Apple's personal digital assistant (PDA), the Newton, was ahead of its time in 1993 and was hobbled by subpar handwriting recognition and a $700 price tag. A short three years later, Palm released the Pilot 1000 PDA. It fit in your pocket and held up to 500 contacts in its internal 128-KB memory. Unlike the Apple Newton, the Pilot's handwriting recognition worked, and it could be synched with both PCs and Macs. It was the perfect complement to a personal computer and paved the way for the now ubiquitous smart phone.