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Motorola To Buy PDA-Inventor Psion For $200 Million
judgecorp writes "Psion, the company which made the first handheld computers in the 1980s, invented the PDA, and launched the once-unstoppable Symbian OS, is to be bought by Motorola Solutions for $200 million. Following a merger with Teklogix ten years ago, Psion has just been making ruggedised business devices, a business where Motorola Solutions also plays — note, this is Motorola Solutions, not the phones division Motorola Mobility, which Google recently bought."
Incredible to think Nokia went from the top slot to almost nowhere in the space of one CEO. Not only that, but he's ENTRENCHING himself further in, replacing some of the key staff with his own choices. Elop is to Nokia what Icahn was to Yahoo, a fake saviour that actually decimates the company for their own ends.
He's going to be difficult to unseat now, well until the company is sold to Microsoft for a pittance, but seriously, can any shareholder say he's done a good job? Nokia could be the major Android player now, Huawai the Chinese maker is growing at a huge rate and came in late to the Android market, yet Nokia's Elop claimed it was a meat market they couldn't make money in???
Oh yeah? I'd like to learn more about this. What were some of the model numbers of Toshiba, Canon, and Sharp PDAs that predate 1983?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Sorry to reply to my own post, but in looking the answer up to my question I did find an interesting link.
It may strain your definition of PDA a bit, but the history of these machines is neat.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
What i do know is my first PDA, though the term did not come into use until the 1990s, was a Tandy 100. It was a portable device that stored all the data I needed for life. It was a little big, but no worse than a Dayrunner or franklin planner, and you saved on all those horribly expensive refills. This machine certainly lead me to a life or electronic organization. I also know that for some of my friends the first PDA was an HP calculator with magnetic strip attachement. This must have 1981-82. Every morning they would enter data for their plan. It was primitive but seemed to be effective for them.
I will say that, for me, the first effective and portable PDA was the Palm V.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Slightly OT, but forgive me -- why have so many tech companies either merged or split in the past couple decades?
I ask because it seems it's often a poor move in the long run if you think about it. Yahoo, Microsoft, and HP seem especially prone to questionable purchases an sales.
Is it just about making a quick buck? Or is there some other benefit to all of this that I'm not seeing?
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
Wow .... thanks for posting that .... it's BLATANT PLAGIARISM of my web page from several years ago (see where it says "By Evan Koblentz"? That's me. Whatever site posted it sure as hell didn't have my permission to do so.)
I'm going to have to agree with evanak. The definition of PDA is vague enough to conclude that Psion certainly did not invent it.
PS - The site that stole my work has fine print saying "All rights reserved" on the bottom of their page .... so they steal people's work ... and then claim the rights to it. Nice.
Nothing was taken from you by copying your data; you still have all the data you had, you see.
That sounds about right.
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
I'm not looking for sympathy, I'm just mad. I removed the site for (gasp!) a business purpose. Just because something was once online does not mean the world is free to steal it. I'm sure some people will flame me for saying that; they can go right ahead because there's free speech. I'm as politically liberal as anyone, and I'm a strong advocate for open-source. My home computer runs Linux. None of that precludes me from wanting to make a few bucks from (more gasp!) my intellectual property. It's very naive for people to say I "haven't been harmed" and "nothing was taken from me" ... that's bull. If I plan to sell something (in this case, the page is part of a chapter of an upcoming book), and someone else decides it's their right to TAKE it and GIVE it away, then I am directly harmed and losing something -- money in my pocket, and food on my family's table. (Yes, I know there are papers and studies claiming that open-source actually increases sales, blah blah blah ... did you know 80% of all people believe made-up statistics? :) ) Bottom line: just because something is closed-source doesn't make it evil, and just because something is open-source doesn't make it good. (It does, however, feel good to rant.)
They both use the Motorala trademark at the same time? How does that work out?
And do they have an agreement not to get into each other's business? Does this change that?
And are these the same guys that make bar code scanners?
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
What asshole modded you down? This is a fascinating coincidence if nothing else... and it IS something else, living copyright infringement... and not just downloading a movie and watching it yourself because you're poor, but taking something and redistributing it for the benefit of people that are not you. Fucking Slashdot has seriously changed, man...
The Admin and the Engineer
Surely Google made Motorola agree to some sort of non-compete clause?
Buying a mobile device company sounds a lot like competing, trying to rebuild the division they just sold off for massive amounts of money?
Buying an early player in the mobile device market suggests they are after patents and prior art which protects them from other patents.
Raises a question about whether Google got the full mobile package, or if Motorola kept some patents, IP and key staff on hand in order to stay in the mobile technology sector?
A while ago I realized every single manufacturer of electronic devices I loved has either gone bankrupt or shut down that particular division. Here's my list in no particular order:
- Psion 5, 5MX, 5MX Pro
- Palm III, Vx, m500
- Sony Clie NR70, NX70, TH55 and many others
- Nokia E71, N900, N9
I hold a particular soft spot for Psion though, as their devices were truly works of art. It took a decade for the same level of integration between the OS and component applications to be matched. The hardware was (almost) bulletproof, with the 5 series sliding keyboard being a truly impressive piece of engineering. However having a battery life measured in DAYS is still a pipe dream...
I do seem to have a knack for picking dying technologies though. A friend joked that I should be given a free Windows phone, that will certainly spell its demise.
Psion did not not "invent" the PDA any more than Apple "invented" the PDA in 1993 ..... 15 years after such products debuted.
Semantically, at least, Apple did actually invent the PDA:
Apple CEO John Sculley had coined the term in the keynote speech he made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 7.
Read more
The Admin and the Engineer
Well, it is very interesting article. Could you post a link to the original version? This one is stuck inside some messed-up tables and is unreadable without mucking with the CSS.
Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
Dude, chill. Seriously. It's not that big a deal. In fact, if it was copied with your name still attached to it, if anything, it might help you sell more books. You were credited, after all, which is a lot better than some authors receive.
This offense rates maybe a "slightly miffed" reaction at most. The guy who copied it isn't keeping you from feeding your family. At worst he cost you a few pennies in advertising revenue, except that since you admitted that you took the original down, he's not even costing you that. On principle, you're right, but to be brutally honest, your melodramatic "woe is me" posts are making you come off as a bit of a tool, and thus unsympathetic, in spite of it.
Every creative person in the world has to live with their stuff being taken now and then. Writers, musicians, painters, future theorists, computer programmers, the list goes on and on. Such is the cost of creating something and putting it out there. Sure, you can wallow in anger and misery, or you can take it as a compliment that you actually created something worth copying, which means that you very likely have the capability of creating something worth monetary value.
as Psion Flight Simulator??
The Speccy games you thought were good until you tried, oh, every other game
I've done some work with Motorola's portable business-oriented gadgets, mostly stuff that showed up with their acquisition of Symbol Technologies, and all I can say is this: Meh.
Everything I've used from them is either poorly supported or negatively supported. Documentation that is either far too lengthy and wrong or just plain non-existent. Software that, in the best case, barely works. Firmware full of bugs. 802.11 radios that don't really like dealing with 802.11. No ability to get anything pushed up the ladder to the dudes who can actually fix stuff, no matter how many thousand units you'd love to buy if the fucking things would actually work.
Based on this dreary track record of failure, frustration, and despair, I hasten to say that I'm not looking forward seeing what comes out of this deal.
(I'd post more details, but dealing with other Motorola products that actually work (such as their 2-way radios) is a big part of my bread-and-butter, and I'm allergic to posting as AC.)
Kid-proof tablet..
Just finished reading... very very nice. You wrote that in 2005? Come on, Speed!... time to get that published on dead tree. Having years of experience in printing and publishing (from the production stand point), allow me to personally recommend finding a good letterpress printer, and use quality binding in the hardbound version. Everyone appreciates a well made book in the classical style... please don't cheap-out on the printing (or the paper, typesetting, design and binding... go traditional as much as you can, all the way). Also... just a suggestion... I think you take too much time bashing the Newton... the Newton-zealots are pretty much extinct or have crawled back in the holes they came from, so you might want to dial that back a bit... its the history of hand held computer, PDA and the like, not the history of Apple fanatics. Also, it is worth a minor nod to Sculley for coining the term "PDA," and noting when it happpened, if only because the term was adopted so widely by, at the very least, consumers, and at best defining the entire device "type" (vs. "token"). You spend more time talking about companies trying to avoid using the term than you do explaining where it came from... and exactly how it came about (why not give Sculley a phone interview and get the real story behind where it came from? Regardless of your personal feelings about Apple, this is objectively important, and for the detail you've given everything else, worth at least a paragraph, not a mere sentence dismissing its importance.) Otherwise an AMAZING READ. Seriously... its time to get that published. I can't BELIEVE you've waited this long! WHO ARE YOU? You deserve the recognition for objectively documenting this important history (speaking as a student of the Philosophy and History of Science and Technology, via VA Tech). Thank you for creating that! My apologies that I had to read an illegal unauthorized version of the work... but get it in print and I will buy it! and copies for friends! Good luck! And... did I mention hurry up?
The Admin and the Engineer
Like book signings, or after-dinner speeches. Or get sponsored by the pope.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Safari's "Reader" function did a great job of reformatting the article into something very readable.
Semantically Apple named the PDA, rather than inventing it.
When they split they're becoming more focused & agile or concentrating on core competences. When they merge they're diversifying or seeking synergies.
It's fashion, plus new CEOs trying to mark their territory.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
If you removed the article for business reasons and it is available in some other form (a book maybe?), then you should probably provide a reference to the new format, especially since the article links to your page. Your page simply has something indicating that your site is going under reconstruction, without a reason why the article text vanished.
The Internet tends to try to recover lost information, with more concern for culture, than ownership. If you can provide the missing information or a reference to it, then it usually helps people feel the information is not lost.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Some people believe that the GPL is useful as long as copyright exists but that copyright in general shouldn't exist. Also, what do you mean? You're just generalizing. Not everyone feels that way.
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
So, sorry... but in the eyes of slashdot groupthink, you haven't been harmed. Nothing was taken from you by copying your data; you still have all the data you had, you see.
In the eyes of Slashdot groupthink, Evan is not the victim of data theft. Well, he's not - he's the victim of plagiarism! Which is exactly what evanak complained about in the first place.
These vindictive jabs against "the masses" are getting tiring...
Semantically Apple named the PDA, rather than inventing it.
My comment was tongue in cheek, but by all means we must downplay the importance of anything that Apple does, at all costs, no matter what, and make sure no one ever gives even the slightest amount of credit where credit is due... even if Apple is ultimately responsible for the label we use for an entire class of digiital technology which has been universally adopted.
The Admin and the Engineer
...Is, does Motorola now hold the rights to the Horace games?
I wanna see a gritty 3D reboot of that series! Horace goes skiing as an FPS? A Horace MMORPG?
Sue them. It'll be good fun.
Copyright infringement yes, plagiarism, no. Plagiarism is the use of what someone else has written without crediting them. This site didn't do that. Similarly, one can plagiarize from work that's in the public domain.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
The Tandy TRS-80 for sale in summer of 1980. Made by sharp :-)
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
archive.org has the original
Need Mercedes parts ?
Like book signings, or after-dinner speeches. Or get sponsored by the pope.
I honestly couldn't tell if you were joking until I re-read that sentence. Good work.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Safari's "Reader" function did a great job of reformatting the article into something very readable.
But on the downside, you have Safari on your computer.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Oh noes, someone stole an article from you, that you'd made available for free, fully accredited to you. How will you ever feed your family!!!1
Get a clue moron.
He'd made ut avaukabke fir free, then changed his mind. I know this is a meaningless distinction to most slashdotters, but it is a genuine one in reality. A writer owns the words he writes more than he owns the land he lives on, as he didn't create the land, merely bought it off someone else.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Semantically Apple named the PDA, rather than inventing it.
My comment was tongue in cheek, but by all means we must downplay the importance of anything that Apple does, at all costs, no matter what, and make sure no one ever gives even the slightest amount of credit where credit is due... even if Apple is ultimately responsible for the label we use for an entire class of digiital technology which has been universally adopted.
As a matter of fact, PDA is an American term mainly, In the UK we just called them "electronic organisers" or similar. The only people who used the term PDA were geeks pretending they were about to be offered jobs in Silicon Valley IIRC.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Makes me wonder if Slashdot outsourced editing to the other side of the world.
Why or how would you outsource something that doesn't appear to exist?
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
It's very naive for people to say I "haven't been harmed" and "nothing was taken from me" ... then I am directly harmed and losing something -- money in my pocket, and food on my family's table.
You may be harmed by this action, though there's no clear evidence of that. It's a bit of a stretch to imagine that potential buyers of your book will locate this chapter located in some recess of the Internet and decide not to buy.
Regardless of that, nothing was taken from you. You did not have money in your pocket or food on your family's table with which someone made off. If you have lost anything, it is opportunity, and only that. You haven't been deprived of anything that you previously had. How much opportunity have you lost? I strain to imagine that it's measurable.
On the plus side, I have a Mac.
Actually, more often Brits would just call them Psions. At least till the late 90s when they switched to calling them PalmPilots.
Pretty much as now people call smartphones: iPhones and tablets: iPads.
Hmm... must do some hoovering with my Dyson.
Given that the doomed partnership between motorola and psion to produce the first smartphone was often cited as the reason for the demise of psion in the consumer market.
http://stevelitchfield.com/historyofpsion.htm - see the paragraph 'the fall'
and this is was the machine that never was...
http://mobileopera.com/odin
D
How is this really different than me archiving something I like that isn't around anymore
In such a case, you aren't redistributing.
or hell the internet archive (archive.org)
The Wayback Machine obeys robots.txt.
All those pictures in the article, did you take them? Or are you just presenting them accredited to the photographer.
Used under an explicit license, I'll assume for the sake of argument.
15 year since Psion 5 was released. I imagine it's up by now. Amazed no-one bought it from Psion 10 years ago.
Still, people want the screen on the outside now tho I see MS is back to the laptop with detachable keyboard idea.
Thanks for correcting this .. propganda. Radio Shack released the TRS-80 Pocket Computer, the PC-1, in early 1980 several years before Psion went into hardware. It was manufactured by Sharp, had this funky black-on-amber LCD display and was followed on by a much more capable PC-2.
No wiki this time, I was there the day it was released, in the store that got the first unit. It's hard to imagine the impact this thing had at the time. A couple weeks before it arrived the Radio Shack staff showed me the newspaper ad for it and I actually thought it was a gag paper they had printed up! When it actually arrived it was like some bit of Star Trek had come to life.