NOTE: 3com Palm IIIc: A Recollection...from my old web page
(circa early 2000's)
The 3com Palm IIIc was my first color handheld. I got it
about a year(?) after I had my Palm III. At the time, I was
quite happy with my Palm III. I could live with the
monochrome display with backlight (because I didn't know
otherwise.) It was very functional and there were tons of
applications out there to run. I wasn't looking at upgrading.
Well, after a year of having the Palm III, there was a
web-based survey at work that we were told via email to fill
out. I don't think too many people filled it out but I did
out of duty (ha!) A few months later there was a list send
out of employees who won the survey raffle. I was picked and
the prize was a Palm IIIc. I was surprised because I
totally forgot about the survey and never really won raffles.
I received it in the mail shortly after.
The Palm IIIc is much nicer than my Palm III. Same
processor but color display, rechargeable battery, and 8 megs
of memory. The Palm III had only 2 megs. I loved the color
display. I could totally tell the difference. I bought tons
of accessories for this thing. External folding keyboard, EB
"Slipper" case, travel charger, travel hotsync cable,
cellphone data cable, screen protectors, new stylus, etc. All
kinds of things. I really got into the accessories.
I read many ebooks on the Palm devices. I thought the concept
of having so many books on the handheld wherever you took it
was an excellent idea. What was also great was that there
were many sites out there with free ebooks. I'd read them
anywhere. Ebooks were pretty small too when it came to actual
memory it took up. With the Palm IIIc, the better display
and the backlighting was a treat when reading at night. The
display was so bright that I've used it as a flashlight on
several occasions. The display wasn't so nice in direct
sunlight though.
I bought a data cable to connect my flip phone (Samsung
SCH-8500) to my Palm. I found some apps on the net that I could
use, like an ssh1 client, web browser, email, AIM, web
clippings, etc. Internet access using the Palm was still in
its infancy and wasn't too user friendly but I still had fun
with it. The whole wireless data/communications thing just
dazzled me. Jumpin' on IRC via remote UNIX server via dialup
ISP via cellphone via Palm IIIc via ssh1 client...outside,
sitting in Public Square was just so remarkable! Now, it's
not such a big deal. I still do the whole wireless thing but
it's different. I still try to keep the dream alive tho.
Sometimes I pretend that I'm Johnny Sokko, controlling his
Giant Robot remotely. Instead of through a wrist watch
transmitter, I control him via the Palm IIIc. We battle the
evil Rodan monster from the planet Gamilon, which invades
MegaClevo. I know there's no robot :( but I still have fun.
Or sometimes I pretend that I'm an Asian version of Mr.
Spock but I've been assimilated by the Borg and I use the
Palm IIIc to hack into the hive using an encrypted sub-space
frequency to set up a bot to replace me so I can send a
distress signal back to the Federation. Anyhow...
I stopped using my Palm IIIc in May(?) of 2003 when I bought
a used Sony Clie NZ-90. It sat around collecting dust until
February of this year when I brought new purpose to the
unit. I picked up a Palm based OBDII Scantool for my car.
It's called Autotap. Now I can monitor my ship's, err, car's
computer. I was going to give the IIIc to my wife but she
wasn't interested in it.
I think the Palm IIIc will still be of use for many years to
come. It could use a battery replacement sometime in the
future and the display is not as sensitive as it used to be
but it's still functional.
