Probably the most controversial technology piece I’ve ever written was a feature for the G2 section on why personal digital assistants (PDAs) suck.

A couple of days later the Guardian’s letters editor solemnly forwarded a number of letters which, with varying degrees of anger, condemned my heresy and spoke warmly of the benefits of owning an electronic organiser. One letter called on the editor to sack me, forthwith, from my job as number two on the paper’s tech section.

He didn’t, I’m happy to report, and only m’natural modesty has held me back from repeated “I told you so” dances as quarter after quarter of dismal PDA sales figures have come in.

I’d pretty much put the PDA to the back of my mind as a kind of 1990s madness that dribbled on into the new century, assuming it had finally been snuffed out by the rise of the smartphone, and the general acceptance that these things are only useful when they can connect with the outside world without the use of a synching cable.

So I have been left slightly confused by the most recent ZDNet mobile update email, which leads with the news: “The PDA: It’s not dead yet”. The linked story reveals:

“Reports of the death of the PDA may have been exaggerated; 2005 looks set to be a record year for handheld sales.

Falling prices and wireless connectivity have breathed new life into the PDA market, with sales so far this year on pace to surpass their high-water mark in 2001.

According to a report by Gartner, worldwide shipments of personal digital assistants totalled 3.6 million units in the last three months, a 32 percent jump from the same period last year. The market is now on track to reach 15 million units shipped by the end of 2005, Gartner analysts said. If that happens, it would surpass the previous record of 13.2 million PDAs shipped in 2001.

That’s interesting - wireless connectivity, which was always an unforgivable (but near universal) omission from PDAs for years, is bound to make things more attractive. But - wait! - what’s the very next story in the ZDNet newsletter? “PDA shipment figures slump again”. The linked story says:

“The latest figures from IDC suggest that the traditional PDA could be in terminal decline.

The analyst firm reported on Thursday worldwide shipments of PDAs dropped by over 20 percent year-on-year to 1.7 million units in the second quarter of 2005 — the sixth successive quarterly decline.

HP took the biggest hit, seeing its shipments drop by 39 percent. The company stayed in second place for market share behind Palm, which suffered a 31 percent decline.”

So who’s right? And why are the figures so different? The clue lies in the what the rival research companies include, or omit, in their figures: Gartner, which says sales are soaring, includes wireless devices, such as RIM’s Blackberry, in its numbers. IDC’s definition of a PDA is that it shouldn’t include voice capability.

So, from all this, we can assume that non-wireless PDAs are dying a death - but those with mobile functionality are doing rather better. Just a shame ZDNet, which manages to include the methodology in its stories, is nevertheless incapable of pointing out why it’s contradicting itself within the space of two paragraphs…

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