I was asked to think about my favourite ever tech Christmas present, and my first thought – like that of many others – was a console. And yes, the moment I unwrapped FIFA 01 and a shiny new PS2 on Christmas Day 2002 made for an excellent day. But, in my mind there’s something that tops even those two items – a used Palm Tungsten PDA.
Well, I should probably make clear that I can’t remember exactly whether it was a Tungsten that was wrapped up in a nondescript box. But after a quick Google image search, the silver “tablet” certainly rings a distant bell in my head and I’m going with it.
To be honest, the 11-year-old – or possibly 12; it was a while ago – me who unwrapped that futuristic device didn’t care which model it was, or even that it had very obviously had a few owners before me. I was just ecstatic about finally having a little PDA of my own, after years of stealing glances at my Dad’s Psion and making James Bond gadgets out of cardboard.
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Related: My Best Christmas Present: Nintendo Wii
For those who weren’t up with the “cutting-edge” tech of the early 2000s, a Palm was a basically a small tablet that offered some of the very basic smartphone features before those were a thing. It had a web browser of sorts, a super-basic video player and offered support for some games. It even had a telescopic stylus for navigating around the very un-responsive touchscreen.
It was a device pretty solely aimed at the business market as a way to get work done, or probably a means by which to check your calendar on-the-go. Considering I was an 11-year-old who probably had absolutely no use for such a gadget, it might seem like an odd present. But I loved it and carried it around everywhere, likely because I thought it was cool.
I recall finding a way to play The Simpsons episodes on it (that’s a true priority, not checking your to-do list), and it was the first MP3 player I had. It sounded awful, but being able to listen to Mr Brightside in the car made it a winner in my eyes.
Related: Best Christmas Gift Guide
Looking back, it’s hard to comprehend how far we’ve come. I had a quick look at the specs of the original 2002 device and you’ll be impressed to hear it had a 320 x 320 colour display, 900mAh battery, 144MHz Arm processor and a little portion of the display that extended out to make it slightly bigger.
It even had a near-£400 starting price, so I was lucky to even get a used one.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
