Smarter Phones: Journey to the Palm-Sized Computer

Published: March 24, 2020, 5:31 a.m.

Few could imagine what a handheld computer would look like\u2014or even do. But a trio of visionaries saw where computing was headed. To succeed in this new frontier, though, they would need to create everything from scratch, and throw out the conventional wisdom on hardware. \n\nTheir creation, the PalmPilot, went on to break sales records. It showed the world what was possible and it helped people realize that the value in tech was shifting once again. But when the tech bubble burst and new competitors entered the market, Palm\u2019s grip on the handheld computing industry began to slip.