topic Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone! in Off-Topic

Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

EmilieT — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 13:24:33 GMT

Hi guys,

No, it's not the Birthday of a mysterious member called Smartphone, but the anniversary of the release of the very first smartphone!

The IBM Simon Personal Communicator, considered to be the first smartphone, went on sale on 16 August 1994, 24 years ago today. It had a touchscreen, email capability, apps, and was the first stepping stone towards our beloved current digital companions. We've come such a long way since 1994

Did any of you have an IBM Simon?

What was YOUR very first smartphone?

I'm very curious to see your replies, and please join me in wishing all smartphones around the world a very

happy Birthday

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 13:51:05 GMT

The iPhone was the first proper smartphone

It’s okay, I’ll get my coat

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 14:24:29 GMT

On a serious note, the Sony Ericsson K750 was my first ever camera phone.

It was a popular phone back in the day, but the specifications were really modest compared to what is available nowadays. Regardless of which operating system you favour, it truly is remarkable how much computing power can be found in a mobile device.

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

EmilieT — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 14:33:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

The iPhone was the first proper smartphone

It’s okay, I’ll get my coat

Noooo, stay @Anonymous

I always love looking at older phones like the Sony Ericsson K750 you linked to, very nostalgic ... Did you stick with it for a while or explored new ventures soon after?

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 15:00:25 GMT

My first smartphone was the iPhone 3GS in 2011 but first camera phone would have been the Sony Ericsson K750

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

Glory1 — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 15:57:35 GMT

My first smartphone was the Samsung Galaxy S III. Smartphones have come a long way since then.

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 16:35:08 GMT

@Glory1 wrote:
My first smartphone was the Samsung Galaxy S III. Smartphones have come a long way since then.

They’ve kind of reached a plateau in terms of technological breakthroughs, don’t you think?

I don’t think I’ve kept any phone for longer than 18 months, because there’s always been an upgraded version that was worth waiting for. But some of the newest handsets that have come out recently, only seemed to offer minor improvements in specifications, and it becomes harder to justify changing them on a regular basis.

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

Glory1 — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 16:51:33 GMT

My jusification for changing my phone on a regular basis, ie every 2 years, is because I wear my phones out. As I use them for literally everything including logging into the community as well as playing games (lots of games!), my phones are knackered after 2 years. My present phone is ok at the moment but it's only coming up to 16 months old. By April next year, when I can upgrade, it will be worn out.

I agree though @Anonymous from the standpoint of technological breakthroughs, not much has changed in the last few years. Although the screens are getting bigger, which I admit I do like.

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 17:16:35 GMT

They have come to a stand still recently. I haven’t seen anything innovative on an iPhone for at least 3-4 years since the iPhone 6 & 6 Plus we’re unveiled. Even Samsung are starting to become stale & boring

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

sheepdog — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 18:05:54 GMT

SmartPhones have definitely lost their way, design and functionality wise. Basically its an app update machine as thats what happens most of the time. I have little reason other than screen size to change from the iPhone 5S as it does what I want now.

I've always been a fan of PDA's so its only in the last few years that I've got smartphones. I'd have to say for productivity, my XDA Zest was far better than both the iPhone and Nexus/Moto X. Times move on though and the biggest problem I find is that functionality keeps getting re-worked for the worse in my opinion to the point where any new model means a regressive step.

I'm really hoping Microsoft actually produce a Surface Phone that is similar to the clamshell with a stylus just to spark some life back into the market.

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

pgn — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 18:51:14 GMT

I went from Motorola Timeport L7089 (on Genie, or BT Cellnet, I forget) through some excellent Sony Ericsson "i" phones, including the Sony Walkman (orange and black, forget the number - W850i?) to my first "smartphone" in the SE range, the P1i. With its alphanumeric keypad and stylus, it replaced my need to carry both a phone AND a PalmPilot.

Does time not fly when you're having fun?

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 20:40:29 GMT

One thing I do miss about some of those early phones, is that they tended to have exceptional battery life. A good four or five days usage was pretty much the norm (for some of the nokias, it was probably even longer).

Nowadays, we're almost chuffed that our smartphone has lasted most of the day

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

anticpated — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 11:17:58 GMT

Smartphones are actually just portable computers with communication abilities in a more traditional fashion these days.

My first Sony phone was a walkman phone. One of the first to have front facing camera and video calling capability.

My first smartphone was a basic Samsung Europa.

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

viridis — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 21:52:32 GMT

My first Sony was a Sony CMD-X2000
Back when a jog-dial was a unique and rare thing...

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 13:45:33 GMT

My first rule with any phone is if it doesn't work well as a phone, it goes back or gets sold.

I had a Blackberry Pearl 3G which I hated so it got sold.

Next I had an HTC Desire S.

Nice device but didn't work well as a phone (didn't hang onto signal and thus call quality wasn't great)

Having owned an Ericsson S868, SE W300 and a K800i previously I next tried an SE Xperia Ray.

Nice phone but again not great for reception.

My next choice was a Samaung Galaxy Ace 2 which worked well as a smartphone and a phone, swapped when it became clear the software maintainence had reached the end of the road.

Next was an Ace 3, again great.

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

viridis — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 18:07:40 GMT

True story,

I have the very first Sony Xperia device, the Xperia X1 still sealed and unopened boxed.

Re: Happy Birthday, Smartphone!

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 17:34:41 GMT

@viridis wrote:
True story,
I have the very first Sony Xperia device, the Xperia X1 still sealed and unopened boxed.

WOW @viridis

My first smartphone was a Nokia Lumia 640 lte

My first mobile phone was a basic Nokia (no camera, I believe) on Orange network

I change phones every 24 months unless irrevocably damaged by water (twice)