It’s (almost the end of) 2019, and I’m just gonna go out on a limb here that, unless you’re a thief, or are obsessed with old technology (just like me), you probably own a smartphone. You might even be reading this post on a smartphone at this moment. But, any of you who grew up in the 2000s, like me, will know that we used to do things differently back then.

Phones in those times were… exactly that. They were phones. A quick phone call, a text message (which could take ages to type), maybe snap a photo of something with a camera that has less than a 24th of the megapixel count that most smartphones have these days. And back then, if you wanted a selfie, you’d have to – gasp – turn the phone around and have the screen facing away from you. Blasphemy!

However, while smartphones these days are so highly advanced and full of features, they could probably replace the computer that I’m using to write this post, there was a series of devices released throughout the 2000s that could be considered a spiritual predecessor to the smartphone.

Enter the Personal Digital Assistant, or PDA.

(pictured: Palm TX; check out that vintage eBay logo!)

The personal digital assistant craze has been dormant for many years, but even though these curious little devices reached peak evolution in the 2000s, their story begins a very long time ago.

The first device that fit the definition of a PDA (at the time, anyway) was a device called the Psion Organiser, released in 1984 (35 years ago!)

Look at this thing!

I have a feeling it made an excellent conversation starter back in those days.

This calculator first of its kind PDA was superseded by the Series 3, again made by Psion (3a pictured)

Now this is starting to look like what you would call a personal digital assistant, right?

Even though these two were the first of their kind, they were never explicitly called PDAs. The term was coined by this company that you may or may not have heard of, called Apple, in 1992. The term was applied to the Apple Newton, a device mostly known for its… rudimentary handwriting system that ultimately lead to it being made fun of in an episode of The Simpsons.

Two years after the introduction of the Newton, IBM introduced the Simon (yes, it was unfortunately called that).

As you might be able to tell by its shape, the Simon was the first PDA with full phone functionality, and so therefore might be considered the first ever smartphone.

But, the first proper PDA was made by Palm, an ill-fated company that also developed Graffiti, the handwriting engine that underpinned the afformentioned Apple Newton.

(pictured: Palm Pilot)

Nokia also dabbled into PDAs, I’m assuming after they got bored of making indestructible phones (though this device pre-dated the legendary 3310).

This ultimately lead to the 9000 Communicator, considered to be one of the best-selling PDAs of all time.

As time went on, PDAs advanced more and more. Pretty soon, they all started implementing full color touch screens, though this was the era of the resistive touch screen, which, for the uninitiated, basically requires the use of a stylus pen.

Around the mid 2000s, companies began shipping devices running Windows Mobile (remember that?), and out of these, arguably some of the most recognizable are the HP iPAQ series of assistants.

(pictured: HP iPAQ HX2410)

And pretty soon, a lot of these devices (or at least, the more expensive ones) began shipping with stuff like wireless connectivity (remember when that was a big deal?) and Bluetooth.

Even though PDAs are not exactly relevant nowadays due to smartphones, and they’re not exactly remembered as a major point in technological evolution, they will always be remembered as eccentric, but functional pieces of tech by most people, and as cool and quirky devices that are definitely worth scouring eBay at some point for.

Have you owned a PDA or used one before? Which one was it?

Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for reading this post, have a nice day!

-Korr