Pocket computer

Sharp pocket computer (PC-1360K (1986))

Sharp PC-E500S pocket computer

A pocket computer is a small calculator-sized handheld computer programmable in BASIC. This specific category of computers existed primarily in the 1980s. Manufacturers included Sharp, Casio, Tandy/Radio Shack (Selling Casio and Sharp models under their own TRS line), as well as Hewlett-Packard and many more.

Though not identical in principle, personal digital assistants, handheld PCs, and programmable calculators serve many the same functions as the old pocket computers, generally with significantly more computing power in a package the same size or smaller. The main distinction is that more modern designs (with the exception of programmable calculators) usually do not have included programming capability and are usually set up to act as clients of a larger system rather than as self-contained environments of their own, whereas the early pocket computers had their own data storage and input/output facilities such as printers and tape drives.

List of pocket computers

Tandy Pocket Computer range
HP-75C, HP-71B
Casio FX-700P, FX-702P, FX-710P, FX-720P, FX-730P, FX-750P, FX-785P, FX-790P, FX-795P, FX-802P, FX-820P, FX-840P, FX-850P, FX-880P, FX-890P,FX 991ES,PB-80, PB-100, PB-500F, PB-770
Elektronika MK 85, MK-85M, MK-90, MK-95, MK-98
Sharp PC-1211, PC-1500, PC-1600, PC-1401, PC-1403, PC-1405G, PC-1280, PC-1350, PC-1360, PC-1460, PC-1475, PC-E500S
Kikuichi PC-A10, PC-A2
Olympia OL-H004
Panasonic RL-H1400 HHC (Also sold as Quasar HK-2600TE), RL-H1800 HHC
Texas Instruments TI-74, TI-74S
Toshiba IHC-8000 system

Nanocomputer

Nanocomputer is the logical name for a computer smaller than the microcomputer, which is smaller than the minicomputer. (The minicomputer is called "mini" because it was a lot smaller than the original (mainframe) computers.) More technically, it is a computer whose fundamental parts are no bigger than a few nanometers. For comparison, the smallest part of current state-of-the-art microprocessors measures 45 nm as of February 21, 2007[1]. No commercially available computers that are named nanocomputers exist at this date, but the term is used in science and science fiction.

There are several ways nanocomputers might be built, using mechanical, electronic, biochemical, or quantum technology. It is unlikely that nanocomputers will be made out of semiconductor transistors (Microelectronic[2] components that are at the core of all modern electronic devices), as they seem to perform significantly less well when shrunk to sizes under 100 nanometers.