Pilot 5000
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Personal digital assistants |
| Founded | March 1996 |
| Parent | U.S. Robotics |
The Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 represent the inaugural series of personal digital assistants created by Palm Computing, which at the time operated as a division of U.S. Robotics. These devices were introduced to the market in March 1996.
Equipped with a Motorola 68328 CPU running at 16 MHz, the Pilot models came with either 128 kB of internal RAM for the Pilot 1000 or 512 kB for the Pilot 5000. Both versions supported memory expansion up to 12 MB RAM and included 4 MB ROM. Palm OS version 1.0 was embedded on a 512 kB ROM chip within the device.
The Pilot's design featured a compact plastic enclosure measuring 120 by 80 by 18 millimeters and weighed approximately 160 grams. It incorporated a monochrome touchscreen with a resolution of 160x160 pixels, where the lower third was dedicated to the Graffiti handwriting recognition input area. Physical interface elements consisted of an on/off switch, four dedicated application buttons (for Date Book, Address Book, To Do List, and Memo Pad), two buttons for scrolling, a contrast adjustment control, and a slot to hold the stylus.
For additional memory, a slot located on the back allowed expansion modules to be inserted. The device was powered by two AAA batteries and connected via a serial port designed to interface with the PalmPilot Cradle for data synchronization.
Synchronization initially relied on the Pilot Desktop software tailored for Windows PCs, distributed on floppy disks or CD-ROMs, compatible with Windows 95 and Windows NT systems. Subsequently, Palm Desktop versions were created for Mac OS platforms, while open-source tools became available for Linux users, enhancing integration capabilities within enterprise environments and offering greater development versatility.
Lawsuits
Palm, Inc. encountered legal disputes including trademark litigation initiated by Pilot Pen Company over the use of the "Pilot" brand name, as well as a patent infringement case brought by Xerox related to David Goldberg's "Unistroke" input method.