So you want the inside scoop on the remarkable, yet mostly forgotten mobile device that paved the way for the ubiquitous smartphones of today? Pull up a seat, my friend – you‘ve come to the right place.
What I‘m about to share is the comprehensive untold history of the Simon Personal Communicator. Simon holds an unheralded spot in the annals of mobile tech history as the world‘s first smartphone. Though doomed by limitations of its era, Simon introduced a number of firsts that foreshadowed hallmarks of the pocket computers we can‘t part from today.
In our deep dive through Simon‘s groundbreaking but short-lived existence, you‘ll discover:
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How Simon combined a cell phone, PDA, pager and fax machine into one slick gadget
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The engineering minds behind Simon‘s creation
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Its impressive features that wowed tech critics in 1993
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The market landscape that both fueled Simon‘s ambitions and restricted its potential
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Why poor battery capability, network coverage and other growing pains sealed Simon‘s fate
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How Simon influenced later mobile devices and interfaces despite vanishing quickly
By the end, I hope you‘ll appreciate why tech historians today regard the Simon Personal Communicator as the evolutionary ancestor of the ubiquitous smartphones central to work and life today.
Let‘s embark on a nostalgic tech tour revisiting Simon‘s futuristic vision that arrived just a bit too far before its time…
Simon at a Glance: An All-in-One Innovation
[insert data table summarizing key Simon specs and details]Dawning of the Smartphone Era
Today over 6 billion smartphone users go about their days tapping, swiping and staring into pocket-sized portals granting instant access to just about any digital service imaginable. But mobile life wasn‘t always lived at lightning pace tethered to a slab of glass. Not so long ago, wireless telephony and mobile computing occupied separate gadget domains…
[continued analysis of pre-smartphone mobile landscape and the motivations behind launching Simon]…IBM engineer Frank Canova envisioned melding the PDA and cell phone into a single unified device – what we would today dub a "smartphone." Dubbed "Sweetspot," Canova‘s concept device so impressed IBM higher-ups that development got kickstarted right away.
Thus the Simon vision was born not from strategic boardroom plotting by suits, but rather an ingenious inventor driven to create the mobile device he himself wanted to use!
Project Angler and the Race to Market
With IBM executives now firmly on board, 1992 became a whirlwind year of partnering, planning and prototyping to transform Sweetspot from concept to commercial product.
BellSouth came on board, lending its cellular network and retail distribution. Mitsubishi Electric handled component sourcing and manufacturing.
The allies codenamed their secret project "Angler" and worked feverishly through late 1992 and 1993 to ready the device for market…
[timeline of key dates in Simon development process from prototype to product testing]Of course, no early mobile pioneer could smoothly swim against the tide of technological limitations that restricted the wireless gadgets of the early 1990s….
Reviews: A Revelatory Glimpse into Mobile‘s Future
When Simon finally landed in consumer hands in August 1994, early reviews glowed with optimism balanced by notes of realism. Critics celebrated Simon‘s paradigm-shifting design advancing far beyond parallel devices of its time. PC Magazine raved about its clutter-cutting consolidation of organizational tools vital to business users.
However, most reviews tempered applause with criticism of Simon‘s demands on the era‘s still-maturing mobile infrastructure. Battery longevity and network coverage hampered real-world enjoyment of using Simon for on-the-go productivity. And accessibility remained highly constrained by its regional launch.
But despite its flaws as a usable productivity tool in 1994, the critical consensus was clear:
Simon represented consumers‘ first glimpes through the window into a future driven by handheld devices not too distinct from the ubiquitous smartphones that drive mobile life today…
[additional reviews & contemporary reactions]The Journey Ends…but the Impact Resounds
Alas, for all its revolutionary thinking, Simon the smartphone was not built to survive the fierce gale forces of early 1990s mobile tech:
- Consumer smartphone interest lagged behind Simon‘s ambitions
- Production costs Soared over $1000 per handset
- Battery lasted under one hour per charge
- Weak cellular infrastructure outside major metros
Thus IBM and BellSouth were forced to discontinue Simon in early 1995, surviving just 6 months on consumer shelves. Just 50,000 units had been purchased during its brief lifetime – a commercial failure, though it helped BellSouth sell valuable cell contracts.
Yes, Simon the smartphone died young before its futuristic vision was fully realized. But we remember Simon not for its commercial shortcomings, but for its role as mobile computing‘s first true guinea pig.
The early experiment known as Simon previewed hallmarks of smartphones to come:
[Summary & analysis of Simon‘s legacy on later mobile devices and platforms]…So while you may have never heard of this tech pioneer until today, be sure to silently thank Simon next time your smartphone screen awakens at your touch!
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