are used using a PDA to help you with your busy life and work tasks, so you're looking for a replacement. The great thing here is that you can take the memory card from your own PDA and plug it into the rented one and this way you will not lose any of your own data. 2. Your own PDA was stolen - this is the least pleasant of all scenarios. If your PDA was stolen, you may be on the market for a new one. Meanwhile, you don't want to go without a pocket pc, so you go ahead and rent one. 3. Your notebook computer is being repaired/stolen - If you own a notebook computer and it's now not available due to being repaired/stolen, you may want to consider renting a PDA in the computer's stead. Of course, you can rent a notebook computer, but the renal fees are much higher for them. Consider renting a PDA instead and lowering your expanses. 4. You want to make an impression - let's say you have a very important business meeting, and you really want to make a great impression. Many people will go ahead and rent a suit, an expensive wrist watch etc. So why not rent an expensive looking PDA as well? This can go a long way to complete the great impression you want to leave with the people you meet. 5. You want to test out a PDA - You heard good things about a certain PDA and want to try in out for a few days before buying. You can rent in for a day or two and try it out, while spending only a few dollars instead of buying it right off the bat.

OK, so now that we are clear on the main reasons why someone would want to rent a PDA, we can take a look at a few tips about the actual renal process:

1. Make sure what brand of PDA you want. If you already own a PDA - that is easy. You rent the same one you already hove. If you don't own one, take a look at the different models and pick the one that is best for your needs. There are big price differences. For examples, pdarentals.com offer an iPAQ for $9/day + shipping, a Palm IIIxe for $2.50/day + shipping, or a Palm Professional for $1/day + shipping. So make sure you choose the most suitable deal. 2. Do a little research before you rent. Try to find a reputable renting agency that has good service and reasonable prices. You can look for them over on the Internet, or in your local business directory. Always ask for references. 3. Make sure you have insurance. What happens if the rented PDA breaks down or gets stolen while it's rented to you? Make sure you're covered. As you can see, renting a PDA can be a very comfortable solution for a number of situations. Just make sure you rent at a good agency and you're all set.

You've finally done it, you left your laptop at the coffee shop, your cell phone at the supermarket or your PDA on the counter at the office supply store. Maybe you forgot to pick up your iPod from the ATM, where you put it down to answer your cell phone during a banking transaction. Several new companies have launched with the express purpose of helping us all find stuff we inevitably lose every day. Each are using the power of the web, plus toll free phone numbers and a database of unique ID numbers assigned to each item and registered to owners - on special "asset tags" or "property ID tags".

1,200 cell phones, 1,500 sets of keys and over 300 PDAs and laptops are turned into the Las Vegas International lost and found department annually. - McCarran Int'l Airport Security, July 2003

140,000 items are found annually on Southwest Airlines flights, 50,000 items at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and 20 a day at some Avis Rent-A-Car locations. Despite best efforts, fewer than 1% are returned. - The Wall Street Journal, November 2003

Several companies have launched to help return lost property represented by web sites www.StuffBak.com, www.TrackitBack.com www.Boomerangit.com, each company offering to help you recover lost valuables.

An Irish startup has launched based on that same concept of marking expensive portable electronics, laptops, PDA's, cell phones, MP3 players and other valuables with their asset tags (labels with unique ID numbers). That firm also has a website and toll free phone lines where items can be reported found. The Irish company is named www.yougetitback.com and has a cute, black and white spotted puppy dog as a mascot. The concept of the dog "fetching" lost items and returning them to you is easy to understand. The company tag line is "The Lost And Found Company" for obvious reasons.

What is not so obvious to most is the idea that many people are honest enough that they would actually turn in a lost valuable. Most of us assume that if we leave a laptop or an iPod on the bus or subway, that we'd never see them again. But the companies cite several experiments done in the US by 8 local television news stations and one by a USA Today columnist, Edward Baig, to prove that if those valuables are labeled with special "asset tags", that people will, more times than not, call the toll free telephone numbers printed on the tags and return the expensive items.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2004-06-09-baig_x.htm

The television stations had a 75% success rate in getting their "lost" items reported and turned in, while columnist Baig got back 4 of 6 purposely "lost" items (two thirds) in his experiment. Baig mentioned in his column that it was the least expensive things that were never reported or returned - a CD case full of music and a calculator.

If this trend takes hold and becomes popular in the consumer market, it will mirror a concept long used by corporate, government and military organizations. Those large companies, educational institutions, governments and the department of defense have long put asset tags on property over a specified dollar value.

You can see "fixed asset tags" on items ranging from street light poles to heavy machinery. Those items have long been tagged and labeled with unique ID numbers and bar codes printed onto them to facilitate electronic scanning.

More recently, corporate and government entities have begun placing asset tags on more high value movable items like laptops, PDA's, scanners and cell phones carried by employees in their work. This facilitates the identification and return of those "movable assets" when they are lost on the job by careless or distracted workers.

The launch of companies like StuffBak, TrackitBack, Boomerangit show that valuable electronic, digital items are being lost far more often by consumers and they are seeking ways to get their goodies back when they misplace them. Asset tags for the masses may become popular enough to support consumer oriented companies to label consumer items.

StuffBak has partnered with retailers like CompUSA and Sears, while BoomerangIt works product tie-ins with Pioneer, Toshiba, Palm and Seiko Instruments, along with nearly a dozen bicycle manufacturers - (due to their roots as a bicycle recovery company). BoomerangIt is also working with the www.ncpc.org/ National Crime Prevention Council (Think McGruff the crime fighting dog and "Take a bite out of crime"). They also work with local police departments in return of stolen goods with the tags. TrackitBack has partnered with Staples and BestBuy stores - so all are agressively marketing their offerings in the consumer marketplace.

Each offer business incentives for larger sales of ID tags exceeding 50 or more, with invitations to companies to contact them for volume pricing.

The movement of asset tags into the consumer marketplace is an unexpected development that may be logically extended into property insurance discounts and other unexpected areas. Asset tags are turning up on consumer goods through national retailers and product bundling with cooperating "lost and found" companies to bring your laptop, PDA or iPod back home when it is lost.

Article Copyright July, 2006 by Mike Banks Valentine http://SEOptimism.com

CAMCODE is a recognized worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of bar code asset tags, Property ID tags and asset identification labels. CAMCODE provides durable metal bar code labels for harsh environments including warehouse labels, work-in-process bar code labels and asset tags as well as polyester bar code labels for property identification. Our Metalphoto? aluminum barcode labels, combined with our proprietary coating technologies will satisfy the most demanding application. The companies discussed in the article above provide a lost item service using asset tags. CAMCODE does not provide lost item service, but sells custom asset tags to corporate, government, institutional, and military users. http://www.camcod.com/asset/fixed.asp

Many for-profit manufacturers and service providers concentrate only on influencing their own prices and costs. In the process they ignore or are insensitive to what customers and end users pay to use these offerings. While this narrow viewpoint may be profitable, much more profit is missed because demand is dampened due to soaring costs incurred by customer and end users.
For example, my banker called to suggest that I open a new personal checking account. These accounts are free. I didn't really need this checking account, but my interest was piqued when he told us I would receive a free BlackBerry portable digital assistant (PDA). I didn't need a BlackBerry PDA, but figured that I could sell it on eBay and make a profit to put into my new checking account.
After signing up for a checking account, I learned that I would only receive a BlackBerry PDA if I subscribed to a service costing $720 for a year. Suddenly, I had a checking account and a "free" certificate for a PDA I didn't want to spend $720 to use. The bank had wasted its time and money on me, and I had a checking account I didn't need.
Presumably enough other people […]

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