CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
PalmPilot (Pilot 1000)
- Year
- 1996
- Creator
- Jeff Hawkins, Donna Dubinsky, Ed Colligan
- Company
- Palm Computing (a U.S. Robotics subsidiary)
- Location
- Room
- The Gold Rush ↗
Description
The PalmPilot is a pocket organizer with a stylus and a simple handwriting alphabet called Graffiti, and it sold for $299 in 1996. One button on its cradle synchronized its calendar and contacts with a desktop computer.
Importance
After the Newton and other pen computers failed, Palm made a small, fast device that worked with the PC, not as a substitute for it. U.S. Robotics, which bought Palm in September 1995, sold approximately one million PalmPilots in the first 18 months. Confinity later used Palm handhelds for the first version of PayPal.
Interesting fact
Jeff Hawkins tested the design with a wooden model, and he used a chopstick as a stylus to take pretend notes in meetings.
Acquisition
U.S. Robotics · 1995
Sources
- The PalmPilot (CHM Revolution exhibition) ↗Computer History Museum
- 1996 | Timeline of Computer History ↗Computer History Museum
- Palm, Inc. final IPO prospectus (Form 424B4) ↗U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2000-03-02