PocketMail
Encyclopedia
PocketMail is a very small and inexpensive mobile computer, with a built in acoustic coupler
.
. Its main advantages are that it is simple, and that it works with any phone, even outside the United States
. It is a low-cost personal digital assistant
(PDA) with an inbuilt acoustic coupler
which allows users to send and receive E-mail
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. Although still in use, popularity of the PocketMail peaked around 2000.
In Australia, the company known as "Pocketmail" in 2007 stopped marketing the pocketmail technology, changed its name to Adavale Resources Limited and now owns uranium mining prospects in Queensland and South Australia.
Pocketmail, Inc. has gone out of business as of February 2010; without explanation or prior warning, it stopped providing contracted services, took its own website
down, disabled customer service phone lines and has basically evaded questions and inquiries from remaining customers with subscriptions yet to expire who were no longer receiving services they paid for.
Acoustic coupler
In telecommunications, the term acoustic coupler has the following meanings:# An interface device for coupling electrical signals by acoustical means—usually into and out of a telephone instrument....
.
History
Although actually a computer, its main function is E-mailE-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
. Its main advantages are that it is simple, and that it works with any phone, even outside the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is a low-cost personal digital assistant
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
(PDA) with an inbuilt acoustic coupler
Acoustic coupler
In telecommunications, the term acoustic coupler has the following meanings:# An interface device for coupling electrical signals by acoustical means—usually into and out of a telephone instrument....
which allows users to send and receive E-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
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. Although still in use, popularity of the PocketMail peaked around 2000.
In Australia, the company known as "Pocketmail" in 2007 stopped marketing the pocketmail technology, changed its name to Adavale Resources Limited and now owns uranium mining prospects in Queensland and South Australia.
Pocketmail, Inc. has gone out of business as of February 2010; without explanation or prior warning, it stopped providing contracted services, took its own website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
down, disabled customer service phone lines and has basically evaded questions and inquiries from remaining customers with subscriptions yet to expire who were no longer receiving services they paid for.
Websites
- Dan's Data Review: http://www.dansdata.com/pocketmail.htm
- Cracked.com's list of "The 5 Most Ridiculously Awful Computers Ever Made