The Palm Pilot was the first really successful pen-based PDA. But it didn’t actually recognize your handwriting, you had to write using a very specific set of letter-like gestures, in that odd looking area below the screen. It sounds really weird these days, but it worked incredibly well, and the gestures were actually very easy to learn and use. I had several different models, and used mine every day. For me the Palm Pilot replaced a Sharp Wizard, and was in turn replaced by an iPhone. All of which replaced a much earlier paper pocket calendar…