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The Tandy ZOOMER |
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WWW.8BIT-MICRO.COM ONLINE VINTAGE COMPUTER MAGAZINE |
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CPU: NEC V20 (Intel 8088 Core) RAM: 1 MB. ROM: 4MB. Ports: RS-232 compatible serial port with subminiature 10-pin "D" connector, subminiature headphone jack, Built-in infrared transceiver for wireless data transfer, PCMCIA Type 2 Controls: Power on/off, Volume, Contrast Cross-shaped cursor control and two control buttons Display: 320 x 256, LCD Display monochrome Storage Optional: PCMCIA SRAM or Flash Card Dimensions: Size: 1" x 4.2" x 6.8" (H x W x D) Weight: 16 ounces Sound: Built-in speaker, Three square wave tone generators, White or metal noise generator, Programmable level control for each channel, Digital to analog converter (DAC) Power: Three Alkaline AA batteries or AC Adapter Operating System: ROM Based Geos & Programs
At first glance, the Tandy ZOOMER, short for "consumer" looks like it was built by Casio since Casio issued a ZOOMER at the same time, and was identical. But the history of this unit is more complicated then that. First, it must be said that the ZOOMER was a market flop, mostly due to it's size and inadequate 'handwriting recognition software'. But an oxymoron exist in that the ZOOMER was a great success. That is; it was the start of pal computing everywhere.
The brainchild of Jeff Hawkins an engineer in the late 1980 for GRiD Systems, Jeff was onboard when Tandy Corporation bought GRiD and made it part of the Tandy empire. At that time Hawkins was a Vice President of GRiD working on special projects, and his brainchild was the GRiD tablet, a 12" display 8088 DOS computer with touch screen and tablet capabilities.
As the story goes, Hawkins met with three others from GRiD along with Howard Elias from Tandy Corporation at a hotel in San Jose, CA. Hawkins tried to get Tandy for build the ZOOMER for GRiD. A hesitant Elias prompted Hawkins to incorporate his own company to proceed with the project in June of 1992. That company was Palm Computing. Initially created to develop software Palm Computing At that point Hawkins had Tandy and the rights to GEOWorks. With the backing of Bruce |
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Dunlevie one of his board members the company was a going concern. Dunlevie had an eye for talent, and he brought about the team of Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky. Dubinsky was a very skilled marketing manager and shrewd negotiator. With the sales talents of Dubinsky and the engineering talents of Hawkins, the ZOOMER became a reality. Produced both in the Tandy and Casio flavors (badges) the ZOOMER sold well, but the aforementioned short comings made it a market flop. But, it was the Tandy ZOOMER that started it all! Palm Computing today is the grand daddy of the hand held computer world. The Biggest Little Computer Company, Tandy, had spawned another market first.
The Tandy ZOOMER maybe a slow 8088 core system, but it is one that I love to use for taking notes. The handwriting may be a bit flaky, but that is what spell checkers are for!
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(c) 2004, 2005 Brian K. Hahn All Rights Reserved. |