This article will address the topic of Personal information manager, which has become relevant in various areas of today's society. Since its emergence until today, Personal information manager has aroused the interest of specialists, researchers and the general public, due to its impact and repercussion on different aspects of daily life. Along these lines, the different facets and dimensions that Personal information manager encompasses will be analyzed, as well as its implications and challenges in the current context. Likewise, various perspectives and approaches that have emerged around Personal information manager will be reviewed, with the aim of enriching the debate and providing a comprehensive vision of this phenomenon.
A personal information manager (often referred to as a PIM tool or, more simply, a PIM) is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. The acronym PIM is now, more commonly, used in reference to personal information management as a field of study. As an information management tool, a PIM tool's purpose is to facilitate the recording, tracking, and management of certain types of "personal information".
Personal information can include any of the following:
Some PIM/PDM software products are capable of synchronizing data over a computer network, including mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). This feature typically stores the personal data on cloud drives allowing for continuous concurrent data updates/access, on the user's computers, including desktop computers, laptop computers, and mobile devices, such a personal digital assistants or smartphones.)
Prior to the introduction of the term "Personal digital assistant" ("PDA") by Apple in 1992, handheld personal organizers such as the Psion Organiser and the Sharp Wizard were also referred to as "PIMs".
The time management and communications functions of PIMs largely migrated from PDAs to smartphones, with Apple, RIM (Research In Motion, now BlackBerry), and others all manufacturing smartphones that offer most of the functions of earlier PDAs.