Description: words, pictures, code, charts, and apps by Will Hains from Tokyo Support Thinky Bits: Get Dropbox
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The category that was called “smartphone” at the time consisted of the RIM Blackberry and a few other, forgettable products . They were mobile phones with email clients and a QWERTY keyboard; that’s it.
Then iPhone happened. It was ostensibly a new, insanely expensive player in this existing category, but as we soon learned, it defined a new category. In no time at all, the new “smartphone” category eclipsed and replaced the old one . The new category was, in fact, “pocket computer” , an idea that would have sounded as nerdy and niche as a wristwatch calculator to people in 2007. So they called it a “smartphone”. Now it feels silly that both categories had the same name.
“Smartphone” was, in essence, a form factor . What happened was that different companies saw that form factor and imagined different things. Carriers saw it and imagined a new way to charge power users for service. RIM and other hardware players saw it and imagined an email device.