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Telxon
It's interesting that this technology still gets mentioned by name. We
worked with Telxon units at a small IT software development company I
worked at in the mid to late-1990s, developing client/server solutions
for Fortune 500 companies. What we worked with was handheld
computing form factors. We ran DOS, and later Windows 3.11 on them.
Users would enter information into them using a stylus, "poking" at a
software keyboard to enter characters, and hit buttons on the touch-
sensitive GUI display. The Telxons often had built-in wi-fi capability.
Sometimes they just had cradles the workmen would set them in at the
end of their shift. Using either wi-fi or cradles, this was how the system
would upload/download information from/to the workers. It was often
pretty amazing how much technology they were able to pack into a small
space, though like today's handhelds, memory constraints, and in some
cases low processing power were a concern.

I first heard about the use of Telxons at Wal-Mart when Frontline did a
show on globalization several years ago. The ones they use looked less
sophisticated than what we used. The units looked more like "ray guns",
and seemed to be more single-purpose. What we worked with were
really like PCs that were small enough that you could hold them in your
hand, or strap to your forearm. The distinguishing characteristic seemed
to be a barcode scanner. Some of the Telxons we worked with had this
as well. On ours it was usually detachable.

Nowadays the computers are small enough that the old Telxons we used
would be considered large and clunky by comparison, and less powerful.
They can easily fit in the palm of your hand now, and have phone
functionality to boot. The only hinderance to using them for the kind of
applications we developed might be that the screens are a lot smaller.
We had 5" and 10" screens, ones that could fit a good amount of
information and be viewed clearly. I doubt we could implement the kind
of UIs we had on them on today's smartphone displays.
Posted by: Mark Miller   Posted on: 02/12/09 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Telxon  Mark Miller | 02/12/09
More Telxon  dave.leigh@... | 02/12/09
Crazy not to  Richard Flude | 02/12/09
"For our implementation"  dave.leigh@... | 02/12/09
COBOL thinking  Roger Ramjet | 02/13/09
PLEASE read what I wrote  dave.leigh@... | 02/13/09
RE: Learning from Walmart  no_zd_user_name | 02/12/09
There's a new Tariff in town  Roger Ramjet | 02/12/09
GST by another name  snberk341 | 02/12/09
We don't want no stinkin GST  Roger Ramjet | 02/12/09
Not a tax on cash  h_lewis | 02/12/09
Tangle and Cash  Roger Ramjet | 02/12/09
Still don't agree  h_lewis | 02/12/09
Reprinted  Roger Ramjet | 02/12/09
On a personal basis, I agree  murph_z ZDNet Moderator | 02/12/09
Missed the point!  wkulecz | 02/12/09
What does SPECIFIC technology have to do with business culture?  Heatlesssun | 02/12/09
Murph's writing style  Roger Ramjet | 02/12/09
I had the same question  coffeeshark | 02/12/09
I had the same question  ShoreLeave | 02/12/09
There is no connection  honeymonster | 02/12/09
If you knew Murph, like I know Murph . . .  Roger Ramjet | 02/12/09
First of all, thanks  brble | 02/12/09
How to rewrite history  tonymcs@... | 02/12/09
That's right: the tech does drive the culture  murph_z ZDNet Moderator | 02/12/09
Not just a technology  Richard Flude | 02/12/09
Both  Mark Miller | 02/13/09
The term "managed" implies how it's managed.  Anton Philidor | 02/13/09
Protectionism is a complicated issue...  snberk341 | 02/12/09
The great news is  GuidingLight | 02/12/09
if you have to fix Unix daily  murph_z ZDNet Moderator | 02/12/09
"The wintel and DP people"  honeymonster | 02/12/09
Is going years without improved software good or bad?  Anton Philidor | 02/13/09
Ask that question about COBOL  Roger Ramjet | 02/13/09
Good point, someplace.  Anton Philidor | 02/13/09
Yes  murph_z ZDNet Moderator | 02/13/09
I do both, maintain Microsoft and Unix servers  progon | 02/12/09
Side trip into Linux-land  dave.leigh@... | 02/12/09
Except for games  Roger Ramjet | 02/12/09
I'm not even excepting games, here.  dave.leigh@... | 02/12/09
Not what I meant  Roger Ramjet | 02/12/09
That's what I understood you to say.  dave.leigh@... | 02/12/09
BTW...  dave.leigh@... | 02/12/09
Glad you asked  Roger Ramjet | 02/13/09
Glad you replied! happy  dave.leigh@... | 02/13/09
Handi-keys  Roger Ramjet | 02/13/09
Not sure what you mean (re:Handi-keys)  dave.leigh@... | 02/13/09
Handi-keys  Roger Ramjet | 02/13/09
Invoking MouseKeys - SOLUTION  dave.leigh@... | 02/17/09
Good point  eb276 | 02/13/09
No it doesn't do games  tonymcs@... | 02/12/09
How would YOU know?  dave.leigh@... | 02/12/09
Does it do Crysis?  eb276 | 02/12/09
It zipped right over your head, Sport.  dave.leigh@... | 02/12/09
It was an honest question but  eb276 | 02/13/09
Much, much better Minesweeper on Linux?  Anton Philidor | 02/13/09
Actually...  dave.leigh@... | 02/13/09
Agreed  murph_z ZDNet Moderator | 02/12/09
nt  Roger Ramjet | 02/12/09
Still waiting for one of Murph's consultancy examples  tonymcs@... | 02/12/09
I think you'll be in for a very loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong wait...nt  transposeIT | 02/12/09
This guy is for real or what? Murph, you troll. Did you just lost your job  transposeIT | 02/12/09
Murph must have just taken up yoga....  JoeMama_z | 02/13/09
At last  roaming | 02/15/09

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