Too much information

Before Christmas I decided a needed a PDA. My needs were simple. I mainly wanted a reliable one with Microsoft Outlook which I could sync to my PCs at home and work, and thus have a master diary.

But reviews in the computer magazines and on-line gave me great detail about the technical aspects of each machine, about facilities I don't really need and about compatibilities, extra software, upgrades etc.

They are probably all capable of doing what I want. But because of the plethora of information, I simply have not been able to make up my mind. So I haven't bought one. I am confused by information which I recognise is not even relevant to me, yet that is hindering my decision-making.

At present I am finding Geography a bit like that. I simply want to understand the basic concepts of Geographic Information. But because I work for the AGI, I get inundated with newsletters, press releases, marketing pitches etc. And all of these are aimed at geographic professionals. So they are full of acronyms and jargon and assume a degree of knowledge which I do not have.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with that. These are not pitched at the layman. The audience to which this information is pitched does presumably have the knowledge which can recognise the acronyms and understand the jargon.

But for me this represents a problem. How can I find somewhere which gives more basic information which I can latch on to? I want my learning curve to be gradual. Perhaps that simply is not possible. Onwards I search for the simplicity I need to allow me to move forwward at my pace up that learning curve.