In 1994, IBM built the Simon , a mobile phone that, although considered “ ancient ” ( if compared to today’s sophisticated mobile devices ), is nevertheless, as most experts say, the ancestor of all smartphones ! In fact, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the device’s release, the London Science Museum announced that the IBM Simon will be exhibited at the museum as part of the “ Information Age ” exhibition that will take place next October .
The IBM Simon was a bulky and extremely heavy device (weighing close to 500 grams) that looked more like a walkie-talkie and when it was released in August 1994, it cost the not inconsiderable sum of $900! However, despite its extremely high price , sales of the Simon reached 50,000 units within the (short) six months it was available on the market. The first smartphone featured a monochrome LCD touch-sensitive screen with a diagonal of 4.5 inches, where using the special stylus the user could take notes, draw basic drawings or use it as a classic keyboard. Also, one of the most powerful features of the IBM Simon was that it could be connected to a PC via the RS232 port, used to send and read faxes, while at the same time, through the available PCMCIA port, the ancestor of today's smartphones could run third-party applications that came in card form.
Simon may be a museum piece today, but we can't help but recognize immense value and innovative nature , as it offered a series of features that were far ahead of its time. The London Science Museum's "Information Age: Six Networks That Changed Our World" exhibition will open on October 25, so if your trip to London there, it's worth visiting to see the "grandfather" of today's smartphones up close.
Source: digitallife.gr
