Trivia Question

Hello all, Some of you may recognize my name by now; most won't. I'm a reporter at eWeek (aka, formerly PC Week) magazine. Anyway, as Sellam I. will attest, I'm a self-proclaimed (dare I say) guru, specifically regarding the history of mobile computers. Roger's question thus made me get off my ass and respond. As others noted, some of the early programmable calculators may qualify as "portable computers." Also, the Sharp PC-1201 -- along with the Panasonic/Quasar Handheld Computer, and the Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Pocket Computer 1 -- all debuted in 1980/1981. (If you're near a decent big-city or university library, then check out the January 1981 issue of Byte, on microfilm.) If you don't want to use mere programmability as the line between a calculator and a computer, then consider display features. The TI-58, in 1978, was the first to display letters, not just numbers. The catch was, it could print them on a printer, but not on its own screen. The HP-41C, in 1979, was the first that could display letters natively. It also had removable storage, which third-party companies actually sold applications on. Sellam and I have also discussed (as have others before us, a few years ago) the electronic language translators of the late 1970s. The first one of these was from a Florida company, Lexicon, in 1978 (though a patent was applied for in 1976.) Besides translating words, it also had memory module functions, to make it into a calculator, a primitive flat-file database, or a notepad. Combined with its keyboard, I believe those features make it a "PDA." Lexicon sold out its initial batch of a few thousand units, and promptly ran out of money. They sold the rights to Nixdorf. If you do a Web search for "LK-3000" (the product name), you'll find several references to a Nixdorf product that Lexicon was a reseller of. That is wrong, it was the other way around. I know this because 1.) Lexicon had the patent, and 2.) I personally talked to the founder of Lexicon, Mike Levy, a couple of months ago. (Today he runs Sportsline.com). Craig Corp. made a very similar translator, in 1979, called the M-100. It has the calculator option built-in. Its investors/advisers included Nolan Bushnell (Mr. Atari) and Joe Sugarman (the guy behind those BluBlocker TV infomercials.) TI also had a product, Language Translator. It came out in 1980. Theirs was unique because it actually spoke the synthesized word, so users could learn the foreign pronunciation. It did this using the exact same technology as a best-selling TI product from the year before: the Speak-and-Spell toy. Sharp had a translator too, in 80 or 81 I think, but I don't know much about it. So, you could say Lexicon invented the PDA, if you don't count Alan Kay's concept of a DynaBook, from 1975. The concept only came true in Xerox's "NoteTaker" prototype, but that was more like a primitive laptop, and it wasn't mass producted (according to the book "Dealers of Lightning," only 12 were made.) Another twist to the story of "who invented the PDA" is a Judah Klausner. Klausner's best known as the man behind the Sharp Wizard. That's mildly interesting, but more interesting is this: he also has a 1978 patent for an "electronic directory." I don't think anything came of that, but I'll know more in a few weeks; I've got an interview scheduled with him. Even if there was a prototype, it doesn't beat Lexicon, though Lexicon's involved just one function at a time, vs. being a multi-task integrated unit. Yet another twist is those primitive handheld sports games from Mattel, etc. Those debuted in the mid-1970s. I would NOT call them PDAs, since they only had entertainment functions, not "assistant" functions. But if you choose to consider a calculator as a portable computer, then why not a game too? So the answer of "what was the first PDA (and thus sub-1 Kg)" is still "it depends on how you define PDA." I'm open-minded to other input, but for now, I think the best answer is Mike Levy's device, which was conceptualized in the 74/75 timeframe, patented in 76/77, and sold, en mass, in 78. It was truly first device that could run removable-storage applications, display text vs. just numbers, was handheld, had rechargeable batteries, even had a keyboard, and sold in quantity to the general public. Someone should tell Apple this, the next time they ramble about "inventing" the PDA with the Newton. Evan Koblentz PS -- if anyone visits Boston, you're welcome to visit my apartment, where I have several of these devices that actually work. I have most of the documentation too (none of it's for sale.) --- Roger Merchberger <zmerch(a)30below.com> wrote: