THE’IBM Simonintroduced to the world in November 1992 at Comdex in Las Vegas and launched on the market in 1994 distributed by BellSouth, is universally regarded the first smartphone in historyeven though this term, “smartphone”, was coined only a few years later (in 1997 to be exact) from Ericsson with his CR 88 (Penelope). Simon will represent a revolutionary step for IBM and mobile technology, combining the functions of a PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) or “commonly” known as handheld, with those of a mobile phone.
Made thanks to the ingenuity of the IBM engineer Frank CanovaSimon could in fact perform various functions typical of a laptop, allowing you to manage address books, appointments, faxes, e-mails and even make sketches using a stylus. Although it was a bulky device by today’s standards, it weighed well 510 gramsSimon managed to offer a series of cutting-edge features and a touchscreen graphical interface, which made the use of the various integrated applications relatively simple.
IBM Simon: was he born in 1992, 1993 or 1994?
The birth of IBM Simon is placed at different times: some in 1992others in 1993others still in 1994. The difference lies in how we want to define “birth”.
The first prototype of Simoncalled “Sweetspot”was presented at a famous technology fair (no longer in existence), the COMDEX (Computer Dalers’ EXhibition), held in Las Vegas from the 16 to 20 November 1992. On that occasion, the Simon prototype immediately attracted the attention of the telecommunications company BellSouthwhich he started with IBM the project to create a product to be marketed.
After trying (unsuccessfully) to start a collaboration with Motorola to produce the device, IBM eventually turned to Mitsubishi Electricwhich became a full-fledged production partner. Simon was officially announced onNovember 8, 1993 and, in the press release that presented it to the general public, it was stated that «it was the first time a company put a computer in a cell phone, rather than putting a cell phone in a computer».
Simon was put on the market on August 16, 1994at the price of $895 with contract or $1,099 without contract. A price that seemed extraordinarily high in an era in which this technology had not yet become “daily bread” as it is today, and which prevented this product from achieving the desired success. By some estimates, BellSouth sold around 50,000 units in its first year on sale.
How IBM Simon, the first smartphone, was made: the features
Simon’s design and technology were innovative: lo 4.7” monochrome LCD screen (160 x 293 pixels) era touch screenan absolute novelty for the time. It integrated a 16 MHz x86 processor, 1 MB of RAM and the Internal memory was expandable thanks to PCMCIA card slot with which he was equipped. On the software side, the operating system was ROM-DOSwhich also had the graphical user interface “Navigator”which simplified access to integrated applications. The phone was about 20 centimeters tall.
Thanks to the function of predictive keyboardSimon tried to anticipate the letters the user might choose by displaying them on the screen. The presence of a sketching application also allowed for draw directly on the screen using the integrated stylusand the same drawing could be sent via fax, making the device particularly useful for professionals on the move, at least “on paper”.
IBM Simon: why it wasn’t as successful as hoped
Despite the decent number of sales it recorded in its first year of life, theIBS Simon was not as successful as hoped. It remained in production for only 6 months. Among the most plausible reasons for its failure should be mentioned its very low autonomy, with one battery that lasted just over 1 hour. Although IBM did not continue to further develop Simon with subsequent models, the device remains an iconic object, which contributed to the history of the technology.
