Windows Phone Thoughts: Evan Koblentz | Evolution of the PDA (1975-1995)

"The purpose of this document is to be a comprehensive timeline of the history of PDAs. Specifically, my intention is to clarify which companies premiered each of the primary front-end features that are considered standard in modern devices, as of the mid/late-1990s commoditization trend. So this is not a discussion of back-end technologies such as architectures, chips, programming interfaces, and speeds.<...>This research is an ongoing project of mine that began in 2001. My original plan was to compile it in book form, however, I decided to post it online in March 2005 after receiving media and research requests for such information. <...> There are other PDA histories on the web, but none that in my opinion are accurate or thorough, and most of which are flagrantly incorrect."



You know, if someone asked me about the history of the PDA, the first words out of my mouth would probably be "Palm" or "Newton". Once I started reading Even Koblentz's document though, I started to understand the concept. The idea of having a digital device (a PDA) to assist us in our personal lives certainly isn't new and it goes much further back than just the Palm or the Newton. Evan does as thorough of a job as I've ever seen addressing the progression and evolution of the PDA. Just don't read this wondering how PDAs in 1975 handled hierarchical tasks or recurring appointments. ;)