computer science

PocketMail

PocketMail is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand PocketMail rather than just read about it. In short: PocketMail was a very small and inexpensive mobile computer, with a built-in acoustic coupler, developed by PocketScience. History PocketMail was developed by the company PocketScience and used technology developed by NASA.

Key takeaways

PocketMail belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect PocketMail to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of PocketMail from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PocketMail was a very small and inexpensive mobile computer, with a built-in acoustic coupler, developed by PocketScience.

History PocketMail was developed by the company PocketScience and used technology developed by NASA. This was the first ever mass-market mobile email. The hardware cost around US$100 and the service was initially US$9.95 per month for unlimited use. Later the monthly fee increased. After the company made a reference hardware design, leading consumer electronics manufacturers Audioxo, Sharp, JVC, and others made their own PocketMail devices. Later a PocketMail dongle was created for the PalmPilot. PocketMail users were given a custom email address or able to synch up PocketMail with their existing email account (including AOL accounts). Although actually a computer, its main function was email. Its main advantages were that it was simple, and that it worked with any phone, even outside the United States. It was a low-cost personal digital assistant (PDA) with an inbuilt acoustic coupler which allowed users to send and receive email while connected to a normal telephone, thus allowing use outside of mobile phone range, or without the need to be signed up with a mobile telephone provider. Popularity of the PocketMail peaked around 2000, when the company stopped investing in new technology development. In Australia, the company known as PocketMail in 2007 stopped marketing the PocketMail service, changed its name to Adavale Resources Limited and now owns uranium mining prospects in Queensland and South Australia.

References

Websites Dan's Data Review: http://www.dansdata.com/pocketmail.htm TechCrunch: Nostalgiamatic: The Sharp TM-20 with PocketMail [1] Government Computer News: With PocketMail, e-mail access is phone call away [2] JVC's PocketMail offers e-mail without computer or modem [3] InfoWorld Review of Sharp PocketMail device [4] Cracked.com's list of "The 5 Most Ridiculously Awful Computers Ever Made

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with PocketMail

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what PocketMail claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to PocketMail before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about PocketMail ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of PocketMail

In research: PocketMail appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses PocketMail in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: PocketMail is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computing stubs, Email devices, Mobile computing, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for PocketMail outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study PocketMail in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what PocketMail means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain PocketMail out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is PocketMail in simple terms?

PocketMail was a very small and inexpensive mobile computer, with a built-in acoustic coupler, developed by PocketScience. History PocketMail was developed by the company PocketScience and used technology developed by NASA.

Why does PocketMail matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study PocketMail?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on PocketMail.