I agree. I think a pocket device that only has GPS Navigation, MP3 player capabilities, and calling/texting would be perfect. Maybe some basic stuff like a notes, app, alarms, etc too. Stuff that’s actually useful.
Edit: This is actually basically exactly what my own phone is. It’s graphene OS with no google services and that’s what I use it for.
The notes, alarms etc part sounds like PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) to me. My dad used them extensively in the 90s and I would argue that they are the true predecessor to the modern smartphone.
I also remember my dad having a GPS device without a map. You could input waypoints and record a route and that’s it. I searches a bit and it looks like it was Garmin GPS 45 XL (but I might need to confirm that with him - I’m sure he has it somewhere)
There were also early examples of portable mp3 players in the late 90s. I think they were mostly held back by the storage density - the best option was the ultra small HDD (like the first iPod had in 2001). I think a portable CD player was the default back then.
So all the ingredients were there in the late 90s, just not in one device.
The most fun bit of tech history I found on the internet is this mp3 car stereo from 1999, which was running Linux. It had max capacity of 28GB for the music (2 HDDs). I don’t see myself needing much more than that even now. It was quite expensive, so it didn’t sell very well.
I’ve also read that people would drive with a PC in their trunk with some head unit, so they could listen to mp3s it in the car. It would totally be me if I were the same age as now 30 years ago.
yeah i was around back then myself. I remember using a walkman. That’s what portable cd players were called. The issue was that portable power was nowhere near what it is now. Battery tech has truly been revolutionizing and the efficiency gains we’ve made too. If you made a smart phone that was JUST those functions and used modern tech to do it while stripping out all the bloat its battery would last a whole week.
I agree. I think a pocket device that only has GPS Navigation, MP3 player capabilities, and calling/texting would be perfect. Maybe some basic stuff like a notes, app, alarms, etc too. Stuff that’s actually useful.
Edit: This is actually basically exactly what my own phone is. It’s graphene OS with no google services and that’s what I use it for.
Yes.
I want a Commodore Callback (for the reasons you pointed out.)
But my GrapheneOS phone without Google is most of the way there.
The notes, alarms etc part sounds like PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) to me. My dad used them extensively in the 90s and I would argue that they are the true predecessor to the modern smartphone.
I also remember my dad having a GPS device without a map. You could input waypoints and record a route and that’s it. I searches a bit and it looks like it was Garmin GPS 45 XL (but I might need to confirm that with him - I’m sure he has it somewhere)
There were also early examples of portable mp3 players in the late 90s. I think they were mostly held back by the storage density - the best option was the ultra small HDD (like the first iPod had in 2001). I think a portable CD player was the default back then.
So all the ingredients were there in the late 90s, just not in one device.
The most fun bit of tech history I found on the internet is this mp3 car stereo from 1999, which was running Linux. It had max capacity of 28GB for the music (2 HDDs). I don’t see myself needing much more than that even now. It was quite expensive, so it didn’t sell very well.
I’ve also read that people would drive with a PC in their trunk with some head unit, so they could listen to mp3s it in the car. It would totally be me if I were the same age as now 30 years ago.
yeah i was around back then myself. I remember using a walkman. That’s what portable cd players were called. The issue was that portable power was nowhere near what it is now. Battery tech has truly been revolutionizing and the efficiency gains we’ve made too. If you made a smart phone that was JUST those functions and used modern tech to do it while stripping out all the bloat its battery would last a whole week.