What Year Were PDAs Invented?
In recent years, Personal Digital Assistants, or PDAs, have become commonplace. Many businessmen, soccer moms and even high school teens have some form of PDA on their person at almost all times of the day. It truly is a piece of technology that the public takes for granted. But did you know that the PDA is a concept that dates back over a quarter of a century?
Other People Are Reading
-
Casio PF-3000
-
There is some disagreement over what was the first PDA. The Casio PF-3000, released in 1983, was the first device to allow users to store telephone numbers, memos and addresses. While some consider this to be the first PDA, many consider it to be what it was billed as---a calculator.
The First PDA
-
Many consider the handheld version of Apple's "Newton," released in 1992, to be the first true PDA. It was the first device to carry the title "Personal Digital Assistant" and was indeed the first product capable of doing what is now standard on most PDAs.
-
Personal Digital Assistant
-
The term "personal digital assistant" was first coined by former Apple CEO John Sculley. Sculley was also the man who created the famous "Pepsi Challenge" ad campaign for PepsiCo.
Newton's Failed Past
-
The Apple Newton was not originally meant to be a PDA. When development began, Newton was meant to be a stand-alone computer that Apple had hoped would "revolutionize" home computing. However, after the failure of what would have been the Newton PC's operating system, Apple decided to redesign the Newton to be a Macintosh peripheral.
Pricing
-
When the Apple Newton was first released, it cost roughly $6,000. Not surprisingly, it failed to sell particularly well until the PDA was redesigned and sold for the much more affordable $500
-
