Jeff Hawkins

The handheld that worked. Hawkins, who carried a block of wood in his pocket to test the size, designed the PalmPilot of 1996 to do a few things fast: diary, contacts and notes, synced to a computer at the press of a button. Where earlier handhelds tried to read normal handwriting and failed, Palm's Graffiti alphabet asked users to learn simplified letters. He co-founded Palm and Handspring with chief executive Donna Dubinsky.