Palm Pilot

A handheld digital organizer originally made by Palm Computing (which was acquired by U.S. Robotics and then 3Com), it is also referred to as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). Released in early 1996 by Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky, the Palm Pilot (and later versions, such as the Palm III and Palm V) became the most popular palmtop computers on the market. In fact, the original Palm Pilot sold faster than the VCR, the color television, the cell phone, and the personal computer; within 18 months, more than 1 million were sold. Measuring around 3" x 4 3/4" by 5/8", it is a small device with its own operating system, preinstalled software programs, and accessories (including software on the Palm VII for wireless connections). Pundits used to consider it IBT, but it is proving to be extremely scalable.