In our increasingly wireless world, the Grouch wondered: how much could one accomplish with just a handheld?

The impetus for this experiment was an incident that occurred in November, 2004. Faced with an impending deadline and no WiFi connectivity (thank you, Shanghai HongQiao Airport), the Grouch employed his phone to serve as computer terminal and word processor, and finished an urgent 300-word story before boarding a flight back to Beijing. Realizing that mobile devices could have much more potent uses than their humdrum lives as phones with address books, the Grouch decided that, for one week, his Powerbook G4 would remain at home, with only his Treo 600 and its folding keyboard permitted to accompany him on his journeys to and fro.

The Treo's MemoPad would permit writing functions, such as the authoring of this column. Its e-mail program and a GPRS card would allow monitoring and response to electronic communication. And the Treo's normal phone functions would provide voice and data links with the rest of the semi-civilized world.

Glitch number one appeared at one in the afternoon on the first day. He received an e-mail indicating that an earlier message had no attachment, and that this would require re-sending. Uh oh. That meant a trip home.

The Grouch is, though, highly pleased with the portability and permitted functionality of the wireless device. Although the Treo has a thumb-keyboard built-in, tapping out more than a text message is uncomfortable. However, with a keyboard only slightly larger and weighing the same as the device itself, high-speed input is a snap.