To this day whenever I hear people say Apple invented the smart phone I sigh. Maybe that’s technically true or not depending on how you want to count it. But what irks me is how people think it was brilliant. Like bro, I was browsing on the go with my Zune and PSP years before the iPhone came out. The only things we can thank Apple for are the two worst parts of a smart phone. Apps and the phone.
Yes, Zune! Had one of those, a Palm TX and a PSP
Design wise? Apart from cellular connectivity the Palm TX is pretty similar to an iPhone imo. More of an upgrade really, even though it released several years before the original iPhone.
Had a built in stylus, 312 mhz processor, touch screen, Bluetooth, Infrared, Wifi, flip cover (which took smartphones a while to adapt to) 128 MB ram just like iPhone, 480×320 screen like iPhone, heck even a Nes emulator. It’s so similar that I really feel like Apple took note, even had its own Palm OS.
And it releases 2+ years before the iPhone… if only they were hyped more and had access to cell networks.
When the first iPhone released I paid virtually no attention bc I’d been having devices that did similar and more for a while already
Heck the TX even had an App where you could select virtually any T.V and use it as a remote via IR, can’t do that shit on an iPhone even today
Oh, and expandable storage via SD cards. Idk how we downgraded
But jobs didn’t want apps on the iPhone, it was only planned for the iPad that would only come years later. He kind of got strong armed into putting it on the iPhone as well (and I doubt it would have been as successful as it did if Jobs had had his way)
Android was not aimed at blackberry. It was to be a completely new phone OS from the ground up and add extensive capabilities to the phone world over what the blackberry (the most popular phone at the time) could. Yes the G1 had a similar form factor to the most popular phone at the time and it wasn’t even the only form. The phone in the picture was from prototype stage and never shipped in that form factor. The shipping go had a screen and button under it. The screen slid sideways to reveal a keyboard. The Motorola droid was the most popular android phone when they actually shipped. I had a droid and a coworker had a G1. Development problems and companies scared to gamble on a radical new product delayed Androids launch behind iPhones. Apple did a fantastic job of developing the iPhone in secret, knowing the Android was coming.
Technically correct, but it was originally aimed at Blackberry. https://www.pcworld.com/article/464050/original_android_prototype_revealed_during_google_oracle_trial.html
Apple pioneered a moderately useful mobile browser and fully touch screen UI (except for the home button).
They’ve been copying each other ever since, to the point where I watch the WWDC keynote thinking “they didn’t already have THAT!?” most of the time.
To this day whenever I hear people say Apple invented the smart phone I sigh. Maybe that’s technically true or not depending on how you want to count it. But what irks me is how people think it was brilliant. Like bro, I was browsing on the go with my Zune and PSP years before the iPhone came out. The only things we can thank Apple for are the two worst parts of a smart phone. Apps and the phone.
Yes, Zune! Had one of those, a Palm TX and a PSP Design wise? Apart from cellular connectivity the Palm TX is pretty similar to an iPhone imo. More of an upgrade really, even though it released several years before the original iPhone.
Had a built in stylus, 312 mhz processor, touch screen, Bluetooth, Infrared, Wifi, flip cover (which took smartphones a while to adapt to) 128 MB ram just like iPhone, 480×320 screen like iPhone, heck even a Nes emulator. It’s so similar that I really feel like Apple took note, even had its own Palm OS.
And it releases 2+ years before the iPhone… if only they were hyped more and had access to cell networks.
When the first iPhone released I paid virtually no attention bc I’d been having devices that did similar and more for a while already
Heck the TX even had an App where you could select virtually any T.V and use it as a remote via IR, can’t do that shit on an iPhone even today
Oh, and expandable storage via SD cards. Idk how we downgraded
But jobs didn’t want apps on the iPhone, it was only planned for the iPad that would only come years later. He kind of got strong armed into putting it on the iPhone as well (and I doubt it would have been as successful as it did if Jobs had had his way)
Android was not aimed at blackberry. It was to be a completely new phone OS from the ground up and add extensive capabilities to the phone world over what the blackberry (the most popular phone at the time) could. Yes the G1 had a similar form factor to the most popular phone at the time and it wasn’t even the only form. The phone in the picture was from prototype stage and never shipped in that form factor. The shipping go had a screen and button under it. The screen slid sideways to reveal a keyboard. The Motorola droid was the most popular android phone when they actually shipped. I had a droid and a coworker had a G1. Development problems and companies scared to gamble on a radical new product delayed Androids launch behind iPhones. Apple did a fantastic job of developing the iPhone in secret, knowing the Android was coming.