Handholding

Do you remember when smartphones weren’t just running Apple or Google’s OS, when you really did need a stylus to do anything, and when the very idea of connectivity to the Internet was a expensive affair involving PCMCIA, CompactFlash, or SD based adaptors? Our panel does!

Joining us once again are the wonderful Dan Vincent, Sean (aka. Action Retro), and Steve (aka Mac84) to dive into the world of handheld computing before the iPhone and Android era. We try to stay on topic, which proves a challenge with Sean’s unusual definitions of handhelds cropping up along the way.

What are your handheld computing memories, where you in camp Palm or firmly in the Pocket PC / Windows CE… pocket? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to [email protected], or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

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Episode Links

• Guests
  • Dan Vincent: Userlandia (YouTube) / Mastodon
  • Sean: Action Retro (YouTube) / Mastodon
  • Steve: Mac84 (YouTube) / Mastodon
• yBasic – Palm DB – The BASIC app Sean used on his Palm
• Graffiti (Palm OS) – WikiPedia
• Casio Cassiopeia E-125 – WikiPedia
• Springboard: the secret history of the first real smartphone (Full Documentary) – The Verge on YouTube
• The Cybiko Experience: a Handheld Computer for Year 2000 Teens – LGR on YouTube
• Nokia N-Gage QD – WikiPedia

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:07:14: Our First Handhelds
3. 00:18:32: The Pen Computing Era
4. 00:32:42: Palm
5. 00:40:04: Cybiko
6. 00:44:15: Windows CE & PocketPC
7. 00:52:21: The Appeal of Handhelds
8. 00:58:28: The Demise of Standalone Handhelds
9. 01:06:55: What Do We Miss?
10. 01:19:59: First Dumb & Smartphones
11. 01:32:18: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW