3 ms·

While not multitouch, the Nokia N770/N900 was a thing.

mynameisvlad 5y ago
I mean, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900#/media/File:Nokia_N900.JPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900#/media/File:Nokia_N... is absolutely nothing like https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w72kt0kbgmY/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w72kt0kbgmY/maxresdefault.jpg other than the fact that they both have screens. If you wanted to compare the N900 to an iPhone, that might be a slightly more apt comparison, but at the end of the day, the iPhone and iPad completely changed what "phones" and "tablets" look like. Their predecessors and successors are extremely different devices and perform different functions.
- folmar 5y ago
  They do have different form factors, but do similar functions. To qoute Wikipedia: "The N900 functions as a mobile Internet device, and includes email, web browsing and access to online services, a 5-megapixel digital camera for still or video photography, a portable media player for music and video, calculator, games console and word processor, SMS, as well as mobile telephony using either a mobile network or VoIP via Internet (mobile or Wi-Fi)."
  - mynameisvlad 5y ago
    I mean, yeah that's what the first iPhone might be described as. Before the release of the App Store. Unfortunately for the N900, it was released by the time the 3GS was out. It has a resistive touch screen, which massively hampers what you can do on the device. This precludes it from any real gaming, or interactivity. By the time the N900 came out, the Apple App Store had 100k apps and 2 billion downloads. That's two magnitudes larger than the number of apps Maemo had in total. It's not a matter of "a different form factor" it's more that the N900 is a completely different class of device, it fundamentally can't compete with the iPhone and its massive (even at the time) ecosystem. If you were to squint with glasses of a completely different prescription to yours, sure, you can say they "do similar functions", but let's be honest with ourselves. The N900 was too little too late. It was released at a point in time when capacitive, glass touchscreens with high interactivity games and apps are what was the new norm.

I mean, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900#/media/File:Nokia_N900.JPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900#/media/File:Nokia_N... is absolutely nothing like https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w72kt0kbgmY/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w72kt0kbgmY/maxresdefault.jpg other than the fact that they both have screens. If you wanted to compare the N900 to an iPhone, that might be a slightly more apt comparison, but at the end of the day, the iPhone and iPad completely changed what "phones" and "tablets" look like. Their predecessors and successors are extremely different devices and perform different functions.

folmar 5y ago
They do have different form factors, but do similar functions. To qoute Wikipedia: "The N900 functions as a mobile Internet device, and includes email, web browsing and access to online services, a 5-megapixel digital camera for still or video photography, a portable media player for music and video, calculator, games console and word processor, SMS, as well as mobile telephony using either a mobile network or VoIP via Internet (mobile or Wi-Fi)."
- mynameisvlad 5y ago
  I mean, yeah that's what the first iPhone might be described as. Before the release of the App Store. Unfortunately for the N900, it was released by the time the 3GS was out. It has a resistive touch screen, which massively hampers what you can do on the device. This precludes it from any real gaming, or interactivity. By the time the N900 came out, the Apple App Store had 100k apps and 2 billion downloads. That's two magnitudes larger than the number of apps Maemo had in total. It's not a matter of "a different form factor" it's more that the N900 is a completely different class of device, it fundamentally can't compete with the iPhone and its massive (even at the time) ecosystem. If you were to squint with glasses of a completely different prescription to yours, sure, you can say they "do similar functions", but let's be honest with ourselves. The N900 was too little too late. It was released at a point in time when capacitive, glass touchscreens with high interactivity games and apps are what was the new norm.