Vendors of old fashioned digital PDAs probably are scratching their heads due to a dramatic decrease of sales after 3/11/2004 (the day Merlin Mann introduced the Hipster PDA). You know the story of the analog paradigm shift thereafter (and vendors of index cards give themselves high fives, probably without knowing why).

I’m currently consolidating my bookmarks, and Hipster PDA hacks made quite a long and impressive list (which is far from being exhaustive, and if you’ve been hanging around at 43 Folders or scanning del.icio.us, Flickr, or Technorati, you probably know them all):

The Hipster Mini works just like the regular Hipster PDA, but instead of using index cards, it uses blank business cards (best kept in elegant cases)

The Hipster Tablet PC takes a different approach: bigger and cheaper,

and so does Jason Kottke,

but undisputed champion in this category is Clark Venable’s Palmster PDA

Christian Eriksson’s Zipster and Fliptop Hipster PDA reuses ZIP cases and DuraClip® Clear Front Vinyl Report Covers

The Guest Check PDA takes a soft approach.

Obvious Diversion upgrade the Hipster PDA with a Clock.

Leo Faoro punches holes and binds the cards with loose-leaf rings,

Doug Giuliana binds the cards and protects them with pieces of sailcloth,

and J Wynia gives a step by step tutorial for piercing and punching HPDAs here. He also created a full fledged index cards based grocery process.

Tammy Cravit developed a Portable Workspace based on post-its,

and David Meadows’ Duckster PDA is a DIY reinterpretation for teachers.

Javier Cabrera has many more Hipster PDA models and various pimps.

Merlin even spotted an ancestor as used by Thomas Jefferson: Ye Olde Hipster

Good readings:
Organizing Your Hipster PDA – Merlin’s authorative follow up
The Hipster PDA and various Hipster PDA Hacks at the 43F Wiki
Interesting implementation of GTD using Moleskines – Moleskines and index cards avant la lettre at the GTD forum
The Personal Analog Device at the c2 Wiki takes a geek peek
Paper? Ain’t that extinct? from Douglas Johnston (who also is the dad of the most lovely D*I*Y Planner, but templates for the Hipster PDA would fill another list)
Even Wired and the Washington Post were impressed.