Apple
The Apple PDA ran under the name of Apple Newton. Obviously, the pun was on Newton, whose gravitational studies were supposedly sparked by the dropped fruit that is Apple’s namesake. It is interesting to note that the PDA by Apple has been discontinued amidst complaints and overall Apple PDA problems. Yet in their heyday, these little personal organizers were quite the digital novelty and many a user would swear by them. The time that they really shone and made an impact on the market was the year 1993. They held their own until about 1996 and were finally discontinued in 1998.

What was a big feature for Apple at the time was the fact that the PDA offered handwriting recognition which made life and business a lot easier on those who would use the Apple PDA. Batteries – namely simple everyday AA batteries - would ensure that the device kept on humming without shutting down in mid-sentence. Unfortunately, the amount of power given to the device was only about 28 hours, and considerably less if the backlight option was used. Cells were later on added as an alternative to permit for recharging, yet this also added weight.

Apple created this device in the hopes of leading a revolution of the computing market in that it sought to completely shift the public’s mode of conducting business, and using personal computing options on a day to day basis. For reasons only known to Apple, this goal seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle, and soon there were problems with the concept and instead of being on the forefront of creating an Apple PDA phone, the manufacturer ended up only playing catch-up to make certain that the units already on the market remained functional, operational, and in good condition so as not to affect the popularity of the Macintosh. For this reason the company also added peripherals, such as the PDA holder which Apple marketed separately.

In a last ditch effort to make the PDA more contemporary, many new features were added, yet with them the price of the device also rose as did its size, neither of which did much to endear them to the public. In the end, Apple conceded defeat and withdrew from the PDA market altogether. Rumors are still floating around that the company will come back with a new reincarnation of the Newton one of these days - maybe.