Re: the worst PDA of all time

On 23 Aug 2026 05:03:39 GMT, Retrograde wrote:

> The success of Palm’s products got the attention of Microsoft, and
> the company pretty much announced it was going to crush Palm.

Not the first time. Around 1990 or not long after, Go Corp was working
on a handheld platform that used handwriting recognition, called
PenPoint.

Microsoft promptly announced a competing product called “Windows For
Pen” (not “Pen For Windows”?). It never shipped, so it was pure
vapourware. But the mere idea of its existence drove away potential
investors and customers from Go, and the company sank without, as I
recall, ever managing to bring its product to market.

Notice, though, how Microsoft’s FUD power has weakened each time it
has wielded it: it destroyed Go, was only partially successful against
Palm, failed against Linux, and was completely humiliated over
Android.

Nowadays I think it has learned to keep its carnivorousness on a leash
over new products like the Steam Deck.

Bonus fun fact: did you know Windows XP was designed from the ground
up to support tablets with a pen interface? From his Comdex 2001
keynote
<https://news.microsoft.com/source/2001/11/11/gates-showcases-tablet-pc-xbox-at-comdex-says-new-digital-decade-technologies-will-transform-how-we-live/>:

    Unveiling prototypes of the new Tablet PC, Gates predicted that
    the Tablet would become the most popular form of PC within five
    years.

Windows XP did well enough, but its tablet ambitions did not. Even the
addition of multitouch in Vista (ptui!) didn’t help.