Daniel Messham
@dmessham.ca
Fresh takes on old ideas
Developer, Graphic designer & Student
Website: https://dmessham.ca
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dmessham-development-design
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DMessham.development
Developer, Graphic designer & Student
Website: https://dmessham.ca
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dmessham-development-design
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DMessham.development
I am currently working on video about using the palm treo 700wx in 2025, stay tuned for a few early peeks at what will be in the video.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I am currently working on video about using the palm treo 700wx in 2025, stay tuned for a few early peeks at what will be in the video.
Modern smart phones are still like this, sure the phone part is integrated directly into the main processor, but they are effectively computers that happen to be able to make calls.
Besides how often are you using your smartphone as an actual phone, and not just a web browser in your pocket?
Besides how often are you using your smartphone as an actual phone, and not just a web browser in your pocket?
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Modern smart phones are still like this, sure the phone part is integrated directly into the main processor, but they are effectively computers that happen to be able to make calls.
Besides how often are you using your smartphone as an actual phone, and not just a web browser in your pocket?
Besides how often are you using your smartphone as an actual phone, and not just a web browser in your pocket?
But later ones were a lot more integrated like the palm treo 700wx I mentioned earlier, the only sign of this is a menu option to turn the phone part of the device on or off to save battery, and that if you take it apart, the phone part is a separate module that can be removed or replaced.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
But later ones were a lot more integrated like the palm treo 700wx I mentioned earlier, the only sign of this is a menu option to turn the phone part of the device on or off to save battery, and that if you take it apart, the phone part is a separate module that can be removed or replaced.
The early implementations of this were quite strange, more 2 devices that were bolted together, like this Nokia 9000 RAE-N1, which has 2 processors, 2 screens, and each half could operate entirely independent of the other. (picture courtesy of www.nokiamuseum.net/nokia-9000--...)
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
The early implementations of this were quite strange, more 2 devices that were bolted together, like this Nokia 9000 RAE-N1, which has 2 processors, 2 screens, and each half could operate entirely independent of the other. (picture courtesy of www.nokiamuseum.net/nokia-9000--...)
I might have been a bit misleading with how I described that, PDAs actually kind of came first, and were an independent product for a while that occasionally merged with cellphones to make smartphones.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I might have been a bit misleading with how I described that, PDAs actually kind of came first, and were an independent product for a while that occasionally merged with cellphones to make smartphones.
They could kill a phone, because who would buy a phone that cant make calls?
All you would have is a glorified personal organiser, like a personal assistant that lived in your pocket and was always available.
Wait, some people might want that.
Lets call it a personal digital assistant, or a PDA.
All you would have is a glorified personal organiser, like a personal assistant that lived in your pocket and was always available.
Wait, some people might want that.
Lets call it a personal digital assistant, or a PDA.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
They could kill a phone, because who would buy a phone that cant make calls?
All you would have is a glorified personal organiser, like a personal assistant that lived in your pocket and was always available.
Wait, some people might want that.
Lets call it a personal digital assistant, or a PDA.
All you would have is a glorified personal organiser, like a personal assistant that lived in your pocket and was always available.
Wait, some people might want that.
Lets call it a personal digital assistant, or a PDA.
Phones that had wifi didn't need to use profitable data plans, so the carriers pressured the manufacturers not to include wifi.
If the manufacturer refused, it wouldn’t be sold by them, and they had no real obligation to allow phones they didn’t sell onto their network assuming it was compatible.
If the manufacturer refused, it wouldn’t be sold by them, and they had no real obligation to allow phones they didn’t sell onto their network assuming it was compatible.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Phones that had wifi didn't need to use profitable data plans, so the carriers pressured the manufacturers not to include wifi.
If the manufacturer refused, it wouldn’t be sold by them, and they had no real obligation to allow phones they didn’t sell onto their network assuming it was compatible.
If the manufacturer refused, it wouldn’t be sold by them, and they had no real obligation to allow phones they didn’t sell onto their network assuming it was compatible.
For a long time, you didn’t buy a phone from the company that made it, you bought it from the same place you got your phone plan, and they are called Carriers. Carriers also run the network that phones used to make calls, Which meant they controlled whether a phone connected to their network.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
For a long time, you didn’t buy a phone from the company that made it, you bought it from the same place you got your phone plan, and they are called Carriers. Carriers also run the network that phones used to make calls, Which meant they controlled whether a phone connected to their network.
But you couldn’t save a bit of money by getting your phone from one carrier that sold it for less, then switching to one that had cheaper monthly service? Nope, phones were carrier locked. Carrier locked? That might need a bit of explanation.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
But you couldn’t save a bit of money by getting your phone from one carrier that sold it for less, then switching to one that had cheaper monthly service? Nope, phones were carrier locked. Carrier locked? That might need a bit of explanation.
But carriers loved to tack on extra fees for those "business" services, both in your monthly bill, and the cost of the device itself.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
But carriers loved to tack on extra fees for those "business" services, both in your monthly bill, and the cost of the device itself.
The phones focused on business users were the first to get most features that we now consider fundamental to smart phones: calendars, apps, notetaking, and eventually internet access and email.
To make writing easier, these phones would have larger physical keyboards.
To make writing easier, these phones would have larger physical keyboards.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
The phones focused on business users were the first to get most features that we now consider fundamental to smart phones: calendars, apps, notetaking, and eventually internet access and email.
To make writing easier, these phones would have larger physical keyboards.
To make writing easier, these phones would have larger physical keyboards.
The phones targeted at average consumers usually had more interesting designs, were smaller, simpler, and a lot cheaper than their professional counterparts.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
The phones targeted at average consumers usually had more interesting designs, were smaller, simpler, and a lot cheaper than their professional counterparts.
There were effectively 2 main types of phones, those targeted at business users; the original market for cellphones, and there were lower cost devices that were targeted at the average consumer.
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
There were effectively 2 main types of phones, those targeted at business users; the original market for cellphones, and there were lower cost devices that were targeted at the average consumer.
No, not that old, a little newer than that.
This is a Palm treo 700wx.
It is a business smartphone from 2005.
but what does business smartphone mean?
This is a Palm treo 700wx.
It is a business smartphone from 2005.
but what does business smartphone mean?
May 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
No, not that old, a little newer than that.
This is a Palm treo 700wx.
It is a business smartphone from 2005.
but what does business smartphone mean?
This is a Palm treo 700wx.
It is a business smartphone from 2005.
but what does business smartphone mean?
This group effort result in android, which is the only competitor to survive the chaotic years that followed in the phone industry.
If you want to read more about the creation of the iPhone, and why certain decisions were made, I'd recommend Walter Issacson's biography on Steve Jobs.
If you want to read more about the creation of the iPhone, and why certain decisions were made, I'd recommend Walter Issacson's biography on Steve Jobs.
April 25, 2025 at 12:22 AM
This group effort result in android, which is the only competitor to survive the chaotic years that followed in the phone industry.
If you want to read more about the creation of the iPhone, and why certain decisions were made, I'd recommend Walter Issacson's biography on Steve Jobs.
If you want to read more about the creation of the iPhone, and why certain decisions were made, I'd recommend Walter Issacson's biography on Steve Jobs.
And all this effort was worth it, It gave apple enough leverage to make demands to the service providers, when it is usually the other way around, and caused such a shift that multiple rivals had to band together just to compete.
April 25, 2025 at 12:22 AM
And all this effort was worth it, It gave apple enough leverage to make demands to the service providers, when it is usually the other way around, and caused such a shift that multiple rivals had to band together just to compete.
But the iPhone was designed to minimize the physical buttons, so the touch screen became the ONLY input. This decision lead to a lot of challenges for the designers and engineers, and nothing breeds creativity like a challenge.
April 25, 2025 at 12:22 AM
But the iPhone was designed to minimize the physical buttons, so the touch screen became the ONLY input. This decision lead to a lot of challenges for the designers and engineers, and nothing breeds creativity like a challenge.
The reason that styluses stuck around after some of these problems could be solved is simple, smaller and more precise fingers. People wanted smaller phones that could do more, and physical buttons were used as the main input for things that a stylus would be annoying for.
April 25, 2025 at 12:22 AM
The reason that styluses stuck around after some of these problems could be solved is simple, smaller and more precise fingers. People wanted smaller phones that could do more, and physical buttons were used as the main input for things that a stylus would be annoying for.
It was hard to make these touchscreens that more than a few inches across, which made using your finger kind of hard as you would be pressing on most of the screen at a time, the buttons would have to be massive. So to work around this styluses' were used as a smaller and more precise "fingers".
April 25, 2025 at 12:22 AM
It was hard to make these touchscreens that more than a few inches across, which made using your finger kind of hard as you would be pressing on most of the screen at a time, the buttons would have to be massive. So to work around this styluses' were used as a smaller and more precise "fingers".
Well early touch screens were what we would now call resistive touchscreens; flexible layers of plastic with a gap and clear electrical contacts on each inside half that would touch each other when pressed on.
April 25, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Well early touch screens were what we would now call resistive touchscreens; flexible layers of plastic with a gap and clear electrical contacts on each inside half that would touch each other when pressed on.
Context from the video itself might help explain what they were, but if they were that annoying why were they being used?
April 25, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Context from the video itself might help explain what they were, but if they were that annoying why were they being used?