The Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 are the first generations of
PDAs produced by
Palm Computing (then a subsidiary of
U.S. Robotics). It was introduced in March 1996.
The Pilot uses a
Motorola 68328 processor at 16 MHz, and had 128 kB (Pilot 1000) or 512 kB (Pilot 5000) built in
Random-access memory
Random-access memory (RAM; ) is a form of Computer memory, electronic computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working Data (computing), data and machine code. A random-access memory device allows ...
.
The PDA has a plastic case (various colors). Its dimensions are 120x80x18 mm and weight is 160 grams. The Pilot has a 160x160 pixel monochrome
LCD
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not em ...
tactile panel, with a "
Graffiti
Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...
input zone" presented in the bottom third of the screen. Underneath the screen sits a green on/off button, four applications buttons (Date Book, Address Book, To Do List, and Memo Pad) and two scroll buttons. At left, contrast control. At right top, stylus slot. On the back of the device there is a Memory Slot door, Reset button, battery compartment (held two AAA batteries) and Serial Port (for use with the PalmPilot Cradle).
Memory is kept in a "memory slot" under a plastic cover at the back top of the PDA. A 512 kB ROM chip stores the
Palm OS
Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) is a discontinued mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. ...
1.0 and resident applications. RAM is available in 128 kB, 512 kB or 1 MB; with a
PalmPilot
The PalmPilot Personal and PalmPilot Professional are the second generation of Palm PDA devices produced by Palm Inc (then a subsidiary of U.S. Robotics, later 3Com). These devices were launched on March 10, 1997.
Accessories and pricing
...
Professional memory card, up to 2 MB of RAM. Hardware limit is 12 MB of
RAM and 4 MB of
ROM
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* ...
.
After a calibration test presented during the initial power up, the Pilot would
boot and be ready for use and synchronization. Connecting and synchronizing the PDA was initially done through a utility called Pilot Desktop. For the PC, Pilot Desktop was distributed either on 3½ inch disk or on
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
(according to an original floppy disk set, v1.0 was for
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...
and included a tutorial disk and two
win32s
Win32s is a 32-bit application runtime environment for the Microsoft Windows 3.1 and 3.11 operating systems. It allowed some 32-bit applications to run on the 16-bit operating system using call thunks. A beta version of Win32s was available in ...
disks for
Windows 3.1; v2.0 was for Windows 95 and
Windows NT
Windows NT is a Proprietary software, proprietary Graphical user interface, graphical operating system produced by Microsoft as part of its Windows product line, the first version of which, Windows NT 3.1, was released on July 27, 1993. Original ...
). A version of Pilot Desktop (renamed to
Palm Desktop) now exists for use with the
Mac platform and open source support exists for use on
Linux
Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
distributions (one of the preferred development platforms for Palm OS), as well.
Lawsuits
Palm, Inc. was sued by the Pilot pen company for using the name "Pilot". Palm was later involved in a legal battle where
Xerox
Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...
filed suit for
David Goldberg's "Unistroke" patent.
See also
*
Palm (PDA)
Palm is a now discontinued line of personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones developed by California-based Palm, Inc., originally called Palm Computing, Inc. Palm devices are often remembered as "the first wildly popular handheld co ...
References
3Com Palm Pilot Hardware Book(PDF)
3Com Mac Desktop Handbook(PDF)
External links
Palm Pilot 1000 Retrospective (from 2006)Pilot Desktop 1.0
{{Palm Devices
Palm OS devices
Computer-related introductions in 1996
Products introduced in 1996
68k-based mobile devices