History Of The Palm Handheld PDA

The palm handheld PDA has been around for about 2 decades, and the flagship model was known as the Palm Pilot. Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) were a new revolution that initially packed things like diaries and contact lists onto a small handheld device that made it easy to carry in pockets and bags, and gave you the chance to be paperless.

One of the exciting things about the palm handheld PDA was the fact that it had touch screen technology, which wasn’t widely used then, and became a natural marketing gimmick. It meant that instead of needing a keyboard, or using text entry like mobile phones were using, the operator could use the stylus to write on the screen. It wasn’t easy to get the hang of unfortunately as it meant learning a new language in effect as a different ‘squiggle’ on the screen represented each letter.

The First Revolution

This came when Palm were able to make the devices more compatible with the outside world, now instead of being a stand alone device, you could connect your palm handheld PDA to your computer and synchronise your diary and contacts with ‘Outlook’. A rechargeable battery was a major improvement, as the initial versions ran off standard batteries, and gave a limited 10-15 minute window for changing them without data loss, obviously not great if the batteries died earlier than expected and the operator was not prepared for this.

It also became possible to connect some palm handheld PDA’s to the Internet, however this was limited to users in the USA, and the services on offer once connected to the Internet were limited. Screens became available in colour which made them feel more like computers than the limited black and white technology of the first wave devices, and upgrades to things like memory and processor speed helped them gain popularity. Previous to this they had been very much over shadowed by the rival PDA’s on offer from other manufacturers using Windows technology.

The Second And Latest Revolution

Palm handheld PDA’s have now followed the other market leaders in terms of technology and have become serious competitors at last. The inclusion of mobile phones have seen the palm handheld PDA rank as a ‘smart phone’ the palm treo PDA being their latest offering which also includes all the other programs people have come to expect. It is possible to use a USB cable to connect the treo to the computer and it can become an external hard drive, another reason why the palm handheld PDA is gaining notability and becoming a desirable must have device.

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