To be fair, Apple had a PDA, the Newton, back in 1993... Not that it was the 1st again...

I had one called the iPaq.

Apple has since then made it illegal to trademark products starting with "i". Irony.

KkI wouldn't even say the iphone was more advanced than what came before it haha.

I still have 2 fully functioning Palm TX devices from 20 or so years ago, they were released mid 2005 while iPhone was June 2007 I think?

Looking back, I cannot fathom (aside from marketing) how apple beat palm in that market.

Here are the specs, keep in mind the TX was released several years before the original iPhone Ram: Palm TX: 128 Mb iPhone: 128Mb Screen palm TX: 480×320 iPhone 480×320 Processor TX: 312Mhz iPhone 416 Mhz

So, for a 3 year or so delay, the original iPhone imo still doesn't completely dwarf the TX, but I'm also not through as there are plenty of features that the TX had but the iPhone lacked.

The TX was also touch screen (I find it much more responsive) and was meant for a stylus instead of fingers. To this day, I still love writing and drawing on the TX. Oh, and the stylus fits neatly into the TX on the right side. Also, it has a nice little replaceable flip cover for the screen.

But that's not all, it has an SD card slot for expandable storage, something the iPhone omitted.

It also has wifi 302.11b support and Bluetooth as well, yes, Bluetooth in 2005 and it was very easy to activate and use.

But no, that's not all, it also had an IR transmitter/receiver! Something the iPhone helped to kill. Those things were underrated!

They made the TX the perfect universal remote! I had a program on the TX that listed every T.V/DVD/VCR/Cable etc. Manufacturer you could imagine, you'd just select the manufacturer for the device you wanted to control, aim the TX at it and bam, you had control.

This helped me a lot as essentially I could control almost any device I could see. Lost remote for the DVD player? TX got you. It wasn't just for t.v's and whatnot though, many things run on IR and I miss when smart devices supported it.

Ah, and I'm still not done, the TX had BUTTONS. Actual factual buttons. Not only was it 100% touch screen, but it had 4 buttons and a directional pad with another button in the middle iirc.

Those buttons made it great for emulation and I believe I had a snes emulator on it though that may have just been Nes, either way, the buttons were much more fun to play with than touch screen, it made the device actually feel.. made for what you were using it to do.

In fact, everything on the device felt made for what you were doing, and not just an afterthought. It came preloaded with plenty of useful apps. A web browser that was even YouTube capable for one, which in 2006 or so when I got the TX blew my mind, YouTube in my Palm?

Maybe I went a little overboard in this comment but my point is, damn, some more competition may have been nice.

Oh, and one last thing, My TX devices still run like the day I got them, hell, the battery life is insane as well. I left one on for at least 2 weeks and it still had power last I checked. How many original iPhones that were opened in 2007 are still running? Heck, even an iPhone 5 from 2012, how many of those are still up and running?

Yet my 2005 TX runs just the same as it always did. It's insane to look at a device from 2005 and feel like in 2023 we should be taking notes, but we should.

Our devices won't last that long on standby today because they're filled with bloatware processes that refuse to stop running. The TX powers up instantly after it's been sitting for days and will be on 99% battery. My modern smart phone will kill its own battery within a day or two, tops, just sitting on my desk without me touching it.

Palm needs to make a comeback. Devices with SD, IR, buttons, built in stylus etc. Should as well.

Oh, and the OS was perfect. Calendar, web, paint etc, an Aux jack, these little things were and still are badass. If it wasn't for the limited capability due to not being able to access the web like before I'd probably still use them daily.

But I'd never use an original iPhone daily, they just aren't good for anything that I can't do with any other device.

Not that I'm anti IPhone as I realize my comment seems, don't get me wrong I do prefer androids for my uses but iPhones aren't too shabby either. Top notch hardware, all of their devices sharing the same hardware also mean their apps tend to be better optimized and more reliable, etc. They're dependable, reliable devices but.. my Palm from 20 years ago can do things no iPhone can, like still run after 2 decades, control IR devices, have an SD card inserted etc.

The closest thing I've had to a TX was an LG Stylo 6, and for it's day if was a decent device but the screen cracked in my pocket within a year and the battery life had shortened significantly. I was carrying around mophies and chargers like nobody's business. My TX though? 2 decades without even a scratch that I can see on either of the 2 that I own, and when I'm using it the battery almost seems limitless as I can go for quite some time using it without seeing that 99% battery drop a digit.

I know we've changed battery types a time or two since then but can't help but wonder how are modern batteries are so unreliable in comparison? Planned obsolescence is a factor, surely because I'm seeing a year or so tops before major performance reduction with these lithium ions of late. Whereas the TX still outlasts them 20 years later,

Just love my old tech and wish it were updated! I'd love a new palm device built as well as the TX was.

It wasn’t an entirely new concept but it completely redefined what it could be. Look up what Android looked like until the iPhone was demoed.