5 ms·

2002: "Apple is contemplating ... an 'iPhone.'"

19 points by rpbertp13 16y ago

Apocryphon 16y ago
''We decided that between now and next year, the P.D.A. is going to be subsumed by the telephone,'' he said last week in an interview. ''We think the P.D.A. is going away.'' As someone who would love to have a smartphone-that-isn't-a-phone, I'd have to agree. The iPhone killed the PDA. Oh well, I'll always have my iPod Touch.
- code_duck 16y ago
  How about a tablet like they Galaxy Tab or a Dell Streak? Those are PDA like in that they can make phone calls, but it doesn't seem to be the main focus of the device (...not that it's the main focus of the iPhone, either). You can purchase them without a contract, which is why I bought an iPod Touch, too. Presumably the iPad is disqualified because it is relatively huge.
- ugh 16y ago
  Well, the iPhone is more 2002 PDA than 2002 phone. It’s not exactly that the PDA lost, it’s just that being able to make phone calls and to surf the web are essential features a PDA needs.
- seltzered 16y ago
  or, how about just a used contract-free smartphone? This is the route I've been taking, going from an iphone 3G to hopefully soon a nexus one. Disclaimer: I can't stand carrying both a phone and a pda device in my pocket.
whatevers2009 16y ago
Palm founded in 1992. Apple offers to buy for $1Bn in 2002? Average of $100M per year in business... Palm sells to HP in 2010 for $1.2Bn. 1Bn in first 10 years and only $200M in the 8 years that followed? Wow. Should have sold in 2002!
- code_duck 16y ago
  I assume people with a stake in Palm are now not so happy now about not having sold to Apple. I wonder how that would have worked out, though.
  - eftpotrm 16y ago
    From my memory of what Palm devices were like then and seeing what's happened since, IMHO Apple dodged a bullet there. Palm was an overvalued, overhyped company with a product line that was already hitting technical limits due to design ties to a too-slow processor and too-small screen, and one that's spent all the time since fighting to stay up-to-date and relevant. OT - a bit of checking a while back revealed that the larger current Smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S are roughly the same footprint as an old Psion Revo. I never had a Revo but did have a 5Mx and could touch-type on it fast enough to take notes. How I would love to have a phone with a keyboard that good, not the silly little things we get stuck with now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Revo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Revo
    - chronomex 16y ago
      I have a Palm Pre. Previous Palm devices weren't that great from the little I've used them. WebOS is amazing though. It is, without exaggeration, the best piece of software I've ever used.
jganetsk 16y ago
I love how the article mentions Danger, Andy Rubin's company before Android. Even in a 2002 article about iPhones, Andy Rubin lurks.
larrik 16y ago
"He could also rectify the Newton's single biggest shortcoming: the device's inability to communicate easily with the Macintosh desktop computer. Apple has already begun offering Bluetooth local wireless networking technology for peripheral devices, a feature that would make it simple to share information between a phone and a computer." And yet, that's still the biggest thing that really doesn't work well with the iPhone. I mean, seriously. I have to physically plug my phone into my computer to delete a song? Or change it's name? Or reorder an out-of-sequence album? Yet, I can make and edit movies on it. Not to mention the fact that iTunes has a habit of breaking something every time it syncs my phone (album covers disappear, ringtones disappear, apps get reordered (that used to be worse) etc.)
- bad_user 16y ago
  That's because they've chosen iTunes as the iPhone's control panel. You could say that out of all of their successful products, iTunes comes out as a big stain of shit on a white piece of clothing.
  - joezydeco 16y ago
    Call it shit, but in my opinion iTunes is what made the iPod the hit that it is today. You have to think back to the MP3 player market back in 2001 to see what a pile of shit the entire world was. Every player, from MpMAN to Rio, was saddled with a last-minute-afterthought of a PC interface for loading songs. iTunes might not have been that much better, but it worked seamlessly with the iPod.
    - bad_user 16y ago
      That's why I bought an MP3 player with the best interface ever invented for uploading: a visible file-system (or you could say Windows Explorer to non-technical types).
      - joezydeco 16y ago
        And how do you manage your library? Folders within folders buried somewhere in /home/user or C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\Music\Mp3 Files\Artists\...?

19 points by rpbertp13 16y ago

''We decided that between now and next year, the P.D.A. is going to be subsumed by the telephone,'' he said last week in an interview. ''We think the P.D.A. is going away.'' As someone who would love to have a smartphone-that-isn't-a-phone, I'd have to agree. The iPhone killed the PDA. Oh well, I'll always have my iPod Touch.

code_duck 16y ago
How about a tablet like they Galaxy Tab or a Dell Streak? Those are PDA like in that they can make phone calls, but it doesn't seem to be the main focus of the device (...not that it's the main focus of the iPhone, either). You can purchase them without a contract, which is why I bought an iPod Touch, too. Presumably the iPad is disqualified because it is relatively huge.
ugh 16y ago
Well, the iPhone is more 2002 PDA than 2002 phone. It’s not exactly that the PDA lost, it’s just that being able to make phone calls and to surf the web are essential features a PDA needs.
seltzered 16y ago
or, how about just a used contract-free smartphone? This is the route I've been taking, going from an iphone 3G to hopefully soon a nexus one. Disclaimer: I can't stand carrying both a phone and a pda device in my pocket.

whatevers2009 16y ago

Palm founded in 1992. Apple offers to buy for $1Bn in 2002? Average of $100M per year in business... Palm sells to HP in 2010 for $1.2Bn. 1Bn in first 10 years and only $200M in the 8 years that followed? Wow. Should have sold in 2002!

code_duck 16y ago
I assume people with a stake in Palm are now not so happy now about not having sold to Apple. I wonder how that would have worked out, though.
- eftpotrm 16y ago
  From my memory of what Palm devices were like then and seeing what's happened since, IMHO Apple dodged a bullet there. Palm was an overvalued, overhyped company with a product line that was already hitting technical limits due to design ties to a too-slow processor and too-small screen, and one that's spent all the time since fighting to stay up-to-date and relevant. OT - a bit of checking a while back revealed that the larger current Smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S are roughly the same footprint as an old Psion Revo. I never had a Revo but did have a 5Mx and could touch-type on it fast enough to take notes. How I would love to have a phone with a keyboard that good, not the silly little things we get stuck with now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Revo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Revo
  - chronomex 16y ago
    I have a Palm Pre. Previous Palm devices weren't that great from the little I've used them. WebOS is amazing though. It is, without exaggeration, the best piece of software I've ever used.

jganetsk 16y ago

I love how the article mentions Danger, Andy Rubin's company before Android. Even in a 2002 article about iPhones, Andy Rubin lurks.

larrik 16y ago

"He could also rectify the Newton's single biggest shortcoming: the device's inability to communicate easily with the Macintosh desktop computer. Apple has already begun offering Bluetooth local wireless networking technology for peripheral devices, a feature that would make it simple to share information between a phone and a computer." And yet, that's still the biggest thing that really doesn't work well with the iPhone. I mean, seriously. I have to physically plug my phone into my computer to delete a song? Or change it's name? Or reorder an out-of-sequence album? Yet, I can make and edit movies on it. Not to mention the fact that iTunes has a habit of breaking something every time it syncs my phone (album covers disappear, ringtones disappear, apps get reordered (that used to be worse) etc.)

bad_user 16y ago
That's because they've chosen iTunes as the iPhone's control panel. You could say that out of all of their successful products, iTunes comes out as a big stain of shit on a white piece of clothing.
- joezydeco 16y ago
  Call it shit, but in my opinion iTunes is what made the iPod the hit that it is today. You have to think back to the MP3 player market back in 2001 to see what a pile of shit the entire world was. Every player, from MpMAN to Rio, was saddled with a last-minute-afterthought of a PC interface for loading songs. iTunes might not have been that much better, but it worked seamlessly with the iPod.
  - bad_user 16y ago
    That's why I bought an MP3 player with the best interface ever invented for uploading: a visible file-system (or you could say Windows Explorer to non-technical types).
    - joezydeco 16y ago
      And how do you manage your library? Folders within folders buried somewhere in /home/user or C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\Music\Mp3 Files\Artists\...?