What was the first PDA?

Date:
Mon, 12 Dec 2022 20:38:20 GMT

Description:
It wasn't the Palm Pilot. Nor the Newton. Let's keep going back to find the answer...

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Its always fun to look at who was the first to do something amazing.

Who made the first computer shell ? Who was the first computer programmer ? What was the first smartphone ?

Today, lets ask another simple question: What was the first PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)? What (exactly) is a PDA?

To figure this out, first we need to clearly define what a PDA actually is. While most of us can identify a PDA using the tried and true I know one when
I see one approach, for historical purposes we need to be a little more scientific about it.

Here is the official, Lunduke Journal Approved (tm) definition of PDA.

PDA - [ pd- ]

Short for personal digital assistant. A lightweight, handheld computer, which can fit in a large pocket, generally used for storing information such as addresses or schedules.

Using this definition means we can include many different form factors including the classic handheld, touchscreen style (such as the Palm Pilots), as well as the palmtops (such as the HP LX or Jornadas).

They key is that it is handheld, pocket sized, and a computer. And, of course, it must assist the user in some way. Storing notes, contacts, or appointments. Running custom software. That sort of thing.

But, and here is a key bit, calculators dont count. The PDA must be, first and foremost, a computer. It came before the 1990s

Many people believe that the Palm Pilot was the first PDA. Arriving on the scene in 1996 it was, in fact, far from the first.

Others ( including Time Magazine ) proclaim the Apple Newton, released in 1992, to be the first PDA.

Also, wrong. The Tandy Zoomer beat the Apple Newton to market by quite a
wide margin. Yet that device is also not the first PDA.

Fun Historical Side-Note : Even though the Apple Newton was not the first device of this type (not by a long-shot) Apple has the distinction of having coined the term Personal Digital Assistant. Apple CEO, John Sculley, made
the first public usage of the phrase during a January 7, 1992 presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1989s Atari Portfolio? Surely that would be the first? It was made in the 80s for Petes sake!

Nope. It wasnt that one either. Was it 1984s Psion Organizer?

In 1984, the UK software company, Psion, made the jump into hand-held computers with the Organizer.

It had a distinctly Calculator-like look to it but was most definitely a full computer. The Psion Organizer from a November, 1984 issue of BYTE.

Note the full keyboard (with the letters laid out alphabetically instead of QWERTY). Even had a Space key.

The Organiser was powered by an HD6301X an 8-Bit CPU that was a variant of the Motorola 6800 clocking in at a whopping 0.9 MHz. Yes. Zero-point-9.

2KB of RAM, 4KB of ROM, and a single row (alpha-numeric) LCD.

Psion went so far as to declare the Organiser to be The worlds first
practical pocket computer.



One extra cool bit: The Organiser had small memory cards dubbed the DATAPAKS
which acted as removable storage.

These DATAPAKS were truly fascinating. They came in two versions 8KB or
16KB and were Ultra-Violet-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. These cards were write-once. Meaning you could write data to the card and then
that data cannot be easily deleted.

Want to erase your DATAPAK and start it over from a clean slate? Thats where the Ultra-Violet-Erasable part comes in. You could take in your used
DATAPAKS to a Psion dealers, who were supplied with an ultra violet eraser, and they could (effectively) wipe the data off your cards.

The 4KB of ROM on the Organizer did not include much in the way of any real operating system. Simply small applications (a clock, a calculator, and a flat database).

That said, additional software was sold on DATAPAKS including a programming language known as POPL, and various math and finance tools written in the
POPL language. From the Psion Organiser brochure.

Impressive! Fascinating! Weird! And while it lacked some of the features
of later PDAs it definitely counts as one!

But was it the first? Nope. Definitely not. How about 1980s Tandy Pocket Computer?

Lets go all the way back to July of 1980.

Empire Strikes Back and Caddyshack were dominating the box office and Funkytown ruled the airwaves.

And a little company called Tandy released the TRS-80 Pocket Computer (also known as the Sharp PC-1211).

This little, hand-held beauty was powered by two 4-Bit CPUs (the SC43177 and the SC43178) clocking in at 256 kHz. Thats 1/4 of a MHz.

1.5KB of RAM. A 24 character LCD screen. A QWERTY keyboard plus a 10-key number pad. Full BASIC programming language, built-in. Which made it easy
to make do just about whatever you wanted.

All with a battery life of between 200 and 300 hours. Seriously.

There was, however, no permanent form of memory storage. For that you needed to purchase a cassette interface (which was pretty common among various computers of the time).

Considering this beast came out in 1980, it is surprisingly svelte. Weighing only 6 ounces (roughly the weight of an iPhone) and while not super tiny it is small enough to fit in a large coat pocket. (You definitely wont be putting the Pocket Computer in your jeans, however.)

Despite the limitations it definitely qualifies as a PDA. The Conclusion!

After careful consideration, The Lunduke Journal is prepared to declare a winner in our search for the worlds first PDA

The Radio Shack / Tandy TRS-80 Pocket Computer.

It is, without question, the first computer to meet our definition of a PDA. And, besides that, it is simply a really cool little computer.

However

Because the universe is never quite as cut and dried as wed like it to be, what follows are a conclusive list of firsts within the PDA world.

The 1st PDA ever 1980s Tandy Pocket Computer

The 1st PDA with built-in long-term storage 1984s Psion Organiser

The 1st PDA that looked and acted like a modern PDA 1992s Tandy Zoomer

The 1st PDA to actually use the term PDA 1992s Apple Newton

The 1st PDA that was also a cell phone 1994s IBM Simon

There you go. Now, if you see someone say something like the first PDA was the Apple Newton you can set them straight. (Im looking at you, Time Magazine.) Share Subscribe now





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Link to news story:
https://lunduke.substack.com/p/what-was-the-first-pda


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