???? – 1995retired
Berkeley Software Distribution
“It gave Unix the internet and the internet a backbone. Rest easy, Berkeley.”
“First to the smartphone party, left early because the battery died.”
The IBM Simon was a cellular phone and PDA from IBM, built by Mitsubishi Electric and released in 1992. It packed a 4.5-inch resistive touchscreen, an x86 processor, a PCMCIA slot for extra software, and a modem for fax and email. As the first PDA to make calls over a cellular network, it has since been called the first true smartphone.
BellSouth Cellular Corp. sold it in the US from August 1994 to February 1995, moving 50,000 units before it was discontinued in 1995. A price north of $2,100 in 2021 dollars and a battery that lasted barely an hour kept the crowds away. A smaller successor, codenamed Neon, was abandoned during development and never saw the light of day.
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“It gave Unix the internet and the internet a backbone. Rest easy, Berkeley.”
“The last of the little Macs, colorful to the very end.”
“The last Quadra to arrive, first to bow out, still a bargain at the farewell party.”