First, it was the home computer that a farrier couldn’t live without. Then came the cell phone, which has been keeping many shoers in touch with their customers for the last 5 to 10 years. Now, the hand-held computer could be the next technological breakthrough to revolutionize a farrier’s business. 

Instead of lugging around a bulky note- book for appointments, record keeping and jotting down notes about their shoeing clients, many shoers are making the switch to a hand-held computer. With its easy-to-carry size, useful features, reason- able price and the ability to hot-sync to a home computer, expect to see more farriers reaching for their hand-helds, rather than an oversized notebook in the years to come.

Smaller And Smaller

As personal computers evolve, they’re becoming smaller and smaller. Farriers who own hand-helds commented that it’s much easier to carry than a paper organizer or laptop computer. “It is so easy to use as a reference tool,” says Myron McLane of Somerset,

Mass. “When I had an appointment book, it took me forever to go back and find information on shoeing a particular horse. I had to keep turning the pages and reading through all of the written comments until I found the specific information that I was looking for.”

“My hand-held computer is small and easy to take anywhere, especially when I travel,” says Bob Plant of Walworth, N.Y.

Hot-Syncing Programs

Small size doesn’t make a hand-held a necessity. It’s the programs that are packed into this little gadget…