A few days ago, I indulged my inner nerd and sprung for a Treo from Handspring. It’s a phone, PDA, web browser and e-mailer all in one. I can do it all and I feel empowered. When I first took it out of the box, I was feeling a little guilty. It is a true luxury, or so it seemed, so I had a sprite of buyers’ remorse. In just a couple of days, though, I’ve decided it’s the best gadget I’ve gotten since I bought my first Mac in 1985. Now, I can’t imagine life without it.

A year ago, a friend gave me a Palm VII, which was fun to play around with, but carrying both a phone and a PDA was a bit awkward. After about eight months, I started leaving the Palm in my briefcase and was using it less and less. Using it to access the web and e-mail was also cool, but expensive, so that went by the wayside. Every since I got that VII though, I’ve been jonesing for a Treo. I could see the real utility of having it all in one and getting internet access wrapped into my existing PCS bill. So far, my visualization of what it would be like to have a Treo and what it actually means to have a Treo are in synch.

And with this new toy (flip it open, put it on speaker phone and pretend you’ve got a communicator zinging messages to the Enterprise — of course, this is more like a tricorder and communicator all in one), I move one step closer to alphageekdom. Ever since my trip to Knoxville, I’ve aspired to be more like Glenn. Franxman has a Blackberry, but the Treo is in the same ballpark. Now all I need is an office with three large white boards scribbled full of UML diagrams and class definitions.

P.S.: Yes, I know Kirk never said, “Beam me up, Scotty.”