The Census Bureau had been planning on giving census takers portable computers to enter and tabulate the data they’ll gather when they go door-to-door in 2010.

No more.

Apparently the program was such a boondoggle that the bureau has now decided to revert to the old pen-and-paper system.

It’s embarrassing enough that the federal government couldn’t figure out how to use a technology that’s been around for well over a decade (the PDA), but of course this faceplant is also going to cost an absurd amount of money:

Gutierrez said reverting to a paper-based census, in addition to other costs not associated with the handhelds, is expected to increase the cost of the 2010 census to between $2.2 billion and $3 billion through fiscal year 2013. That would bring the total cost of the 2010 census to between $13.7 billion and $14.5 billion.

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