Personal Digital Assistants

Back on 2022-12-17, I had published a weblog post titled, Collectors. In it I had written: I still recall one day, when indulgence took the overhand. I contacted a Norwegian company whose mission is to sell used computing equipment. I asked specifically about its holding of older Asus EEE PCs and netbooks. A white Asus EEE PC 702 from 2007 is arguably the first netbook. With a profusion of good will, one can almost regard this device as a PDA = personal digital assistant! Almost!!

I then mentioned that I might be interested in acquiring an Asus tablet. Originally launched in 2010 as an EEEpad, its name was later changed to ZenPad. Fortunately, they had neither. This obsession with ancient EEE equipment is totally irrational. Despite having no need for obsolete kit, I am still attracted to the EEE netbooks, writing about them in 2016 and 2018. They are totally useless in this modern era.

Totally useless but … back on 2012-10-28, I had bought a larger, and slightly more modern home theatre version, an EEE Box 1501P with an Intel Atom D525 processor and 2 GB of RAM, 230 GB hard disk. It tended to overheat, but was used in place of a video server, attached to a screen.

Did I learn my lesson? No, people like me seldom do. They repeat the same mistakes. Thus, I can now report that I have come even closer to owning a PDA, at least in my own mind, but still referred to as a Netbook by everyone else. It is an Asus EEE PC 1005PX, bought 2025-08-11. Enthusiasts refer to it as the Seashell. The earlier EEE PCs were always inferior because of issues of overheating. With this netbook, the overheating issues were reduced. Reduced, not eliminated.

In the beginning there were books where people stored addresses and telephone numbers. Yes, we do have antiquated address books, most often with historic = out of date addresses. People move. Decades ago now, people transitioned from landlines to cell phones. Yet, we still maintain one physical book recording people we know = Fødselsdagboken = the birthday book, edited by Herman Wildenvey (1885-1959) with illustrations by Arnold Thornam (1877 – 1964). Our copy dates from 1995. Over the years, fewer birth dates and more death dates have been added.

Norwegian bookstores are always willing to sell us what they call system calendars, known as a Filofax elsewhere. The only one I have ever appreciated has a yellow cover in fake leather, and costs NOK 800. Readers will be surprised, given the evidence provided above, that so far, I have been able to resist temptation. I am smart enough to know that this is a real waste of money. Yet, I am not smart enough to avoid buying obsolete computers. In my addled brain, they are investments!

These days, I store names, physical addresses, telephone numbers and epost addresses in electronic address books, that are found on my smartphone, laptop and desktop computers. No, none of these are coordinated, so there can be multiple entries for the same person, and a person noted on one machine may be missing from other machines. Presumably there are digital tools to ensure that entries in one location are replicated in all the other locations.

I admit that much of the content here comes from Jon Y at Asianometry YouTube channel, who published a sprawling, globe-spanning video, [where] we look at the Personal Digital Assistant, the PDA... about the 1980s, new technologies [that] enabled the rise of a new category of electronic tools to replace those books. Those devices’ innovations take us right into the modern era of smartphones.

Jon tells us: The first companies to produce devices to try and replace those paper organizers were the Japanese makers of pocket calculators. This makes sense since they already had LSI = large scale integration expertise and CMOS = complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology for it. In 1980, Sharp released the PC-1210, widely considered to be the first pocket computer. Given a full QWERTY keyboard, its big differentiation was that users could write programs on it using the BASIC programming language. In 1983, Casio released the PF-3000, the first “electronic organizer”. The key selling feature for that one was an address book that stored a person’s phone number and name in Katakana – the phonetic alphabet, not Kanji, a Chinese one. The organizer had a program to help sort those entries, which was seen as a significant improvement over paper address books. Sharp quickly brought out their own organizer. And over the next few years, new functions like clocks, schedulers, and alarms were added.

Y claims that Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are the ancestors of smartphones. That may be true, but I would rather replay the early digital revolution, and state that Calculators were the first digital electronic devices. Pocket-sized devices became available in the 1970s, especially after the Intel 4004, the first microprocessor, was developed by Intel for the Japanese calculator company Busicom.

I did not own a calculator until 1982, when I bought a Casio fx-82, scientific calculator with 8 digits precision and algebraic logic. It had 43 functions, 38 keys and a one line LCD (liquid crystal) display. The power source was 2 x AA batteries. The calculator was manufactured in Japan. So far, we have owned four iterations of this model, the last being a Casio fx-82EX Classwiz, available since 2015, but purchased in 2021 and powered with 1 x AAA battery. The reason for its purchase was a need to have a calculator for an exam. Because of concerns with cheating, calculator apps on smartphones were not allowed. This model has a dot-matrix display capable of showing up to six lines and 15-digit precision. Since I have no need to use a calculator on a daily basis, something simple like this calculator meets my needs in terms of its capability and easy of use. Most operations are available on the keyboard, but some are hidden under the OPTN key. Calculators in the Casio fx-82 series are suitable non-programmable scientific calculators for educational use.

In my teaching career, I have also used programmable scientific calculators teaching mathematics. One school provided me with something from Texas Instruments, while another provided me with a Casio product. These were not compatible, so schools had to choose one product or the other. At the time, pupils were expected to buy their own. I think this situation has changed since them.

After calculators came early microcomputers suitable for home use that existed from 1977 to about 1995. These were simple machines that made use of household items such as television sets and cassette recorders instead of dedicated computer peripherals. This allowed families to own a computer at a fraction of the price of small business computers. Today, the price of microcomputers has dropped to the point where there’s no advantage to building a separate, incompatible series just for home users. We were never part of this trend. In 1986, we borrowed a Commodore Amiga 1000 while waiting for our Amiga 2000 to arrive.

The first generation of organizers ran embedded operating systems. Embedded referred to the software being implanted into the device, typically inside ROM = Read Only Memory ICs = integrated circuits aka chips. These ICs can be very fast, but offered limited storage capacity, which meant that these systems were not particularly functional. For a handheld device to offer everything for everyone, then it needed a powerful software platform = operating system plus applications.

Psion

In ancient times (1980s) every device manufacturer would explain that their device was the first real PDA = personal digital assistant, and that the others are fakes, for some reason or other. Of course they used other terms, because PDA, as one will read, was not yet a term. With the benefit of hindsight, computer historians are more agreed. They refer to a British mathematical physicist who founded Potter Scientific Instruments = Psion. In 1984, it released an 8-bit Organizer I. It had a basic calculator-like keyboard and a one-line 16-character LCD screen. It was powered by a Hitachi 8-bit CMOS processor. In terms of software, it had a searchable address database for storing personal data. In addition, it could be programmed using an application pack that enabled BASIC-like programs in its own programming language. For example, users could bring up functions for calculating things like factorials. One of its key differentiators was its adoption of EPROMs = erasable programmable read-only memory for storage. These were a precursor to NAND flash memory = a type of non-volatile computer memory, differ from DRAM = Dynamic random-access memory, because they retain their data even when the power turned off. That was important. Before that tape cassettes were used for mass storage, which were totally impractical for a handheld device.

I remember using EPROMS from my computer studies in Molde in the 1980s. They were invented by Intel. Content could be erased by pulling the chip out of the device and holding it under ultraviolet light for 15 minutes. Yes, the EPROMS were fitted in sockets designed for easy (some would say perpetual) removal and replacement. One had to wear protective glasses during the ultraviolet process.

One approach to enhance performance was to transition from 8-bit to 16-bit microprocessors. This transition started about 1987. Psion began work on EPOC = a new 16-bit operating system. Producing a new OS from the ground up for a very small, 16-bit single-board computer was astoundingly difficult. Psion struggled with this for two years.

In 1989, Psion released The Mobile Computer, with models named the MC 200, 400 and 600. The middle model was powered by eight AA batteries for 60 hours of uptime. Already here, this seems like a misstep, although we have owned rechargers for rechargeable AA batteries. These machines ran a 16-bit EPOC operating system = EPOC16. It came with a GUI = Graphical User Interface, with windows, icons, menus and pointers. It also had its own programming language OPL = Open Programming Language, for embedded systems and mobile devices that also ran under EPOC or Symbian.

It is generally conceded that reviewers generally liked the device. It is also popular in retro-computing communities, because many of its features were ahead of its time. However, users preferred not to buy the model, because of its steep release price, lack of DOS compatibility, and issues with the EPOC OS. For example, OPL did not support MC graphics.

This machine’s development began with a single question: What did they want this device to be? An organiser or a computer? The development team at Psion made a fateful call. Believing that enough people would be familiar with computers by now, they decided to make their next Organizer a computer, leveraging their experiences from developing the MC400. The Organizer Series 3 got a full QWERTY keyboard. Extra time let them give the EPOC some polish and the features expected of a normal desktop: Word processor application, spreadsheet, scheduler, clock, and even modems for communications. The screen was 240×80 pixels and was about 4 inches diagonally. Size-wise, the whole device was about 6 inches by 3 inches and weighed 255 grams. Which is the equivalent of a red squirrel from the British isles or a partially full can of soda. A faster x86 CPU fabbed by NEC allowed it to run on just 2 AA batteries. But even so, the engineers struggled to find a place for those batteries. The only solution was inside the hinge between the screen and keyboard, giving the whole thing a clamshell design. Released in autumn 1991 and priced at just 195 pounds or about $300, the Organizer Series 3, or just Series 3, was the right product at the right time. Psion expected to sell maybe 5,000 units per month. It ended up selling over 100,000 units right out the gate and 20,000 a month. Psion began work on a successor. Targeting the next generation of microprocessors, they started a new 32-bit version of EPOC. More on that later. But when it and its new hardware arrived at the scene, the product landscape will have drastically changed.

Psion kept itself busy with incremental model updates of its Series 3 with more memory, faster ports, and speedier software. They eventually sold 1.5 million units in total. In 1994, they began work on a new, 32-bit version of its EPOC operating system, nicknamed EPOC32, . But the Palm Pilot’s breakout success and Microsoft’s rapidly improving Windows CE product raised the stakes. Even as the company worked on its next hardware product, the Series 5, they faced constant questions about impending irrelevance. Third parties and analysts confidently saying that if Psion did not license their software to outside partners, then they too will fall like Apple and IBM. In July 1997, Psion released their Series 5 hardware. Yes, they skipped the Series 4, maybe because it means “death” in Chinese? Unfortunately despite good reviews, the Series 5 did not sell very well. And worse yet, it had cost 10 times more to develop than the Series 3 – leading to a profit warning for the second half of 1997. The share price had surged in 1996 but took a dump due to this lower profit as well as fears over Microsoft. The questions and second-guessing intensified. Can Psion and the Palmtop continue to fend off Windows and the other PDA challengers?
Pen Computing

Organizer II was released in 1986. It remained an 8-bit device but featured a few new hardware changes like an improved EPROM flash memory that eliminated the need to expose the memory cards to UV light for erasure. But the most striking change was the software. The Organizer II’s larger RAM let it add extra capabilities with the help of expansion packs. It could also read Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets, using an awkward Comms Link cable.

Casio, Sharp and Sony

The next models out were the Japanese made Casio BOSS = Business Organizer Scheduling System and Sharp Wizard. These had an appointment diary, calendar, phone directory, clock, calculator, and notepad. They could be connected them to personal computers for syncing. IC cards could also be used to expand functionality. Common uses included: note taking, calculations, telephone contact lookup, scheduling with a calendar and alarm functions.

Sony releases the PalmTop PTC-500 in 1990. It did not have a keyboard, but input text into boxes using a connected capacitive stylus. To recognize characters, the PalmTop used fuzzy logic, which evaluated a person’s writing using a bunch of inference scoring rules that output between 0 and 1. Users claim it worked well. Fuzzy logic was a Japanese specialty used in many consumer products, such as rice cookers. Despite its name, the PalmTop was large = 208 x 160 x 35.6 mm and also expensive.

People may not expect to find the Apple Newton in this section, but Sharp was Apple’s hardware manufacturing partner for the Newton, because of their expertise with liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. When our family was going through an Apple phase, I had attempted to buy an Apple Newton, but the product was discontinued before it became available in Norway. Sharp also made ExpertPads, which used a licensed Newton OS. Sharp sometimes failed. The Sharp PV-F1 became a successful product only after it was transformed into the Zaurus PI-3000, released in 1993-10. The physical size of the product was shrunk, a second CPU was added to handle handwriting recognition. They leveraging Sharp’s then-leading semiconductor capacity. This PDA line lasted for over a decade, in many different iterations.

If someone is considering a Japanese based PDA, there are two choices: the Newton, and a Zaurus. The last model launched, was the SL-C3200 (code name Terrier) released in 2006. Some enthusiasts claim that the earlier SL-C3100 model (code name Borzoi) had a CPU that was better, because of its overclocking capabilities. For many users, a software package with text-to-speech software from Nuance Communications and an upgraded dictionary, is important. These SL series devices were only sold in Japan, but it is claimed that there were unnamed companies in Japan that exported them worldwide. The main challenge has to do with finding suitable power supplies. Inside, the Zaurus needs a 5 V/1 A DC supply.

Digression: I have always been a firm believer that size matters, that is, computers should be as small as possible. That was my contention until 2025-09, when we acquired Lian Li 011 Air Mini cases that occupy 43 litres to house our new hardware. These replaced our Asus PN-40 and PN-50 cases that occupied 0.5 litres. This transformation was possible because we moved the computer from the desktop to the floor. Yes, I tell anyone willing to listen that I have gone from desktop to floor computing.

In the PDA world, the transition went the other way, skrinking components to create palmtops (with the first four letters referring to a hand) or even wristtop = wristwatch like computers, in the late 1980s. In 1989, Atari released the Portfolio, produced by British DIP, founded by former Psion employees. The Portfolio’s OS = DIP-DOS, was compatible with MS-DOS. It marketed itself as: the power of the IBM PC in the palm of your hand.

Other palmtops were shrunken laptops with tiny keyboards and screens. These included the Hewlett-Packard 95LX (with the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet built in) and the Poquet PC.
Palmtops are notable because they run desktop software. Unfortunately, most of the time it runs badly. Neither the cramped screen and keyboard are suitable.

At this point we screech to a halt at Xerox PARC = Palo Alto Research Centre, founded in 1969 by Jack Goldman (1921 – 2011), chief scientist of Xerox Corporations, but dominated by computer scientist Alan Kay (1940 – ). In terms of PDAs, the most important device was the PARCTab, an experimental mobile computing device, that was an early experiment in ubiquitous computing. Its functionality depends on the user’s location, by receiving location-specific information via infrared sensors from gateway nodes installed in a particular location. It had a touch screen, stylus, and handwriting recognition. Xerox also designed something larger, the PARCPad.

GRiD systems was a subsidiary of Tandy, owner of Radio Shack. In 1989, they released their GRiDPad, an MS-DOS tablet computer equipped with handwriting recognition software that helped people fill out repetitive forms. It was developed by neuroscientist and Berkeley PhD dropout Jeff Hawkins (1957 – ). The GRiDPad sold well, but inspired other pen computing startups, including GO Corporation, founded in 1987 by Jerry Kaplan (1952 -) former chief technologist at Lotus. It was backed by venture capitalist John Doerr (1951 – ) after he saw a demo.

GO made the PenPoint operating system, which let users do things by writing. Someone can delete a word by circling and then drawing an X over it. Or italicize that word by drawing a squiggly line underneath it. By 1991, pen computing was a technology rage. PenPoint was later used by NCR Corporation for a line of tablet computers. In 1991, Microsoft demoed Pen-Windows based on Windows 3.0. It turned out to be a failed approach.

Another mover was the EO released in 1993-04, created by Eo Inc. that was later acquired by AT&T Corporation, and released in April 1993. It was a large personal digital assistant with wireless communications that competed against the Apple Newton. Associated with its design and production were David Kelley Design, frog design, and the Matsushita, Olivetti and Marubeni corporations.

EOs two models, were both named the Communicator but with either 440 or 880 to differentiate them. Thye were produced that are about the size of a small clipboard. Both are powered by the AT&T Hobbit chip, created by AT&T specifically for running code written in the C programming language. They feature modem, parallel, serial, Video Graphics Array (VGA) out and Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) ports. The devices came with a wireless cellular network modem, a built-in microphone with speaker, and in USA, a free subscription to AT&T EasyLink Mail for both fax and e-mail messages. The operating system, PenPoint OS, was created by GO Corporation. Widely praised for its simplicity and ease of use, the OS did not gain widespread use. The applications suite, Perspective, was licensed to EO by Pensoft.

Back at Xerox PARC, the DynaBook, was launched. Apple was experiencing difficult times. Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011) was ousted, and replaced by John Sculley (1939 – ) who introduced a second-generation DynaBook called the Knowledge Navigator. Yes, these products are nothing like a PDA, but in 1991 it led to the Newton, previously discussed. Sculley wanted a device that was small enough to put into his pocket. So Newton lead Larry Tesler (1945 – 2020) turned to British Acorn Computer Company, forming a joint venture between Apple, Acorn, and the chip company VLSI Technology. This joint venture produced a new chip, the Acorn RISC Machine, which is the basis of ARM.

In 1992, Sculley finally presented a new device to the world, the Personal Digital Assistant. Twelve years into the history of the PDA and finally the world has a name for a device category that has since stuck. Yet, there is general agreement that this Apple PDA should have been more like the Sharp Wizard, an organizer for professionals on the move. In retrospect, the PDA did not need to accurately read natural handwriting, but it did need to have a cell connection.

Jeff Hawkins made the next import move. He raised money and founded Palm. His goal was to make a consumer GRiDPad. He later named it the Zoomer. To build it, Palm partnered with a consortium of Tandy/Radio Shack, Casio, Intuit and AOL. This large group was adversarial. The product they made was far too large and far too expensive. It ran slowly because of a chip issue related to Casio insisting that the device have 80 hours of battery life on AAA batteries

At this point the Newton, Zoomer, GO and EO floundered. Hawkins had produced Graffiti, a new handwriting recognition system that could potentially fix the handwriting issue, but it was too little too late. Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky (1955 – ) designed a new Palm product, not trying to do everything, just a few things well. It was a PC accessory, not the next PC. This approach required compromises. It had to be able to sync documents with a PC and then print it from there. It had to be small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. It had to be low priced. Its user interface had to be instantly responsive – fast on, fast app switching, all that. And the PC sync process had to be painless. After spending just $3 million on development, they convinced Singaporean OEM Flextronics to assemble what would eventually become the Palm Pilot, that launched in 1996, the Palm Pilot was small (120 x 79 x 18 mm) with a 75 x 125 mm screen, a small planner, address book, memo pad, and todo list. After the 1996 Christmas season, the Pilot had 70% of the market.

To improve the product’s usefulness, Palm released a software development kit (SDK) to let developers build third-party applications. Microsoft felt threatened, so for a second time, Bill Gates tells people that Microsoft was going to kill Palm. Unfortunately for Microsoft, Windows 95 used 8 megabytes of RAM that would not fit on handhelds. Windows CE was written from the ground up to create a companion to the Windows desktop. Unfortunately they created a cramped UI with menus, windows, and the Start button on a tiny screen. Microsoft announced Windows CE at CES in September 1996. The first CE 1.0 PDA devices were NEC’s Mobile Gear MC-K1 and Casio’s Cassiopeia A-10. They looked big and ugly and soon flopped. In 1997, Windows CE 2.0 arrived, correcting many of 1.0’s issues and adding new features. Windows CE never won the PDA market that Sharp and Palm dominated.

Symbian

The mid-1990s saw the rise of cellular phone systems and the 2G GSM standard. As cellular phones got more popular, handset giants like Nokia and Ericsson started adding PDA-like functionality to their devices. In 1996, Nokia released its Nokia 9000 Communicator, an advanced handset with a clamshell setup and QWERTY keyboard. One of the first smartphones, it could make phone calls, send emails and faxes, take notes and record calendar events. Nokia reached out to Psion about a collaboration. Together, they formed a joint venture. Psion’s software division worked EPOC32 into a multitasking OS = Symbian, adopted by Nokia, Ericsson and sometime later Motorola. Symbian went on to dominate the mobile phone OS market in Europe for the next 10 or so years.

By 1999, it had become clear to observers that mobile convergence was starting to happen. This meant that instead of a standalone device for calls, another for PDA functions, a separate camera or a Walkman for music, there was a single device. The PDA was a set of features.

Blackberry devices have always seemed to me to be reserved for older users, those uncomfortable typing on a touch screen, and who wanted the security of a physical keyboard. Older is a term that varies with the age of the person using it. In general it is someone at least 10 years older than the person using the expression.

Should anyone buy an ancient used PDA? I think the honest answer is, no! All of the important functionality has been put into a modern smartphone. Almost every dult I know owns such a phone. There is a movement in Norway to prevent children before senior secondary school using them. They will have to make do with conventional cell phones, sometimes referred to a dumb phones, although there is push back here, about using that term. Just call them a phone.

Unfortunately, smartphones are so smart, and require so advanced levels of human competence, that many people only learn a fraction of their phone’s capabilities. Yes, I definitely fall into that category. It seems everyone has their own favourite smartphone brand, and the reason for that precise choice varies. Like dogs, humans prefer to repeat old tricks, rather to update their repertoire to the new tricks required by transitioning to a different brand. The iPhone from a fruit company, and products from Samsung seem to dominate. For the next few years I will content myself with an Asus Zenfone 9.

That eliminates any need to buy a PDA. Despite this I am infatuated with another phone, a Jolla C2, using a Sailfish operating system, rather than Android. Designed in Finland, assembled in Turkey. Jolla is the Scandinavian term for a dinghy! Yes, I am considering buying one as a spare phone when I turn 80, in about three years!