Palmtop computers

It would be tempting to think of smartphones and tablets as recent inventions, but in fact portable computing began in 1989, thanks to a British computer company. Distributed Information Processing (DIP) created the Pocket PC – a tiny computer powered by AA batteries, complete with a keyboard. This carry-everywhere computer attracted the attention of Atari, which released the product as the Portfolio, the world’s first palmtop. Fact fans should note that it’s the Portfolio John Conner uses to hack the ATM machine in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. From the initial days of the palmtop computer came the first PDAs, and this in turn lead to the development of the ubiquitous smartphone.