Personal Digital Assistants (PDA)

Personal digital assistants are computers small enough to be held in the hand, generally with a simplified operating system and application software

Manufacturer Apple Computer, 3Com, Research In Motion

The development and proliferation of these small computer devices led to the increasing ubiquity of computing.

A computer that could fit in the palm of one’s hand and be carried everywhere had long been a staple of science fiction. The earliest realization of the idea was the pocket calculator of the early 1970’s, but it was limited to purely mathematical functions. After the development of the microprocessor, which put the circuitry of a computer’s central processing unit on a single chip, computers were able to become smaller, lighter, and less expensive. Pocket calculators began to go beyond basic arithmetic into advanced mathematical functions such as trigonometry. Some even included larger screens that could graph functions or the capacity to program equations into them, which could be recalled and used later.

At the same time, the earliest electronic organizers were beginning to appear for business users. These devices generally had a date book and an address book but little in the way of installable software. Some had the capacity to synchronize with a desktop computer, but many were stand-alone devices; the only input was through their tiny keyboards. As a result, the earliest generation of electronic organizers were regarded as little more than expensive toys by many consumers.

In 1993, Apple Computer’s chief executive officer (CEO), John Sculley, announced that Apple would be producing a new kind of handheld computer, which he called a personal digital assistant, or PDA. This device, which Apple would sell under the name of MessagePad, would not use a keyboard. Instead, the user would write directly on its touch-sensitive screen with a plastic stylus (a device like a pen but without ink) and the computer’s “electronic ink” would write the letters. It would be particularly suitable for people who needed to use a computer while walking around and thus found a laptop too bulky and awkward.

The initial response to the MessagePad was enthusiastic, but once the device actually shipped, the excitement quickly waned. The handwriting recognition, which had been promoted so heavily, was problematic, often turning one’s messages into incomprehensible messes. The processor was slow, and synchronization with a desktop machine, even Apple’s own Macintosh, was inconsistent. Worst of all, the battery life was notoriously short, and users often lost all their data when the batteries suddenly died. As a result, the MessagePad, often called Newton after its operating system (OS), proved to have disappointing sales figures. Although the Newton went through multiple revisions over the next several years, none of them was able to create an acceptable combination of price and performance. In 1997, Steve Jobs put an end to the Newton as part of his program to simplify Apple’s product line.

However, even as Apple was struggling with the MessagePad and the Newton OS, Jeff Hawkins was creating his own pen-based handheld computer. Initially called a Zoomer, it was later renamed the Palm Pilot, or simply the Palm. In order to strike a balance between battery life and processor power, Hawkins decided to abandon true handwriting recognition in favor of a simplified alphabet called Graffiti. As a result, the Palm made a respectable, if not spectacular, showing that allowed its company to grow and expand. While Apple had sought to produce a perfect product, Palm was satisfied to make one that would make a practical difference in people’s lives while staying within the constraints of workable technology.

In 1998, another contender entered the PDA field when the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) introduced the BlackBerry. Originally a two-way pager with some organizer functions, it was distinct from pen-based PDAs, such as the Newton and the Palm, because it had a tiny keyboard on which one typed, using the thumbs. This feature reminded one of the designers of the seeds in a strawberry; however, a linguist suggested that “straw” sounded slow, and as a result, the official name became BlackBerry. Because the BlackBerry’s organizer functions were closely integrated with its wireless connection, it was notable for the smoothness with which a user could contact someone. As a result, later BlackBerry models began to expand their organizer functions until they effectively became full-service PDAs with wireless connectivity.

The success of the BlackBerry led Palm to investigate the possibility of a PDA with wireless Internet connectivity. The first attempt, the Palm VII, debuted as the 1990’s gave way to the twenty-first century. However, it used a proprietary network and “web clippings,” miniature Web pages that had to be acquired from Palm.

Impact

In spite of the commercial failure of the Apple Newton, it proved the viability of the idea of the handheld computer sufficiently enough that other companies were willing to produce their own designs. By using less ambitious software, these were able to keep costs down to the point that they could sell enough to make the venture economical. With the addition of wireless connections that enabled the user to remain connected with either a base computer or the Internet while moving around, PDAs became indispensable for executives and others who needed computing not bounded by location. As a result, by the beginning of the twenty-first century a convergence began to develop between PDAs and cellular telephones.

Bibliography

Butter, Andrea, and David Pogue. Piloting Palm: The Inside Story of Palm, Handspring, and the Birth of the Billion-Dollar Handheld Industry. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002. A history of the Palm PDA.

Kounalakis, Markos. Defying Gravity: The Making of Newton. Hillsboro, Oreg.: Beyond Worlds Publishing, 1993. The history of the Apple Newton in words and pictures.

Malone, Michael S. Infinite Loop: How Apple, the World’s Most Insanely Great Computer Company, Went Insane. New York: Doubleday, 1999. Places the Newton into the context of Apple’s confused business model during the middle of the 1990’s.

Swedin, Eric G., and David L. Ferro. Computers: The Life Story of a Technology. Greenwood Technographies. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005. A basic overview that puts the PDA in perspective as part of the larger computer revolution.