15 Jun 2023
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15 Quick Bits About the Palm IIIe

Continuing the series of “15 Quick Bits About…”, let’s take a look at some facts (Quick Bits) about a personal digital assistant, or, PDA, I would see being proudly used a couple of decades ago — the Palm IIIe. I did not own one of these devices myself at the time having just recently picked one up from a thrift store a few years back. Quick Bits on the Palm IIIe The Palm IIIe was released in 1999 by Palm Computing, shortly after the more expensive and more advanced Palm IIIx. [1] [3] Shipping with Palm OS 3.1, the Palm IIIe…
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31 Jan 2023
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Commodore Minuteman 3 Calculator

MM3 FYI: This is an article I originally posted on another blog site that I have (tronics.life) before Bits && Bytes had been setup. While I do not remember Commodore calculators as a kid, my first computer was a Commodore VIC-20. I loved my VIC-20 but quickly outgrew it. Eventually, my parents got me a Commodore 64 for Christmas. The 38,911 bytes available on my C64 was more than 10 times(!) what I had at my disposal on my VIC-20, which topped the digital scales at 3,583 (usable) bytes. I loved my Commodores and I spent countless hours writing software…
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08 Jan 2023
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Franklin Wordmaster Electronic Dictionary Demystified!

WM-1000 FYI: This is an article I originally posted on another blog site that I have (tronics.life) before Bits && Bytes had been setup. I recently came across a Franklin Computer Wordmaster WM-1000 handheld dictionary, thesaurus, and spelling corrector device at a local thrift store. Having an interest in vintage electronics, I picked it up for $9.99 (USD) and took it home, where it sat for a few weeks before I finally decided to check it out. On first inspection, I could see the device was in really good shape with little wear and tear on the case. When I…
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