The late 1980s and early 1990s buzzed with corporations and startups trying to develop portable computers that used a pen as the means of interaction. By late 1993, every one of these efforts had failed. Though running out of funding, one of these startups, Palm Computing, went on to launch the Pilot organizer and Palm operating system, which triggered the handheld computing industry. In this talk, Jeff Hawkins, Donna Dubinsky, and Ed Colligan discuss the roots of handheld computing, how Palm learned from failure, and the challenges of battling conventional technology wisdom. Andrea Butter, former Palm marketing executive and co-author of Piloting Palm will facilitate the discussion.
Computer History Museum, Bldg. 126, Moffett Field
