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When I read articles like this one I always have to think about companies like Apple and Tesla. Apple didn't invent smartphones or touchscreens but they starte

When I read articles like this one I always have to think about companies like Apple and Tesla. Apple didn't invent smartphones or touchscreens but they started the revolution. Tesla didn't invent EVs but started the revolution. What they have in common is that they pick the best of existing technologies and combine that into a product that is ahead of the competition. They don't invent new things but invent better things. For me that means you can create better products than the competition by even using old (but good) tech. What matters most is how you apply the tech.

hammyhavoc 4y ago
IMO, the original Nintendo DS made the concept of touch truly mainstream, but wasn't multitouch.
- grapeskin 4y ago
  Yeah, touch was a total joke when the DS came out. It was ridiculed as a useless concept. Just a few years later and people are more confused when their device has buttons instead of a touch screen.
- colordrops 4y ago
  It had a resistive touchscreen. What made you touchscreens truly mainstream were capacitive screens
- jhbadger 4y ago
  I'd say the Apple Newton in 1993 made touch screens mainstream quite a bit earlier. And things like PalmOS were clearly based on the excitement that came from the Newton. The Newton itself wasn't that successful due to its reliance on writing recognition that didn't work that well (at least in the initial versions of NewtonOS) but that ironically added to its place in pop culture. Like in The Simpsons where one of the school bullies has a Newton and is trying to take a note reminding him to beat up the annoying teacher's pet Martin, only for the system to interpret "Beat up Martin" as "Eat up Martha".
jollybean 4y ago
I think they didn't start anything, rather, they jumped in to create a tipping point.
- blenderdt 4y ago
  I don't know if that is true. Tesla for example did become big because they had the best range. And they still have compared to most brands. If Tesla failed to create cars with a great range they didn't become as big as they are now.
  - jollybean 4y ago
    Yes, but that's what I mean - that category had existed for a while, they did a few things to make it viable. Same with watches, smartphones and eventually 3D.
- CharlesW 4y ago
  > I think they didn't start anything, rather, they jumped in to create a tipping point. To me this trivializes what Apple did, as if companies could just "create a tipping point" if only they liked money. I understand that from today's vantage point, what Apple did seems inevitable. At the time, it was a "bet the farm" move by a company which had never made a smartphone before. > Apple didn't invent smartphones… This is like saying "the Manhattan Project didn't invent atomic bombs". It's technically true, but doesn't capture the world-changing effects of the accomplishment.
  - jollybean 4y ago
    You're making my case for me. Other auto companies have been steadily innovating on electrics cars for a very long time and have consistently outsold Tesla until recently. It's unlikely that Tesla did much other than accelerate the process by a tiny bit by bring more public validation to the market. Tesla is not an outright innovator so much as created more public excitement. The iPhone as 'world changing' is a bit of propaganda. Other platforms were moving forward, Nokia had some very cool and popular stuff. The iPhone was effectively 'a generation ahead' - as if a 'gaming console' magically came out one generation ahead of the others - but otherwise, it was all an 'inevitability'. All those things were coming in one way or another. GPS, full screen, apps, contactless payments etc. it was all well on it's way.
testmasterflex 4y ago
Agree. I can’t wait to get a hold of the Soli radar chip from Google and put it inside of a Loodio.
- mjhagen 4y ago
  After a web search I came to the conclusion those are actual things. I honestly thought you just made those words up.
  - testmasterflex 4y ago
    =)
sundvor 4y ago
That's hard to read for a (once) die hard Pebble fan ... but it is also true.
- blenderdt 4y ago
  It's also true that sometimes great products just fail for whatever reason. Just like Apple and Tesla sometimes have products that just fail to become big.
Saint_Genet 4y ago
It's largely about timing. the iPhone didn't come out until wifi and cellular data had become widely available. Even today, a modern smartphone is a pretty boring device if you put it in airplane mode.
- Const-me 4y ago
  Cellular data was technically widely available for years before iPhones (see e.g. GPRS for the tech, adopted in 2000), albeit very expensive. Apple changed that. They negotiated a special contract with AT&T and for a year or so the first iPhone was the only phone in the US with unlimited data plan.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    Sprint had unlimited 2G “Vision” data as far back as 2001. You could “stream” live video from 10-12 cable channels at 1fps. By 2005 you could stream video at 15fps. https://www.sprint.com/business/program/newsletter/march05/pcsvision.html https://www.sprint.com/business/program/newsletter/march05/p...
  - vel0city 4y ago
    I had unlimited 3G data on a phone on AT&T's network in 2006, and it was even cheaper than the special iPhone data plan. They didn't recognize my phone's IMEI as a "smart phone" or PDA despite running Symbian so adding unlimited data was $15/mo. Unlimited data on a smart phone or PDA was $30/mo additional on the line. It was there, it just wasn't popular.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- Deganta 4y ago
  Also capacitive touchscreens. The resitive ones of older Smartphones wouldn't have worked for the revolutinary UI
  - pessimizer 4y ago
technofiend 4y ago
What Apple did well was marry the full screen of the Palm with the connectivity of the blackberry. The Palm V with a cradle cell modem and battery was a niche attempt, but the OS didn't really natively support always-on internet and the apps didn't integrate it. Android and IOS both did and that was the difference, although Google had to play catch up because their first phone the HTC Dream had a slide out keyboard.

hammyhavoc 4y ago

IMO, the original Nintendo DS made the concept of touch truly mainstream, but wasn't multitouch.

grapeskin 4y ago
Yeah, touch was a total joke when the DS came out. It was ridiculed as a useless concept. Just a few years later and people are more confused when their device has buttons instead of a touch screen.
colordrops 4y ago
It had a resistive touchscreen. What made you touchscreens truly mainstream were capacitive screens
jhbadger 4y ago
I'd say the Apple Newton in 1993 made touch screens mainstream quite a bit earlier. And things like PalmOS were clearly based on the excitement that came from the Newton. The Newton itself wasn't that successful due to its reliance on writing recognition that didn't work that well (at least in the initial versions of NewtonOS) but that ironically added to its place in pop culture. Like in The Simpsons where one of the school bullies has a Newton and is trying to take a note reminding him to beat up the annoying teacher's pet Martin, only for the system to interpret "Beat up Martin" as "Eat up Martha".

jollybean 4y ago

I think they didn't start anything, rather, they jumped in to create a tipping point.

blenderdt 4y ago
I don't know if that is true. Tesla for example did become big because they had the best range. And they still have compared to most brands. If Tesla failed to create cars with a great range they didn't become as big as they are now.
- jollybean 4y ago
  Yes, but that's what I mean - that category had existed for a while, they did a few things to make it viable. Same with watches, smartphones and eventually 3D.
CharlesW 4y ago
> I think they didn't start anything, rather, they jumped in to create a tipping point. To me this trivializes what Apple did, as if companies could just "create a tipping point" if only they liked money. I understand that from today's vantage point, what Apple did seems inevitable. At the time, it was a "bet the farm" move by a company which had never made a smartphone before. > Apple didn't invent smartphones… This is like saying "the Manhattan Project didn't invent atomic bombs". It's technically true, but doesn't capture the world-changing effects of the accomplishment.
- jollybean 4y ago
  You're making my case for me. Other auto companies have been steadily innovating on electrics cars for a very long time and have consistently outsold Tesla until recently. It's unlikely that Tesla did much other than accelerate the process by a tiny bit by bring more public validation to the market. Tesla is not an outright innovator so much as created more public excitement. The iPhone as 'world changing' is a bit of propaganda. Other platforms were moving forward, Nokia had some very cool and popular stuff. The iPhone was effectively 'a generation ahead' - as if a 'gaming console' magically came out one generation ahead of the others - but otherwise, it was all an 'inevitability'. All those things were coming in one way or another. GPS, full screen, apps, contactless payments etc. it was all well on it's way.

testmasterflex 4y ago

Agree. I can’t wait to get a hold of the Soli radar chip from Google and put it inside of a Loodio.

mjhagen 4y ago
After a web search I came to the conclusion those are actual things. I honestly thought you just made those words up.
- testmasterflex 4y ago
  =)

sundvor 4y ago

That's hard to read for a (once) die hard Pebble fan ... but it is also true.

blenderdt 4y ago
It's also true that sometimes great products just fail for whatever reason. Just like Apple and Tesla sometimes have products that just fail to become big.

Saint_Genet 4y ago

It's largely about timing. the iPhone didn't come out until wifi and cellular data had become widely available. Even today, a modern smartphone is a pretty boring device if you put it in airplane mode.

Const-me 4y ago
Cellular data was technically widely available for years before iPhones (see e.g. GPRS for the tech, adopted in 2000), albeit very expensive. Apple changed that. They negotiated a special contract with AT&T and for a year or so the first iPhone was the only phone in the US with unlimited data plan.
- scarface74 4y ago
  Sprint had unlimited 2G “Vision” data as far back as 2001. You could “stream” live video from 10-12 cable channels at 1fps. By 2005 you could stream video at 15fps. https://www.sprint.com/business/program/newsletter/march05/pcsvision.html https://www.sprint.com/business/program/newsletter/march05/p...
- vel0city 4y ago
  I had unlimited 3G data on a phone on AT&T's network in 2006, and it was even cheaper than the special iPhone data plan. They didn't recognize my phone's IMEI as a "smart phone" or PDA despite running Symbian so adding unlimited data was $15/mo. Unlimited data on a smart phone or PDA was $30/mo additional on the line. It was there, it just wasn't popular.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
Deganta 4y ago
Also capacitive touchscreens. The resitive ones of older Smartphones wouldn't have worked for the revolutinary UI
- pessimizer 4y ago

technofiend 4y ago

What Apple did well was marry the full screen of the Palm with the connectivity of the blackberry. The Palm V with a cradle cell modem and battery was a niche attempt, but the OS didn't really natively support always-on internet and the apps didn't integrate it. Android and IOS both did and that was the difference, although Google had to play catch up because their first phone the HTC Dream had a slide out keyboard.