The Psion Organiser was the brand name of a range of pocket computer developed by the British company Psion in the 1980s. The Organiser I (launched in 1984) and Organiser II (launched in 1986) had a characteristic hard plastic sliding cover protecting a 6x6 keyboard with letters arranged alphabetically.
The Organiser II can be considered the first usable PDA in that it combined an electronic diary and searchable address database in a small, portable device.
Production of consumer hand-held devices by Psion has now ceased; the company, after corporate changes, now concentrates on hardware and software for industrial and commercial data collection applications.
On an episode of The Gadget Show (first aired on 30 March 2009), the Psion was pitted against the BlackBerry for a place on the show's Hall of Fame. Whilst the Psion was highly praised as a device that pioneered portable computing, the accolade was ultimately given (by host Jon Bentley) to the BlackBerry.
Read more about Psion Organiser: Organiser I, Organiser II, Subsequent Hand-held Devices