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I think smartphones might be a bit older than that. I remember using some phones in 2003 that already had a basic internet connection (wap), camera, and on whic

by cm2187 5y ago

I think smartphones might be a bit older than that. I remember using some phones in 2003 that already had a basic internet connection (wap), camera, and on which you could check your emails. The first versions of a blackberry that could do emails was 1999 I think. And PalmPilots in 1997. The iphone was just a cooler and more powerful toy.

ghaff 5y ago
Blackberry and Treo from the early 2000s certainly gave you "easy to access" email and some limited browsing. The iPhone by the late 2000s though was a very different experience. There was definitely a gen 1 of smartphones and then a gen 2 ushered in by the iPhone.
- cm2187 5y ago
  That’s certainly true. But you can say the same of early 1990s www. My point is that the idea of having a multifunction tool in your pocket that could connect to the internet came as early as it was technically possible, long before Apple released the iphone.
  - mattl 5y ago
    Probably predating the web. I’d be surprised if you couldn’t get online with a Poquet PC.
laurent92 5y ago
The Wap, or even the Blackberry, didn’t have an impact on society. It just enabled a few more usecases for the owner but not for the group - like carrying your work with you. The iPhone 2007, and moreso in 2010, was an entire leap forward: It enabled dozens of usecases at a time, such as using Maps, online dating with photos and geographical distance, writing reviews of restaurants… and it triggered efforts in the dumbification of UI, which meant it went widespread like wildfire, which was the condition sine qua none for social media to become relevant. None of that would have been possible with the Blackberry, its wrong commercialization tactics and its 52 buttons.
- wott 5y ago
  Yeah, it's a bit like mobile phone didn't have an impact while it was radio phone or during the first years of modern-ish mobile networks; it was de facto reserved for specific professional use and the happy few. It took 10 years or more to expand the networks coverage and drop prices, and then only it had a very noticeable public impact.
samatman 5y ago
The first 'true' smartphone I was aware of was release in 2002, the Danger Hiptop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Hiptop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Hiptop In some ways it's still a better pocketable internet appliance than the slab-o-glass smartphones which replaced it.

by cm2187 5y ago

ghaff 5y ago

Blackberry and Treo from the early 2000s certainly gave you "easy to access" email and some limited browsing. The iPhone by the late 2000s though was a very different experience. There was definitely a gen 1 of smartphones and then a gen 2 ushered in by the iPhone.

cm2187 5y ago
That’s certainly true. But you can say the same of early 1990s www. My point is that the idea of having a multifunction tool in your pocket that could connect to the internet came as early as it was technically possible, long before Apple released the iphone.
- mattl 5y ago
  Probably predating the web. I’d be surprised if you couldn’t get online with a Poquet PC.

laurent92 5y ago

The Wap, or even the Blackberry, didn’t have an impact on society. It just enabled a few more usecases for the owner but not for the group - like carrying your work with you. The iPhone 2007, and moreso in 2010, was an entire leap forward: It enabled dozens of usecases at a time, such as using Maps, online dating with photos and geographical distance, writing reviews of restaurants… and it triggered efforts in the dumbification of UI, which meant it went widespread like wildfire, which was the condition sine qua none for social media to become relevant. None of that would have been possible with the Blackberry, its wrong commercialization tactics and its 52 buttons.

wott 5y ago
Yeah, it's a bit like mobile phone didn't have an impact while it was radio phone or during the first years of modern-ish mobile networks; it was de facto reserved for specific professional use and the happy few. It took 10 years or more to expand the networks coverage and drop prices, and then only it had a very noticeable public impact.

samatman 5y ago

The first 'true' smartphone I was aware of was release in 2002, the Danger Hiptop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Hiptop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Hiptop In some ways it's still a better pocketable internet appliance than the slab-o-glass smartphones which replaced it.