The author mentions not having a backlight, but the IIIx does have a backlight. That's why there's a light symbol on the power button. Maybe he meant his is busted.
I once had an original US Robotics "Pilot". From before they even rebranded it to "Palm". Very similar looking hardware & software to this, but I guess with a slower CPU etc. Maybe I even still have it somewhere...?
I had a number of PalmPilots over the years, I loved those little devices! I also remember using a keyboard dock with one of them to take notes during meetings.
I'm pretty sure I had a PalmPilot Professional, a Palm V, and a Tungsten T (which slid open). The Palm V was easily my favourite, it was a very good looking device that worked very well. In comparison, the Tungsten T was somewhat clunky.
I would love if Apple - or an e-reader manufacturer - would ever steal my favorite feature from a Palm clone - the scroll wheel placed on the side in perfect position for your thumb, from the Sony Clie series.
This inspired me to finally grab a Sony Clie SL-10 on eBay to play around with. Been watching that model on and off for a while because it was the last AAA-powered model. No ancient rechargeable cell to deal with.
(Sigh) I really miss tech that wasn’t actively trying to exploit my brain, empty my wallet, or both.
I loved this era of tech. I had a Sony CLIÉ PEG-SJ22 and used it a ton for to-do lists and random notes.
I was surprised at how easy it was to learn Graffiti and how quick it was to use it. Not as fast as typing, but better than hunting and pecking on an on-screen keyboard with a stylus. I didn't like how the stylus felt on the screen when you wrote so I cut a little piece of a post-it note and put on the area where you'd do the Graffiti strokes.
I don't remember exactly how it worked, but I was able to save some web articles onto the device. When I was on a lunch break, I'd read through the articles on that little thing. It truly felt like living in the future.
I still have my palm IIIxe
I have used it to write my games during Go tournaments. I have a usb/serial adaptor. The software was easy to install on linux. Just to write this comment, I have tried to use it (I have not done any tournament since 7 years), but I got an error when I enter "apt-get install pilot-link". I still have my notes on how to use it:
I had many devices and gadgets over the decades, certainly a three digit figure.
There are only a few I really loved and consider well-rounded and beautiful while useful.
My Commodore 64 comes to mind, my 2010 aluminum unibody Mac Book Pro has a place in this list and certainly my Palm III.
The first time I saw one was with one of my superiors at a Siemens R&D facility where I interned at the time. I knew I had to have one. A little later I bought mine from a dude who brought it from a work trip to the US. I still have it, I keep it together with my copy of the O'Reilly Palm Programming book.
I used the Palm a lot in everyday life and had it always with me, so for a brief period of my life it was an invaluable tool. Its real value for me however was how it foreshadowed what was about to come. I think the looming smartphone revolution was really obvious for us Palm users. We might not have foreseen every detail (Steve Jobs ditching the stylus) but the broad strokes of what was about to happen were crystal clear.
One of the genius decisions of Jeffrey Hawkins was in being laser-focused on the price point of the Palm Pilot. He designed it to be just cheap enough to buy on impulse, which is exactly how I bought mine.
I had the Palm Tungsten W back in the day (early 2000's), color screen, mobile access, etc. I remember people saying I was "walking around with a brick", yet here we are...
I got my Palm Pilot hooked up to the Internet via the infrared connection to my Ericsson GSM phone. I remember driving in my car in city traffic trying to check email holding the Palm and steering wheel in one hand and the phone at the exact right angle in the other, and thinking “this is stupid”, which it was. But it was the first time I ever received an email over a wireless connection.
I had almost all of them and the Treo smartphones.
Also one of the best were Psion's. Very well designed keyboard and the software was also good.
Now with so much hardware capabilities the usability can be much worse. I don't know how they did it, but the limited hardware functionality made the interfaces hard to do the UI.
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[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 29.3 ms ] threadIf I'm not very much mis-remembering, this Palm actually did have a backlight? I think you had to long-press the little green button to activate it.
I'm pretty sure I had a PalmPilot Professional, a Palm V, and a Tungsten T (which slid open). The Palm V was easily my favourite, it was a very good looking device that worked very well. In comparison, the Tungsten T was somewhat clunky.
(Sigh) I really miss tech that wasn’t actively trying to exploit my brain, empty my wallet, or both.
I was surprised at how easy it was to learn Graffiti and how quick it was to use it. Not as fast as typing, but better than hunting and pecking on an on-screen keyboard with a stylus. I didn't like how the stylus felt on the screen when you wrote so I cut a little piece of a post-it note and put on the area where you'd do the Graffiti strokes.
I don't remember exactly how it worked, but I was able to save some web articles onto the device. When I was on a lunch break, I'd read through the articles on that little thing. It truly felt like living in the future.
There are only a few I really loved and consider well-rounded and beautiful while useful.
My Commodore 64 comes to mind, my 2010 aluminum unibody Mac Book Pro has a place in this list and certainly my Palm III.
The first time I saw one was with one of my superiors at a Siemens R&D facility where I interned at the time. I knew I had to have one. A little later I bought mine from a dude who brought it from a work trip to the US. I still have it, I keep it together with my copy of the O'Reilly Palm Programming book.
I used the Palm a lot in everyday life and had it always with me, so for a brief period of my life it was an invaluable tool. Its real value for me however was how it foreshadowed what was about to come. I think the looming smartphone revolution was really obvious for us Palm users. We might not have foreseen every detail (Steve Jobs ditching the stylus) but the broad strokes of what was about to happen were crystal clear.
Edit: Hawkins = inventor of the Palm Pilot
Also one of the best were Psion's. Very well designed keyboard and the software was also good.
Now with so much hardware capabilities the usability can be much worse. I don't know how they did it, but the limited hardware functionality made the interfaces hard to do the UI.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/imax-emulates-palmpi...