News — Rolodex

Rex Wasn’t Really a PDA, It was the First Great Digital Rolodex

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Tags Franklin, Hp200lx, Rex, Rex3, Rolodex

Rex Wasn’t Really a PDA, It was the First Great Digital Rolodex

Back in the 1990s I was fascinated with small computers. I used the HP200LX palmtop computer for almost ten years, which I wrote about back in December. Naturally, the Franklin Rex 3 PCMCIA-sized organizer caught my attention when it was released in 1997. Here was a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) the size of a credit card that could fit not just in your pocket, but in your shirt pocket. Viewed today, it was an interesting paradigm. The screen takes up almost the entire front face of the device with a few buttons for navigation. But isn’t it a deal-breaker that...