March 1996
Palm Pilot 1000 released
U.S. roboticsMachines that sense, plan, and act in the physical world — from factory arms to Mars rovers.' Palm Computing division began selling the Palm Pilot 1000 in March 1996 — a pocket PDAPersonal digital assistant — a pocket device for calendar, contacts, and email before smartphones. with Graffiti handwriting and HotSync desktop software.
What it was for
The Pilot fit in a shirt pocket and synced contacts and calendars to a PCPersonal computer — a computer designed for individual use, especially desktop or laptop machines. with one button press. Developers wrote Palm OSOperating system — software that manages hardware and provides services to applications. apps in C; the platform dominated PDAs until smartphones absorbed its use cases. Graffiti input and the app launcher UIUser interface — the parts of software people see and interact with. influenced early mobile design before touchscreens took over.
Why it's here
The Palm Pilot made PDAs mainstream and created a thriving third-party app ecosystem.
Why it mattered
It proved millions would carry a dedicated pocket computer for personal information management.
What it solved
Paper planners and bulky laptops could not keep mobile professionals organized on the go.
Media
ImagePalmPilotRama & Musée Bolo, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- IBM Simon Personal Communicator releasedAugust 1994
- Nokia 9000 Communicator releasedAugust 1996
- BlackBerry 5810 releasedMarch 2002
- iPhone goes on saleJune 29, 2007