Handheld Computing Devices
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Handheld and palmtop computers are the lightest and smallest computing devices for the mass market. Features common to these devices include color flat-panel display screens; built-in touchpads or other pointing devices in lieu of a separate mouse; specialized versions of software; and expansion slots for a variety of external devices. Many PDAs (personal digital assistants) use a stylus or pen instead of a keyboard for input.
After a decade and a half of false starts and sputters, the handheld computing industry had finally come of age by the early 2000s as features and performance paired with true portability. After peaking in 2001, shipments of handheld computers registered three consecutive years of decline. Unit shipments fell from 10.6 million in 2003 to 9.6 million in 2004, according to the research firm IDC. Analysts attributed this decline to competition from so-called "smart" mobile phones. By the mid-2000s smart phones offered users many of the same basic and advanced features as PDAs, including MP3 file playback, at a much lower price.
While early handhelds were little more than glorified calendars and organizers, both the software and hardware have come a long way. By the mid-2000s, top-of-the-line PDAs had evolved into a class of more powerful handheld computers. These machines included operating systems such as Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC, and were capable of running popular productivity software suites such as Microsoft Office, taking digital photos, and playing video clips and MP3 files. Most were equipped for wireless Internet access and were capable of sending e-mail and viewing regular Web pages.
According to the research firm Gartner Inc., the desire to access e-mail and other data wirelessly pushed worldwide shipments of personal digital assistants (PDAs) to a record 17.7 million units in 2006, up 18.4 percent from the previous year. In 2006, 60 percent of all PDAs shipped offered cellular connectivity, up from 47 percent in 2005. This trend was expected to continue; Gartner indicated that industry leaders such as Research In Motion (Blackberry) and Palm (Treo) were increasing their emphasis on smart phones heading into 2007.
The Osborne I, developed in 1980 by Adam Osborne of Osborne Computer Corp., included innovations that led the way in the evolution of truly portable computers. Weighing 17 pounds, it had a detachable keyboard, a five-inch black and white display, and two floppy disk drives. It used a Zilog Z-80 microprocessor chip, an improved clone of Intel's 8080. The Osborne I not only pioneered portability, it was also credited with being the first to bundle software packages with the computer, an idea that became fundamental to selling hardware in the industry. Tens of thousands of the Osborne I portable computers were sold before it became the victim of the company's own success. In 1983 the company announced that it would build an IBM-compatible portable called the Vixen, causing buyers to stop buying the Osborne I in anticipation of the new machine. The announcement, however, was premature, and without incoming orders to fund the new product's manufacture, Osborne was forced to file for bankruptcy protection. By the time the Vixen was ready to market, consumers had been wooed away by the products of a new leader, Compaq, that had been able to meet their demand.
According to Les Freed's The History of Computers, Compaq's opportunity to successfully take the portable computer market lead was largely due to a gaping hole in IBM's product line. In 1983, Compaq shipped the Compaq Transportable and Compaq Plus, both fully functional, IBM-compatible, portable PCs weighing a not so svelte 30 pounds. During its first year in business, the company sold 53,000 portables and took in revenues of $111.2 million, giving Compaq the highest first-year sales in the history of American business.
In 1984 Gavilan Computer developed a truly portable machine that did not have to be plugged in. Industry commentator Tim Bajarin wrote, "The computer's clamshell design and battery-power capability made it the first serious mobile computing system." Gavilan, however, could not manufacture them in sufficient quantity and went out of business.
Apple Computer's PowerBook models, introduced in 1991, set a new standard for portables. They combined long battery life with excellent display quality and a built-in pointing device. The PowerBook 170 contained an optional internal modem slot, again redefining the meaning of a mobile office computer. Apple's Duo 210, released in 1992, featured the DuoDock, an innovation that allowed hookup to a docking station that might contain more system RAM, a larger hard drive, or more video RAM for a color monitor. The Duo could thus function fully as a desktop computer when in the DuoDock and as an excellent portable at other times.
In 1993 another Apple innovation was the Newton MessagePad, a new type of portable known as a personal digital assistant (PDA). It was the first mass market handheld computer and was offered as a personal information manager. The Newton solved the problem of keyboard size by using a stylus for input, but it promised more of this new pen-based technology than it could deliver. Apple promoted the Newton's ability to interpret handwriting with disastrous results because at the time, its capability was relatively primitive. By 1997, when the next-generation Newton, the MessagePad 2000, reached the market, its handwriting recognition was much improved. Reviewers praised the revamped MessagePad for its robust communication and computing features. But with Apple mired in losses and profits from the Newton not imminent, in 1998 Apple dropped the curtain on the Newton line—the MessagePad, eMate (a Newton-based clamshell notebook for the education market), and the Newton operating system.
In the meantime, another competitor with greater staying power was emerging. In 1994, inventor Jeff Hawkins came up with a design for a new kind of PDA that would become the PalmPilot. At the time, he was working at a software firm developing handwriting recognition technology for handheld devices, but the sparse handhelds at the time lacked many useful features, and to Hawkins, an engineer, they were poorly designed. He believed an effective handheld device...
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