What is a PDA?

A PDA (personal digital assistant) is a digital organizer, or personal digital assistant, that can be comfortable held in your hand (it is also called a handheld). The term PDA first appeared early in 1992 when Apple began looking for a partner to make their personal digital assistants. Sharp took on the task and after a lot of hype, a product called the Newton appeared in August of 1993. But a $700 price tag and a complicated handwriting recognition feature conspired to bury the Newton, and it wasn’t until 1996, when U.S. Robotics (which was bought by 3Com in 1997) introduced the Pilot 1000 and 5000, that the market for PDAs began to intensify. PalmPilots were applauded for a simpler, more accessible design, and now, three years later, many business executives consider a PDA a necessity.

Calendar, notepad and address books are common features on a PDA, but many also download email and other materials from a computer (some sync, or copy certain files from a computer to the handheld device). PDAs offerings are steadily expanding—modems come with some models and can be purchased as an add-on to others. The devices are also coming down in price (some go for as little as $150).

Much like a traditional computer, PDAs consist of a display screen (the screen is usually a touch screen, and it is called a LCD display), a processor, memory, and an operating system. There is a wide range of operating systems (see Operating System, left) that PDAs run on, one of the most popular being the Palm OS. Microsoft also has PDA operating system called Windows CE. While the PalmPilot is widely known because of its influence on the market, there’s a wide range of PDAs for today’s consumer to choose from.

Despite a rocky start, PDAs have certainly taken off, and the future holds more promise as Internet connectivity makes it way to PDAs.