FirstAdopter.com

The History of Palm Computing

I still remember buying the U.S. Robotics PalmPilot Personal Edition. I tip my hat off to Jeff and Donna for changing the world with their product.

Donna realized that Palm did not have enough money to manufacture and market the device (she calculated at least $5 million would be required). VC firms shied away from PDA companies, so Palm would have to find a partner or buyer. The first company Dubinsky spoke to was Motorola, which was developing a two way pager. The head of the project was interested in using the Palm OS, by Dubinsky feared that Touchdown would be gutted for the pager. She turned to Compaq, which demanded outrageous terms for a relatively small investment. Palm would be relegated to selling a Mac-only version of Touchdown, while Compaq sold to the rest of the market. Off a tip, Dubinsky began talking with US Robotics which showed great interest in the company. US Robotics acquired Palm for $44 million, and set it up as a subsidiary.