The Defense Dept Sponsors "Personal Electronic Aid to Maintenance": The First Portable Ebook Project

In 1980 the US Department of Defense began concept development for a portable electronic delivery device for technical maintenance information called Project PEAM, the Portable Electronic Aid for Maintenance. Detailed specifications were completed in fiscal year 1982, and prototype development began with Texas Instruments that same year. Four prototypes were produced and delivered for testing in 1986. Tests were completed in 1987. A summary of the device by Robert Wisher and J. Peter Kincaid entitled Personal Electronic Aid for Maintenace: Final Summary Report was produced by the US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences in 1989.