Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

STGMavrick t1_ixt74ru wrote

I felt like hot shit with my palm pilot dialing out on a 56k modem to download my road trip directions with avantgo.

367

Version-Abject t1_ixttlk5 wrote

I had one in the seventh grade, me and a buddy. Convinced the teacher it was just a fancy calculator. We would “beam” test answers to one another.

80

STGMavrick t1_ixtw7sb wrote

I got mine my freshman year in college. At Devry they had some fancy projectors in all the classrooms. They all used IR and there was an IR remote app that let you clone IR signals. I had a lot of fun.

43

Version-Abject t1_ixtx64y wrote

I had a LG android with an IR blaster for a while, so much fun. Swapping the channel on the game at the bar during pivotal moments was such fun. Absolute chaos.

34

Blazien t1_ixu7bzu wrote

Wow that sounds like so much fun I may just have to order an ir blaster on Amazon today.

10

Nakotadinzeo t1_ixup5x2 wrote

It was built into LG phones and tablets, so I don't know if you'll have the same experience.

8

Blazien t1_ixv65u1 wrote

I had the HTC M8 which also had one internally. There is all sorts of options on Amazon though that can plug in externally via 3.5mm or USB C(compatible with both Android and iPhone).

1

DP11117 t1_ixvn7bw wrote

The Mate 20 and bv9800 seem to be the last devices to have this capability

1

Sintacks t1_ixuba6z wrote

I convinced my teacher I could take notes on it... it didn't work out as well as i imagined.

6

GarbanzoBenne t1_ixujktz wrote

LOL yeah even taking notes on a modern iPad is still not quite better than paper.

5

quinbotNS t1_ixupyx0 wrote

I still have two Palms and the IR keyboard for them.

3

BabylonDrifter t1_ixt8t6i wrote

Avantgo on PalmOS was the absolute bomb. I had doctors shelling out five grand a month for that shit when it came out.

66

Redwolfdc t1_ixuuba3 wrote

The palm pilot was revolutionary when it came out

9

lhamil64 t1_ixuen8r wrote

Stuff like this is so interesting to me. It seems like old tech was so innovative with the limitations at the time.

6

dildonicphilharmonic t1_ixv60on wrote

Oh absolutely. We were even texting Google on flip phones back in the early 00’s and it worked bizarrely well for many things.

7

jamar030303 t1_ixtxk4o wrote

When I was in school I somehow convinced my dad to get me a cellular module and monthly data plan for mine. I too felt like hot shit even though I used it mostly for looking up Pokemon cheats and glitches during recess.

4

GrandMasterMara t1_ixtypp6 wrote

download? Bitch, Print the directions!

4

STGMavrick t1_ixv89ej wrote

Print?! Why would I want to do that when I could have it on my small barely legible device? Pleb...

2

typing t1_ixuhxbl wrote

Haha I remeber avantgo. I got rid of all my mother palm pilots when get got her first iphone, they were great devices

4

DP11117 t1_ixvncgn wrote

Avant Go was fantastic , but does anyone remember the fusion sync app?

4

Deranged40 t1_ixt62yo wrote

There were over five hundred apps for Palm Pilot!?

125

Ok-Wasabi2873 t1_ixt8q8w wrote

Yes. I probably downloaded most from them from Usenet back then. I wonder if I still have it archived somewhere.

60

bombombay123 t1_ixvtsz2 wrote

Are Usenet still on?

2

Ok-Wasabi2873 t1_ixvvanh wrote

https://binsearch.info

Looks like it’s still around. I just need to pay for the access to the servers. My old ISP (EarthLink) had it as part of the plan. Even after I got cable modem it could still access their servers until about 10 years ago.

2

gizamo t1_ixtdmmv wrote

I made 2 of them. One was even used. Lol.

It was awful. Do not recommend.

26

jmcstar t1_ixtfagn wrote

Butt plug finder was a great app, regardless of what they say

16

gizamo t1_ixtg6l3 wrote

Its successor, Butt Plug Spotter, was much more helpful during workouts.

9

3D-Printing t1_ixulx7u wrote

Wow, and nowadays with our fancy tech we have butt plug sender for when you want to cheat at chess!

3

Tohu_va_Vohu t1_ixuzute wrote

I made a few game apps myself. Lost a lot of money doing it. CodeWarrior was like $500. I didn’t sell many copies, and got sued for mentioning Tetris in my ad copy.

2

gizamo t1_ixv8stq wrote

Ha. Nice. Not for the Palm, but I once got sued because my app icon had a bird. Apparently, some company claimed all bird icons as under their (unregistered) trademark. Lol. Some people are idiots.

1

[deleted] t1_ixt9540 wrote

[deleted]

17

[deleted] t1_ixt96v0 wrote

[deleted]

11

UsernameJonesHere t1_ixtats0 wrote

There are hospitals in the US and Europe that still run on Windows 98 and some that use 3.1 because of specific programs that were never updated.

8

subgameperfect t1_ixtcdx3 wrote

It's the same for facories, oil rigs and giant production platforms that may as well reach to your house.

Turns out that newer features kinda matter less than understanding your infrastructure and having confidence.

5

Nakotadinzeo t1_ixuqa77 wrote

We really need to make a middleware platform for this software. The runtime handles translation between adapters and such, and the software just has to handle doing its job to control whatever hardware.

This is what UNIX was made for on the software side. A UNIX program from the 70's can usually be compiled on a POSIX OS like Linux or MacOS fairly easily.

Problem is that Windows isn't one of those POSIX platforms, and you can't compile what you don't have the source for anyway. That also doesn't change how the software interfaces with the hardware.

The hardware and the proprietary software are the big issue. 3ven if we find a fix, it's a fix for future machines and not present ones.

1

Cyanandblue t1_ixu8pqo wrote

And some trains in Germany or smwhere I think. But I don't remember the reason of running an old OS is the apps never updated or something else.

1

one-hour-photo t1_ixtc39l wrote

Can you send me a shot of the morphine through Reddit please?

3

Admetus t1_ixu2d4m wrote

It was big in the business world so no doubt it drew a crowd of developers.

5

cacraw t1_ixxjaht wrote

I made one that I released freeware and is one of the 565 on the site. (“Grafaid”) In the “license” I said if it was included in any compilations (books with CDs of software were popular) you had to send me a copy. Similarly, if you used it as part of development of paid software you had to send me a free license. Got a few books and a couple of programs!

1

Scuttling-Claws t1_ixt8luy wrote

Is one of them dopewars?

109

throwaway_ghast t1_ixtaepw wrote

Yes!

77

brock1samson9 t1_ixvc5t8 wrote

Unfortunately I can't find a way to enter amounts while playing on my phone. I can only buy/sell max value and can only pay the laps shark the full debt which I can't get to the full value and therefore can't pay. So inevitably I end up with my legs broke

NVM I figured it out with the numbers on the virtual pad. $62k and change high score

3

can_a_bus t1_ixthyee wrote

Why does my debt keep going up on that game even though I never borrow from the loan shark?

13

i_should_go_to_sleep t1_ixtmcq2 wrote

I think the $2K you start with is a loan from the shark that has interest with every game day

35

kyleyeezus t1_ixtmsze wrote

You start the game with a debt that has a vic (interest).

18

EroticFalconry t1_ixtxfud wrote

I also remember some sort of space trading sim, like a 2d Elite. I lost a lot of time to that

10

nereuszeer t1_ixu3zws wrote

Yes, Space Trader! Loved that game. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Trader_(Palm_OS)

14

servantoflegba t1_ixu4iat wrote

I had a one hour commute… that game lives rent free in my heart

5

eliminatingaww t1_ixup9ae wrote

I knew I was a bit different when I was taken to my first live college football game and I didn’t look up once from playing this game on my dad’s palm pilot.

2

UrbanGhost114 t1_ixw8sfa wrote

OMFG this is the game!

I have NEVER been able to remember the name of this freaking game!

2

sambodia85 t1_ixukqu1 wrote

There was a clone of this for TI graphics calculators. It a miracle I passed math with how much I played.

4

sirvesa t1_ixtsvct wrote

That was a fun game back in the day

2

poquito_kale t1_ixt9du8 wrote

I still have my Palm Pilot... Fully functional. The little compact makeup beauty mirror on the back of the slider still gleams.

40

queef_vaccuum t1_ixul8k7 wrote

i have a palm zire 72s but the charging pin is broken :/

10

Greydusk1324 t1_ixte6l0 wrote

The most fun I had with a palm pilot was going to Best Buy and messing with the giant wall of TVs using the IR transmitter.

40

WestNileCoronaVirus t1_ixtqggg wrote

Similarly, there was one of those on one of the game boys back in the day, & there was a James Bond game that allowed you to use the transmitter on your Gameboy as a TV remote. I used to sit in the living room with my parents, who were completely unwilling to buy a new TV even though it absolutely stunk. So I’d just use my Gameboy to do random things like change the channel, tank or sky the volume, or turn the TV off altogether. They never figured it out & eventually bought a new TV because they suspected our existing TV was dysfunctional.

It was me. I was the dysfunction. My like 9 year old brain concocted this hair-brained plan to net the fam a new TV & it worked fucking perfectly. They still have no idea 🤷🏼‍♂️

51

Version-Abject t1_ixtto8n wrote

I had a LG phone for a while with an IR blaster. It caused chaos for this reason.

3

SpecificAstronaut69 t1_ixuq1id wrote

My mate did AV install/maintenance at a school, and the IR blaster on his Samsung was a godsend because they could operate TVs without have to track down the remotes. Bliss.

2

EnigmaWithAlien t1_ixuo0ke wrote

Oh yeah the IR! And a little red window on my laptop so they could talk back and forth when you pointed the Palm at the computer. That was cooler than anything now. (More secure, too.)

2

drawkbox t1_ixtkjtk wrote

This is why I donate yearly to archive.org and Wikipedia. Best things on the internet.

39

MikeLinPA t1_ixt9lae wrote

I miss my various palm pilots. My cell phone does more, but my palm did it better!

36

PPOKEZ t1_ixtlqp9 wrote

Everything it did, it did perfectly. And the batteries lasted forever.

23

Nakotadinzeo t1_ixuqqh8 wrote

Your palm pilot didn't need to communicate with EAs servers to validate your DRM before starting Tetris...

Your tip calculator didn need to send a report to crashalitics every time it opened successfully.

I got a Knox based firewall, and holy crap does a lot of shit reach out to a server for useless unneeded reasons.

10

MikeLinPA t1_ixvt3r2 wrote

Yeah, this! Data mining and DRM not only invade our privacy, they waste our bandwidth and cycle time. We have to wait our turn to use our own devices!

Remember, we're not men, we're wallets, put here solely to be exploited for profit. If we momentarily forget out place, our devices will report us!

*No, I'm not actually a conspiracy nut, but the US very often put profits above human well-being. For example, take the phrase, 'pre-existing condition". In any other developed nation, it never existed. It was simply your medical history. Profit is a major evil in our society.

Sorry for the rant. Enjoy your weekend.

2

ConciselyVerbose t1_ixufktr wrote

I wouldn’t actually convert but there are times I wish I could do a physical keyboard and stuff like this unihertz Titan is really tempting. A case the replicated the slide out keyboard a few phones had back in the day would be golden.

Ultimately you can’t pry me away from iPhone regardless but that’s about the only thing I miss.

3

[deleted] t1_ixtbdkf wrote

[deleted]

24

keicam_lerut t1_ixtfimy wrote

I still have my Pre, love that thing. Was thinking of selling it, but decided to keep it.

11

Version-Abject t1_ixttq9t wrote

Windows phone was fantastic also. So smooth.

8

red286 t1_ixtupz6 wrote

I sadly had to get rid of my Windows Phone last year as the final apps on it died. Best damned $70 (CAD, like $50 USD) I spent on a phone (or really anything lol). Switched to a relatively new Android phone, and I'm constantly disappointed with the UI.

4

Version-Abject t1_ixtuwtk wrote

Live tiles were the best, and the way it kinda flipped around a cube… nothing like it. First device I had with an oled screen too so that added to it.

It was the perfect mix of smart device, but dumb enough that it didn’t steal my attention all day. I’d kill for a new one, apps be damned. A web browser is sufficient imo

5

red286 t1_ixtvs0d wrote

>I’d kill for a new one, apps be damned. A web browser is sufficient imo

The problem is that the IE version it was stuck with was deprecated, and a lot of sites didn't render on it for shit. After they lobotomized Cortana, it wasn't really useful any longer. Then after the store shut down, my eBook reader app died so I couldn't even use that any longer. Literally the only thing I could use it for was as a phone.

4

SpecificAstronaut69 t1_ixuqb0i wrote

Bloke I worked with had one:

Say what you will about Microsoft, their Cleartype tech is unaparalleled. That thing had the crispest, cleanest display ever.

2

mtranda t1_ixtwhv7 wrote

Been using Windows phones since 2007, all the way from Windows Mobile 5 to Windows Phone 8. Stopped using it in 2018, as I saw the writing on the wall. But even now, five years later, I still miss it and think it was a great phone.

4

Heklyr t1_ixtljsp wrote

It was mainly due to a lack of support. Developers had moved away from PalmOS and blackberry and onto iOS and android. Hard to lure them back with just a couple of new phones. I had a pre and loved it. Pretty sure I still have it somewhere.

5

queef_vaccuum t1_ixull19 wrote

fuck no. the pre was fine but the pixi was too buggy imo. i vividly remember being in the car on the highway and a cool car was driving alongside of us. i whip out my pixi to take a photo and the whole phone freezes. i had to reboot it but by that time the car had drove away. i nearly tossed the pixi out of the window that day

3

crumbled-feta t1_ixut81z wrote

I loved my Pre. I wish that ecosystem would have survived.

2

b4-9in t1_ixt9ulr wrote

I jumped from the M100 to the iPaq- TomTom came shortly after that, I moved to a new state and started doing sales calls right away, I miss when we had breakthrough apps that could improve our lives, I wish all social media could disappear for productive apps (except Reddit of course, this is anonymous random entertainment, for entertainment sake)

21

Nakotadinzeo t1_ixurdqs wrote

Mastodon is replacing Twitter pretty rapidly, and being organized more like email servers... It feels a little bit like that. I'm using the tool, it's not using me. No anger headaches.

3

bigbabich t1_ixtasix wrote

I still take notes in palm script on paper.

17

joeymonreddit t1_ixtrhnc wrote

I had a palm pixie and I loved it. WebOS was so underrated. If I’m not mistaken, webOS got integrated into LG tvs.

8

doctorbooshka t1_ixv42ka wrote

Palm Pixie had the greatest design for a phone. It fit so perfectly in my hands with a full qwerty board and a touch screen. I miss physical full qwerty boards on phones.

1

joeymonreddit t1_iy4l7q7 wrote

This makes me wonder if I still have that phone in a drawer or something… if I do, I may try to use it again 😂

1

doctorbooshka t1_iy4qngm wrote

Lol no joke mine went through a hole in the wall at my old place and I never found it

1

[deleted] t1_ixtnuz3 wrote

[deleted]

5

n3rdopolis t1_ixv0q6w wrote

PalmSource (the makers of the OS) invested all in their Access Linux Platform which was even more vaporware than Cobalt was. Palm Inc, the makers of the hardware, failed at the Folio, and then WebOS.

3

IAmNotNannyOgg t1_ixtod4i wrote

Just today I was telling my husband how much I miss the calendar. sigh

5

Version-Abject t1_ixtu3vc wrote

I had a Zire71 for a few years. Pop up camera, colour screen, wifi. So baller.

5

EnigmaWithAlien t1_ixuntqh wrote

I loved my Zire 71. When I saw it in the store as soon as the guy pulled up that screen and scanned it around and I saw the store in it, I was hooked. It's still around somewhere. I should get it out and revive it.

2

sevens-on-her-sleeve t1_ixug9o7 wrote

In 2003 I used a Zire72 at my job as a RN. It had a drug book app that kept me from having to carry a physical drug book in my pocket, so I could look up drug uses, interactions, and side effects right from my Palm. Fucking magic

5

crumbled-feta t1_ixut0hw wrote

I had a few Handspring Visors, Sony Clies, and Palm Treo Phones. I used to nerd out pretty hard over Palm Pilots.

5

securitypro669 t1_ixuvaco wrote

Did you ever frequent PDABuzz.com back then?

4

crumbled-feta t1_ixuwoyo wrote

Yes! And I used to read a magazine called Pen Computing.

It’s archive is still on the web.

http://www.pencomputing.com/palm/

3

securitypro669 t1_ixuxc0h wrote

I had forgotten about Pen Computing! I was super into PDAs back then… at about 14-15 years old. I had a Palm Vx and IIIxe and coveted the $400 iPaqs and other high end devices.

3

LaCiel_W t1_ixtbrwn wrote

Haven't heard the name Palm for a while, i suspect many here doesn't even know what they are.

4

frosttenchi t1_iy626rr wrote

There’s a whole subreddit! I actually thought that’s where this was posted at first

1

donald_f_draper t1_ixuc6eg wrote

I’m using a Palm Pilot within a browser within Reddit within my iPhone. I need to lie down

4

Darkace911 t1_ixtjbiv wrote

I guess Jason Scott went on a twitter blocking spree at some point, I've been blocked. I don't remember having an agreement with him but whatever.

2

Baconfat t1_ixtq8yq wrote

I think I still have a few clie and handspring devices in a box in my basement. They were great for their time. Surprised the writing on screen thing is not still a thing.

2

Lordmorgoth666 t1_ixxlfda wrote

It’s been kinda resurrected on iPadOS with the Scribble feature. Write anywhere on the screen with Apple Pencil and it will translate it to text.

2

securitypro669 t1_ixuv3a1 wrote

I remember when Handspring first showed up and there was a clear divide between Palm and Handspring users. Not like the divide between PocketPC and Palm OS but it as there. Handspring were very well made devices.

1

PotBaron2 t1_ixuewrm wrote

12 year old me loved dope wars

2

farcaller t1_ixuk7ft wrote

My favorite game was something about star trek, a strategy with small ships moving around the grid. I remember playing it on an emulator even before I had a palm handheld.

Makes me wonder if I should just get a new charger somewhere off ebay and revive mine.

2

TAG_X-Acto t1_ixvg901 wrote

Someone just give me an honest recreation of Bike or Die. That was the best mobile game I ever played. Nothing could match it. I played the shit out of it on my Treo 650.

2

Wicked_Googly t1_ixx2nue wrote

Yeah, I think I played that game more than any other, for any system. Got a minute to kill? Bust out a level of Bike or Die.

1

pinchies t1_ixygyhx wrote

Massive, massive props to Christian Speckner who had a good idea and has seen it through to completion in an awesome way. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

2

Affectionate-Safe-75 t1_ixyj6ml wrote

Thank‘s a lot! I‘m happy to having contributed something to the preservation of this platform 😏

3

metametapraxis t1_ixtelw3 wrote

I had an IBM branded one. It looked the shizz.

1

FireyFrost34 t1_ixthuj0 wrote

Out of the loop.

1

00DEADBEEF t1_ixucs6n wrote

Palm Pilot was a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) with a stylus-driven touch screen. These were popular in the early 2000s as business devices which could do emails and basic web browsing.

6

redditKad t1_ixujhje wrote

When the iPhone came out, most of us were thinking: so the Palm I've had for years, but without the stylus... it had emails, it had apps, calendars, games, some models were phones, etc.

5

n3rdopolis t1_ixxjzv0 wrote

And without the clipboard, and third party apps were totally prohibited at the time for iPhoneOS

3

SuperHuman64 t1_ixtjfpw wrote

Man this takes me back. I wanted one for so long, but phones advanced so quickly i had no need for it. Still nostalgic for it though.

1

jens-2420 t1_ixu97hk wrote

Internet Archive has weird book conversions. And nearly all of the books are for temporary reading now. I lost interest.

1

CockerSpankiel t1_ixulcye wrote

I had a Palm Pilot pro my senior year of college. I remember shelling out over $200 for it. It became my brain and was so helpful! Absolutely no regrets. But this is funny xD

1

jrutz t1_ixumutt wrote

I had a Kyocera Smart Phone I got cheap from CompUSA, and would use Vindigo all the time. Many cities and countries. It was a life saver, especially the public bathrooms guide.

1

EnigmaWithAlien t1_ixumxqu wrote

Agendus (earlier known as ACT Names) was a wonderful program. I can't find anything like it in the phone world. Not here either, worse luck.

Besides, on the Palm you could design your own icons.

1

Waste_Return_3038 t1_ixusaoc wrote

The amount of times I dramatically folded out my palm portable keyboard dock to jot down some info thinking I was so cool makes me cringe hard today 😩

1

TheDeadWriter t1_ixv3eyo wrote

This archive makes me wistful my transparent orange Handspring Visor, long since donated. (Yet for some reason I keep coming across replacement styluses. I'd load up the storage Springboard with games like Ultima 3, Bejeweled and what ever Chip's Challenge or Pengu clone I had.

There are still Alpha Smart Dana (Palm OS based) users that are both going to love finding these apps easily available and hate learning that this archive exists, as most use them as dedicated word processing devices that are "distraction free"- not so distraction free now!

1

FTTraveler t1_ixvp5ec wrote

I feel like such a nerd to think of this as /r/upliftingnews

1

DBDude t1_ixvqde1 wrote

Looks fun, but I am not going to take the time to relearn Palm script (and I was quite fast back in the day).

1

tmefford t1_ixw2gjn wrote

Had a Palm in Nursing School. Literally had a stack of books in it so didn’t have a knapsack full of books to drag around. Second year, the head of the school said they wouldn’t allow them as they wanted the students to learn how to use the reference texts. My response: “What? The new students don’t know how to work a book?” I kept using my Palm.

1

enThirty t1_ixw3vta wrote

I remember working for this guy who had a palm treo. It was that it a blackberry or maybe some weird Nokia… I had to sync that phone to his computer file maker pro data base contact list. Whoa. That took several pieces of software and hours upon hours to transfer the data over. It was ridiculous.

1

mountainsofjello t1_ixw9o3f wrote

I remember putting a NES, Gameboy and SNES emulator on an old Palm device in 2020. Back at the height of my pandemic boredom. Found the emulator files online and uploaded roms into the phone through Bluetooth

1

Square_Possibility38 t1_ixwb0e6 wrote

A lot of people mentioning how useful/fun the it blaster was…I wish they kept those around

I had a htc phone years ago with an ir blaster and it was incredibly handy for when you lose the remote or when you wanna fuck w the Fox News crowd at the barber shop or when you’re at a restaurant want to watch something specific and no one is watching whatever nonsense is on.

I get it’s not really going to be useful in the future, but if I always had one in my pocket I’d have used it quite a lot over these last years

1

BeakersWorkshop t1_ixwzm20 wrote

I had three, the last one (still have it) was a Tungsten. Love that device. I worked for a service company and it was my constant companion. Job lists, Po’s contacts, parts lists, and of course the best todo list ever. Love that device.

1

bozodev t1_ixx6yfn wrote

I got my first taste of software development on a Palm Pilot. I miss those days. It was some of the most fulfilling work even with all of the challenges and limitations.

1

No-Valuable8008 t1_ixtw1mw wrote

Wtf is a palm pilot

−6