DIYer becomes inundated with spare time, crams Wikipedia onto PDA

Portions of Wikipedia have been living on disconnected pocket-friendly gizmos for years now, but one particular DIYer just took the whole process to an absurd new level. For starters, you'll have to procure a relatively obscure Psion 5mx PDA, not to mention a CF card (and adapter), Linux-based PC, static HTML dump of Wikipedia and an enviable amount of unused vacation time. If you just can't stand to be too far from knowledge, and you're way too vintage to just pick up a WiFi-enabled UMPC or halfway decent smartphone with web access, load up the read link and prepare to get (really) busy.

[ScOObyDoo @ May 15th 2008 11:01AM]

I miss the 5mx :(

[Rich @ May 15th 2008 11:15AM]

Me too. Fantastic PDA, probably my favourite ever.

[ScOObyDoo @ May 15th 2008 11:18AM]

Every Psion I ever owned (from the LZ64 to the Netbook was brilliant. The sliding keyboard technology in the 5mx was simply amazing, and even after years of use it worked perfectly.

I wish we could get that form factor back. It's silly how the Eee pc is now such a success when the Netbook and Series 7 were essentially doing the same thing 8 years ago, albeit for quite a bit more money :(

[Joe_Templeman @ May 15th 2008 12:20PM]

yeah it was a rather cool gadget.

This is at least giving it a new purpose in life, although it should be renamed the wikipda


;-)

[j_g_puff @ May 15th 2008 12:26PM]

@ Joe
"wikipda"

I don't know if you thought of that yourself, but if you did, you're a genius.

[StreetStealth @ May 15th 2008 12:27PM]

I had a Revo (branded as the Diamond Mako). It seems strange to think today that a device with a grayscale screen, no backlight, and no wireless could be that good, but it was. Everything about it was brilliantly designed, even things that you wouldn't think would work well on something that size -- even the full-featured spreadsheet was amazingly usable.

That first year of college back then was the most organized I've ever been; I kept track of so much stuff because it was so easy to enter and organize.... Then the LCD broke.

Ok, enough nostalgia for the early 2000s.

[Rocketboy @ May 15th 2008 3:46PM]

Much better than my idea.. Wikipedo...





Personal Electronic Data Organizer... why, what were you thinking?

[JLTate @ May 16th 2008 1:33AM]

I used a Series 3c in junior high, a Series 5 in high school and a NetBook in my first two years of college. I ended up giving it up for a full size laptop and now all I have is an HTC Apache running WiMo 6 and damn do I miss my Psions. :(

[Flashpoint @ May 15th 2008 11:01AM]

One of the students in my school plagarized his entire report from Wikipedia and was caught easily.

Besides the obvious layout of Wikipedia's articles, the student's report read:

"Benjamin Franklin was a pimp and he had a stable full of hoes

[DeAthWaGer @ May 15th 2008 11:02AM]

...or you can just get any Palm based PDA and TomeRaider, and download the static HTML wikipedia from last year which is readily available already. Sheesh... I've been carrying Wikipedia on my Tapwave Zodiac for years.

[JoeT @ May 15th 2008 12:00PM]

How big is it? My Sony Clie TH55 maxes out at a 2GB memory card.

Thanks much. Here's the link using your words as a search:
http://static.wikipedia.org/

[roflercopterer @ May 15th 2008 11:02AM]

Who needs a smartphone? http://wapedia.mobi/en/

[paul-engadget @ May 15th 2008 12:58PM]

wapedia is pretty good, but you still need to be online for it.

[Byzil Mystwing @ May 15th 2008 11:10AM]

Those letters aren't very friendly looking :(

[Samurai Jack @ May 15th 2008 11:12AM]

Can he get his towel in there too?

[uclatommy @ May 15th 2008 11:25AM]

The HHGTTG reference in the image made me laugh

[Michael @ May 15th 2008 12:25PM]

H2G2 or HHGG, no need for the other letters.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/magicgoof/HHGG42.jpg?t=1210868711

[BlowURmindBowel @ May 15th 2008 11:33AM]

I think that the HHGTTG reference is probably the rational behind this whole endeavor...

I don't see the point.

[huh @ May 15th 2008 4:18PM]

Y'all (BlowUrmindBowel especially) should know that the BBC came up with a user-edited knowledge site called Hitcher Hiker's Guide before Wikipedia, though it uses a more conservative copyright policy. Of course, predating them both is everything/everything2.com.

[psxp @ May 15th 2008 11:38AM]

Ah, the Psion 5mx.. fantastic device.

Pity it never went BIG, but was popular in the UK when I was there in 1998ish

b

[Vault @ May 15th 2008 11:48AM]

Does it come with a free towel?

[Hafk @ May 15th 2008 10:10PM]

Maybe I can learn how to make a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster out of this thing.

[Hafk @ May 15th 2008 10:10PM]

Nevermind, I can!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Galactic_Gargle_Blaster

[brokenkeyboard @ May 15th 2008 12:05PM]

Wiki-PDA, heh.

[jim @ May 15th 2008 12:19PM]

Why are his Y and Z keys the wrong way round?

[Joe_Templeman @ May 15th 2008 12:22PM]

German keyboard douchbag

[jim @ May 15th 2008 5:32PM]

If you're gonna insult me, at least spell it right fuckstick.

[adrian @ May 15th 2008 12:40PM]

Psion should make an attempt to come back into the market.

[paul-engadget @ May 15th 2008 1:01PM]

the technology still exists as Symbian in many mobile phones; the issue isn't the OS, it's the devices form factor.

I wonder why noone did a psion emulator for linux (for the sharp zaurus) or for WinCE (for HTC universal), two devices with VGA displays and moderately decent keyboards. or even the nokia n810 for that matter.

[TG @ May 15th 2008 2:27PM]

Seeing this recalled the movie: "Under Siege"

This was the one, right?

[Ed @ May 15th 2008 2:57PM]

My dad had one of these.

I enjoyed Solitaire at the time.

[Charlie @ May 15th 2008 3:04PM]

The Psion Series 5 was awesome! I had the sweet 14.4 modem card with mine. Modern components in that form factor could beat almost anything out there.
Time to revive the Psion 5mx redesign!
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/help-mobilityguru-design-a-tiny-modern-psion-5mx,review-823.html

[chris @ May 15th 2008 3:36PM]

Amazon already created the ultimate HHGTTG with the Kindle. And it isn't just a snapshot of the wikipedia. All I have to do is hit -search- and type "@wiki whatever" and it loads faster than you would think.

I never panic...

[david_topping @ May 15th 2008 3:55PM]

Maybe I won’t retire my 5mx after all. It’s been keeping me going all these years with the one app I can’t buy anywhere else; Berlitz Phrase book.

I agree with all who point out that the form factor is still right, the keyboard is actually usable and the design still makes the current crop of PDA / UMPC’s look … dated.

Now for a REAL mod can we have a colour screen, modern processor, 3G, WiFi, Bluetoooth, GPS, change the CF card for a 32Gb SD card (or two!) and then watch HTC, HP, EE et al lose their market share.

Oh Mr Potter where are you now? Potters Scientific Instruments Or Nothing.

[Pyretic @ May 15th 2008 3:56PM]

I really get nostalgic whenever i see a Psion post, such a great PDA. If you're interested in the history try reading this: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/26/psion_special/

[dave_p_1 @ May 15th 2008 5:23PM]

I have to agree with DeAthWaGer. I have over a gig of Wikipedia plus about 160 MB of IMDB on my Palm's SD card.

BTW, if you have a Psion, I believe TomeRaider is available for the EPOC OS.

[nemo @ May 16th 2008 9:18AM]

There's nothing obscure about a Psion 5MX. The Psion MC400 yes, but the Five and 5MX were easily available. My 5 is now enjoyed by my 2 year old, but I still use a Netbook regularly.

If only I could find a use for that MC400!

[Tony @ May 16th 2008 8:02PM]

So much for large friendly letters...

[nick @ May 17th 2008 10:10PM]

y is the Y and Z switched on the "QWERTZ" keyboard?

weeeird

[Xamu @ May 20th 2008 4:29PM]

I'm not saying it's not very clever and a wonderful way to kill time but it's been done before.

I've had Wikipedia on my Dell X50v for a couple years with the TomeRaider software. In fact there is a new version of the database available.

http://www.tomeraider.com/#getBookDetails:616