PADD
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In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Personal Access Display Device (PADD) is a hand-held LCARS-based computer device that function as portable links to the ship's main computer, other portable devices, or data stored on isolinear chips.
The standard Starfleet-issue PADD is a gray ten-by-fifteen-by-one-centimeter cuboid containing two isolinear read/write drives, a subspace radio transceiver, a micro power generator, and a display/input screen of approximately eight by five centimeters. PADDs are produced in a number of dimensions to accommodate panels of varying size. Some PADDs are specialized for particular departments. Most alien species have a form of their own PADD.
The PADD is sometimes claimed to have inspired the design of the modern PDA. Similar to PDAs, PADDs often use a stylus for the input of written information. However, the first PADDs (seen in "original Star Trek" in 1966, but not referenced as such) look and work more like the Tablet PC. The first PADD referenced by that name was seen in "Encounter at Farpoint" in 1987, while the first flat calculator-like PDA was sold in 1978.
The PADD is a versatile device, available for such applications as data storage, data upload/download, and audio recording. (The latter is demonstrated in ST:VOY, Thirty Days.) PADDs can hold large quantities of information, including entire books. Many models are capable of wireless transmission of information (presumably over subspace). Many PADDs have thumbprint readers to collect a person's "signature".
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