While often tiring, commuting can provide a welcome period of private time. During my commute, I often listen to music while reading news or ebooks. I also get plenty of time to watch my fellow passengers who change a bit at every station. Some read books, sport iPods, zone out, play games or write email on their cell phones, leaf through newspapers, sleep, chat with friends, duel with digital foes on portable PlayStations, scratch away at the day's horse racing charts, look after their children, and occasionally tap away at a PDA or laptop. There is almost always something or someone to see during the commute.
Usually I am content to use my Palm passively on the train, but occasionally I need or want to do something more active, perhaps edit a document in WordSmith or doodle in NinerPaint. This is one point where commuting by train can be frustrating with a Palm. Depending on the line and the age of the train, there might be enough vibration that taps get misplaced, the line you want to draw turns into a scatterplot. Then there is always the possibility of a sudden change of tracks shortly before or after a station, when the train lurches left or right and standing passengers sway from the hand straps, and taps and penstrokes go astray.
How handy a psychokinetic stylus would be!
