If you used computers for work in 1990s, there is a good chance you used a handheld device like the PalmPilot.
A precursor to the tablet computer and smartphone, the PalmPilot was a PDA (personal digital assistant) from Palm Computing (later simply Palm). A thematic successor to the Apple Newton and Psion Organizer and the platform that kickstarted Microsoft’s Windows CE and Windows Mobile, the PalmPilot had a 160×160 pixel monochrome touch display and stylus.
Running Palm OS (which was eventually upgraded for the HP Touchpad as webOS, and now manages smart TVs as LG webOS), these handheld computers could run several hundred games and applications. You’re now able to try them in the PalmPilot Internet Archive, complete with a browser emulator. This is designed to run software for all Palm and PalmPilot devices, everything from office tools, synths, and utilities to chess and other strategy games, puzzlers, and even Space Trader, the Elite-like gme for turn-of-the-century handhelds.
It’s great to finally be able to revisit some of these games in the Internet Archive. While I never owned a PalmPilot (although I have a HP Pocket PC missing a docking charger), it was a device I was interested in trying, and thanks to the Internet Archive, I can! From what I’ve seen so far, it’s largely as I expected it to be, which is both a relief and a disappointment. While I’m not sure what I’d have done with a PalmPilot as a student, I did have a Filofax a few years earlier, so it’s likely I’d have worked something out.
Perhaps now the PalmPilot can escape being the butt of Brian Blessed’s (admittedly hilarious) ad lib?
The Palm and PalmPilot Internet Archive can be found at archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_palm.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.