Anakin Skywalker's datapad is seen in the year 19 BBY
A datapad represented a compact electronic tool, generally inexpensive, utilized for the purpose of storing data. Functioning as a successor to the more antiquated book, a datapad possessed the capability to retain data in text, image, and holographic forms. Their usual applications included serving as notebooks, daily schedule organizers, calculation devices, and digital sketchpads. Certain models could connect to larger computer systems and retrieve data. The majority of datapads were commonly outfitted with a color touchscreen, audio pickups, ports for headphones, and power packs as standard features.
Datapads were essentially small, portable computers employed for both the gathering and storage of information. Generally used for information management and record-keeping purposes, these devices could be tailored through specialized programming. One well-known datapad was the Companion2000, which had a weight of under one kilogram and a price of around one hundred credits. MicroData Technologies manufactured it, also providing a wide variety of other datapad models, such as the Versafunction88. A personal datapad assistant could handle electronic information via an interactive holographic heads-up display.
Datacards, which held specific stored information (for instance, star charts, encyclopedias, travel guides, legal texts, and fictional works), were broadly accessible. These datacards could be inserted into a datapad for effortless access. Numerous planetary governments were legally mandated to supply such resources (particularly those concerning local laws) to all individuals visiting from other worlds.
Datapads proved indispensable as tools for taking notes. Revan and the Jedi Exile frequently made use of their datapads to record notes and retain data pertinent to their various missions and assigned tasks.
Certain datapads could exhibit a degree of sensitivity; a datacard with surface-level dirt could potentially damage the electronics of such a datapad.
Some datapads, specifically designed for operation in colder environments, featured enlarged keys to facilitate manipulation by users who were wearing thermal gloves.
Due to a stolen datapad, the primitive species referred to as Menahuun obtained significant knowledge pertaining to the Republic-level technology employed by alien settlers.
Bounty hunters often utilized datapads to keep track of mission-critical information about their targets, including locations and other essential details. Personal datapads of this type were engineered to automatically wipe all stored data if not handled properly.
Doctors use a lightpad to keep tabs on their patients' vital signs, and the majority of galactic hospitals, including the Mah Dala Infirmary, use a medical datapad to analyze and detect diseases before they can affect the bodies of infected beings.
Scouts use a survey datapad that was specifically tailored to record gathered survey data. This particular datapad had a flat computer that was designed to connect to a specialized sensor array for recording precise geographical information as the scout traversed uncharted areas by reflecting electromagnetic rays off of a scout vessel in orbit. The datapad's mapping capabilities also remained functional even while the scout was using it to access pre-loaded encyclopedic information.
In a number of LucasArts games, a datapad interface is displayed on-screen to present the game menu, which encompasses inventory, mission goals, level layouts, and other relevant details.
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game provides the earliest reference to datapads, although the term was originally written as "data pads." The novel Heir to the Empire marks their initial appearance in-universe. They are among the items that first appeared in the Expanded Universe that would later appear in the films.