I did a look back at using a Palm V as a young techie back in 1998/1999. It's interesting since I still had some records of screenshots from real-world apps I used on a daily basis back then.
The Palm V wasn't that far off from modern smartphones, when set up correctly. Of course, lacked color and cellular connectivity. But, form factor was very similar to modern smartphones. And use cases have evolved in roughly the same direction. Plus, due to the grayscale screen and slow clock speed, the battery life was pretty darn good!
The two major problems that hindered widespread adoption of the Palm V: (a) The requirement to use Palm Graffiti with a stylus for text and input[1], which had a steep-ish learning curve. (b) The slow serial port (!!!) sync to desktop for pretty much all "connected" functionality.
AvantGo[2], in particular, was very ahead of its time, and using it did feel like "living in the future". And, in fact, I was -- it allowed me to read news articles and digital web content 'on the go', even in the period 1998-2001.
The iPod would be released in 2001 and the iPhone in 2007. So, it turns out it was about ~5 years too early for the hardware/infrastructure tech to catch up to the (conceived) mobile software use cases.
It's easy to overlook how critical infrastructure is in the ecosystem. In 1998 pervasive Wifi wasn't a thing, and virtually all noteworthy apps were desktop oriented. Generic cloud storage wasn't a thing yet, and household internet was connected directly to a PC anyways, so a serial connection to a PC for sync makes sense -- USB was still very brand new, while serial was pretty universal.
To me the interesting question is, given they had a functional device, how did they fuck up the next decade? Palm could have easily introduced many of the same features iPod had, and rescued 3Com/USRobotics from the dialup modem graveyard. Instead they spun off Palm for a forkload of cash, after driving away the founders to Handspring. It wasn't until 2004 that they supported any sort of sound beyond piezo buzzers with the Zire 31.
I haven't thought of WiFi as a available infrastructure until this year, the development was so slow to arrive I missed it actually coming.
And this is the City Of London, I live close enough to consider the city home.
Ironically, I only noticed the ubiquity of WiFi in the city as a result of testing the lowest end phone and prepaid options possible. This is in reaction to the most ridiculous dispute with my contract network provider, over the fate of the premium number I've used for a long long time being held hostage. I only wanted it to move to another account..
I remember the Palms very well. At the time I carried a treasured HP 209LX, secretly wishing for a Psion 5 keyboard but not their systems environment. (I had the HP a while if you note the overlap)
I wish I could find the story again, but I think the sadness was just the classical combination of blunt management and silicon valley egos.
This is the canonical answer for every technological near miss, isn't it?
I mean cost driven aggressive B School management plus idealistic impatient but always sufficiently talented to change the world software and hardware Engineers, Always Always Always the same, WHY DO YOU GUYS KEEP DOING IT??!!!
I honestly care about the answer, because I thought this was the past and not the normal, when I learned to program, oh, thirty five years ago...
As for the infrastructure WiFi...
The Result has been I learned that I am almost entirely independent of any cellular carrier network for my voice connectivity.
I haven't quite yet, but I actually could drop the Networks out of my life!
The UK is blessed with a ISP called Andrews and Arnold, www.aaisp.net who will port my (once freed) precious memorable number to a SIM card that resides on their MVNO. This cuts my recurring payment to merely £2.40pcm! And, as desired, I can have more lines on that number. I must avoid starting in how good AAISP really is. If you want to be recognised by voice when you call, and get enterprise grade services, please mention John owes Phil Boddy one, and hadn't forgotten...
Oh, and my Networks- free telephonic life?
I am seriously contemplating whether it's worth the hassle of applying to install a VHF/UHF D-STAR Repeater, which our building management seems happy to let us do, to cover the Bank / St. Paul's areas.
AAISP let you port your number (any number, cellular numbers are new) to their VOIP services. I can route them as I please, so apart from the slight lack of duplex, why not over HAM RADIO? I have figured out how to use a freephone number to call in and take over the call, from a payphone, and the idea amuses me greatly. But the fact is, I'd rather carry a dedicated WiFi access device that provides me with use of a headset and the radio /audio processing power possible in a shoulder strapped battery and module, than I would carry another$1000 phone obsolete the moment the manufacturer cares to not update it.
I guess I'd just love to be serious about putting my call sign on my business card!
I had a Kyocera 7135[1] back before the Treos took off, pretty incredible for the time. No concept of a "data" plan, all my bits came from dialing up a cellular line like old school modems.
I'd actually argue that the precursor to the modern smartphone was the Sidekick. It was one of the first ones with push IM, email(even for pop3!) that worked well with consumer's interests in mind. Sadly it never went anywhere other than t-mobile in the US. Andy Rubin did go on to build Android with large parts of that team so not all was wasted.
A lesser-known awesome feature of AvantGo was that it also functioned online. In early 2000 I was using AvantGo on a Palm Vx, IrDA connected to my cell phone, getting Internet access via my carrier's WAP gateway (PPP over CSD? I forget the specifics), to post to my 'blog and browse the web while riding the train.
It always made me think of those AT&T You Will commercials. I never sent a fax from the beach... but I sent a few from trains.
I love my palm III xe. My single application is to record go games (I still use it). A friend had bought one and was using it to take notes during meetings. I think it was a good product with a small market and with no obsolescence (my palm works as well as when I bought it). The market could have increased a bit by having better app stores, better apps, better features for the price (the price tag was high).
http://www.pixelmonkey.org/2012/12/30/mobile-in-1998
The Palm V wasn't that far off from modern smartphones, when set up correctly. Of course, lacked color and cellular connectivity. But, form factor was very similar to modern smartphones. And use cases have evolved in roughly the same direction. Plus, due to the grayscale screen and slow clock speed, the battery life was pretty darn good!
The two major problems that hindered widespread adoption of the Palm V: (a) The requirement to use Palm Graffiti with a stylus for text and input[1], which had a steep-ish learning curve. (b) The slow serial port (!!!) sync to desktop for pretty much all "connected" functionality.
AvantGo[2], in particular, was very ahead of its time, and using it did feel like "living in the future". And, in fact, I was -- it allowed me to read news articles and digital web content 'on the go', even in the period 1998-2001.
The iPod would be released in 2001 and the iPhone in 2007. So, it turns out it was about ~5 years too early for the hardware/infrastructure tech to catch up to the (conceived) mobile software use cases.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti_(Palm_OS)
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AvantGo