Zipit Webserver
A ZipIt! is a small handheld device that was marketted to teens and pre-teens as a way for them to keep in touch via services like AIM, MSN-Messenger, etc. without requiring a full-powered computer or laptop. The ZipIt! was a handheld ‘clamshell’ device with a small monochrome screen, small keyboard, and a built-in WiFi card. It was ‘hardwired’ to just run its own special software and from the point of view of a hardware / software hacker geek, it was very interesting.
It turned out that the ZipIt! used fairly standard hardware components, and the custom software was running on a Linux operating system! And then the hacking began in earnest.
When I got my hands on a ZipIt! or three, I had hours of fun taking them apart, poking at their brains, reprogramming them, making them do wierd and interesting things.
I’ve now got one running as an actual web server, sitting in my kitchen ontop of my water cooler. Click the images, follow the links, and learn all about how it does, what it does. All the pages that explain it, are served live from the ZipIt! itself!
And — it’s been doing it since December 2005!
