A PDA Handhelds Website
PDA Guide
How PDAs Work
The idea of making a small hand-held computer for storing
addresses and phone numbers, taking notes and keeping track
of daily appointments originated in the 1990s, although
small computer organizers were available in the 1980s. One
of the first PDAs that was commercially available was Apple
Computer's Newton Message Pad. The Newton was too big, expensive
and complicated, and its handwriting recognition program
was poor. Other companies attempted to make a PDA with little
success.
In 1996, the original Palm Pilot was introduced, and it
was a hit with consumers. It was small and light enough
to fit in a shirt pocket, ran for weeks on AAA batteries,
was easy to use and could store thousands of contacts, appointments
and notes. Today, you can buy Palm-like devices from major
PC hardware manufacturers (Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Compaq,
Sony). Though originally intended to be simple digital calendars,
PDAs have evolved into machines for crunching numbers, playing
games or music and downloading information from the Internet.
All have one thing in common: They're designed to complement
a desktop or laptop computer, not replace one.
