PDA

The Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) has been a ubiquitous appliance since the late 2030s.

Though form-factors vary, the most common is a credit-card-sized device with a fold-out display and input screen. In most of the civilized world it can connect wirelessly through ubiquitous networking to the Internet and can store, transmit, receive and process all sorts of multimedia and computational data. Storage and processing limitations are sufficiently low as to not matter for most normal applications, though some people still prefer to use laptops.

PDAs are an all-in-one computer, mobile phone, Internet browser, audiovisual recorder, scanner, etc. The hardware and basic service is provided for free in most United Earth nations, as access to data is considered both an important emergency service and a basic human right. Even the more advanced services aren't particularly expensive. To a first approximation, everybody owns one.

The Public Display of Affection (PDA) is something altogether different.