Talk:Pocket-sized computer

Why the name
"Pocket-sized palmtop handheld computing device" is a compromise between "Pocket-sized palmtop handheld personal computing device" and "Pocket-sized personal computing device" or "Pocket-sized computing device."

Internally the various types of devices were different, but as NYTimes, Ziff-Davis (publisher of various computer magazines) and HP (manufacturer and marketer in this arena) noted, a Pocket-sized computing device was a palmtop computer one day, a handheld computer another, and a PDA somewhere along the way. As of this writing, smartphones serve the purpose of the aforementioned, which The Times called portable office, and of course more. As noted in the article, the same HP LX item was listed in 2017 under 3 different group titles. Pi314m (talk) 22:05, 31 January 2018 (UTC)
 * No-one has ever called anything by this name. It is a neologism that exists only here on Wikipedia and ought not to be an article title. --Wtshymanski (talk) 20:45, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

Pocket-sized handheld computing device - proposed new name, dropping PALMTOP
Since it is the name of the article, rather than it's content, that is most objectionable, I am dropping the word "palmtop" from the title, although it will still be part of the article's content - but not as the half-a-dozen-word phrase "Pocket-sized palmtop handheld computing device."

The supporting research is from Google, and a quick summary is:
 * Palmtop computer can be found.
 * Palmtop/handheld can be found.
 * The largest phrase that can be found is Pocket-Sized Handheld computing device
 * The 2nd largest is Pocket-Sized Handheld Computer.

Per the "Frank's Fresh Fish For Sale" sign's story, I don't want an empty sign (Of course it's for sale, of course it's expected to be fresh, of course one can smell fish, and everyone knows Frank, and he's not selling franks/frankfurters).

The word handheld may be at risk, and computing device might be replaced by computer, but I'd like some feedback as to simply dropping the word "palmtop." Pi314m (talk) 01:21, 2 February 2018 (UTC)


 * The article's name has been shortened from SIX words not named in any articles indexed by Google to a FIVE word name that can be supported. References have been added. Pi314m (talk) 07:03, 2 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Still not loving it. Nobody uses this freight train, either. "Which pocket-sized handheld computing device is right for you?" said no magazine cover, ever. "Junior, put down that pocket-sized handheld computing device at the dinner table." "Is that your pocket-sized handheld computing device over there?  No, my pocket-sized handheld computing device has a purple case and green buttons." If it's hand-held, it's by and large pocket-sized (except for TOW missile launchers). Are there in fact two categories lumped here, is one a brand name or particular manufacurer's or Microsoft's take on what they are called? As always, what do the (competent, reliable) sources say? --Wtshymanski (talk) 20:50, 2 February 2018 (UTC)

Pocket-sized computing device - proposed newer name, (also) dropping HANDHELD
"Junior, careful with grandpa's pocket-sized computing device, he wants to some day fund your wedding with the proceeds of selling it to a collector. The Times called it a checkbook-sized computer." ... "What's a checkbook?"

The New York Times also cited "portable computing device" and Dataquest's "portable personal computer." That would be down to three words. The Times also supports "pocket computer" and "wireless computing." Why not AbcomDev, as in Abacus Computing/Communication Device.

To make the sale (Pocket-sized computing device), it looks like Frank's Fresh Fish For Sale is subletting to Betty's Berger Bun Bakery. A google for (which OR best OR fastest OR smallest OR cheapest) ("pocket-sized computing device") found that the first 3 winners are: The FlashCard definition of "Mobile Device" is "A small pocket-sized computing device with a touch screen and memory card for data storage." Turn left? Right. The small pocket holds the device, and the tiny pocket therein holds the memory cards. Next comes the 4th Annual Boomie Awards: "A wire connects to a pocket sized computing device which can be clipped to a belt or put in a pocket..." The next 2 google hits are on the money. The home state of Novell (networks) puts its educational budget behind google hits 1,2 & 3. Next in line is a blogger's "Smartphones are the closest thing to a pocket-sized computing device."

That's the reason for this article. "Mobile device" as used today tends to refer to cell phones that also do portable office tasks. This article is meant to preserve the historical flow from DOS-based Palmtops to Windows-CE handhelds, adding in PDA & other pre-smartphone offerings (e.g. Personal Information Manager - PIM).

Although The Times also used "hand-held computing devices" to describe 3Com's offerings and called the Palm VII a "shirt-pocket-sized product," I've moved to the "Pocket-sized computing device" (pre-Bank S-Line) (technically Single-queue/Multi-server) queue. Pi314m (talk) 07:41, 4 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Is this one? Circular Slide Rule.jpg I'm still not sure this needs to exist.  We have "pocket computer" or "pocket PC", and "pocket calculator".  What are we trying to describe in this article?  Is it a "frisbee" or a "novelty flying disk" ? Just because we can coin a noun phrase that describes the object, doesn't indicate that's the way people name the object in practice. --Wtshymanski (talk) 16:52, 4 February 2018 (UTC)

Pocket-sized computer
There is no overview article that covers the post-programmable calculator / pre-smartphone pocket-sized portable-office devices that included the earlier DOS-based palmtops and Windows-CE handhelds, with mention of PDA and PIM. The terms "pocket computer" and "pocket-size(d) computer" were used and even resulted in patents pre-1970. The article called Pocket computer lists this: (Epson HX-20) . I'm not trying to (re)invent an AbcomDev (Abacus Computing/Communication Device), but rather start an overview. Just as the Star Trek handheld communicator led to the flip phone which led to the smart phone, there was a flow of technologies, including programmable electronic calculators, that preceded today's smartphone. At this point, there are articles that only link via SEE-ALSO. Yes, I can fling the 4-word Pocket-sized computing device atop the 5 & 6 word predecessors, but I don't want to use the Times' "Checkbook-sized computer" so I'll use their 1980s description - "Pocket-sized computer" - with the trailing "d" on sized; they seemed to be comfortable with the same term in 2007. Now that the post-smartphone era is the subject of speculative writing, it's time for something to answer the likes of a question I was told about: "What did people do before cell phones if they had to make a phone call?" The term portable was used by hardware vendors until the counter-term luggable delayed things until Compaq.

Your ca. 1968 pocket-sized computing device (Touche!) was already preceded by a patent reported by the Jan. 10, 1959 NYTimes. Without "Pocket-sized computer" as an anchor, I'd be in a canoe without an oar to deal with the luggable (see photo) in the "Pocket computer" article.

Why I want space for Pocket-sized computer
In case it looks like I'm picking on a single entry from Pocket computer - List of devices, here's a space-worthy photo to prove that my COMPASS is correct. (NASA had big pockets, so maybe the Grid Compass was a NASA-sized Pocket computer) Pi314m (talk) 23:32, 4 February 2018 (UTC)