The Pilot 5000 was the second model of the first generation of PDA’s manufactured by Palm Computing (then known as US Robotics). Debuting in March 1996, the Pilot emerged in a market with only one major competitor: the Apple Newton, another organizer you’ll find in the Museum of Mobility.
The Pilot’s small size (shirt-pocket ready), was definitely an advantage over Apple Newton, which operated very similarly and had almost the exact same screen as the 5000 model.
The Pilot functioned with similar computing power to a Macintosh SE, boasing 512KB of RAM, nearly five times as much data capability as the original Pilot 1000 model. Later Palm Computing sold a 1 MB upgrade card to increase the memory capacity even further.
This was also the first PDA handheld to distinguish itself with the ability to synchronize with Windows 95, 3.1 or Macintosh desktop PCs.
Its Palm OS 1 operating system enabled low-cost, low-power integration with desktops through. While this device had no infrared port, backlight or flash memory, the Pilot’s software could synchronize its information with most standard PCs, allowing users to work with and share information from other application programs on their computer through their handheld.
Synchronizing a Pilot 5000 PDA with a PC allowed users to enter text from their full-sized keyboards and view the Pilot applications in wide screen on their monitors. The syncing software could also support several users on one PC, so one person could handle scheduling and updating for others, making the Pilot a great small business tool.
To input information, consumers used a stylus or popular Graffiti Text Entry Software created by Palm, which allowed the entry of 30 words per minute at 100 percent accuracy. Most information could be accessed with a single touch, as applications had near-instant response times.
The Pilot came in a plastic case of various colors, had an LCD tactile panel and 160 x 160 mm graphic display and operated with two AAA batteries, running simple-to-use applications in black and white. Pre-loaded with telephone directory, to-do list, memo, calculator and multi-app search functions, the Pilot was also compatible with many other popular applications, such as Ascend, DataSync, Lotus Organizer and Microsoft Schedule +.
The MuMoH physical collection includes the Palm Pilot and original leather case.
References:
http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org/usrpilot5000/
http://cdecas.free.fr/computers/pocket/pilot.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_(PDA)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_1000
http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/8493/pilot-1000-retrospective
