[NJARC] FW: Radio Question

[Evan Koblentz]

Thanks to everyone who chimed in -- please keep doing so if the feeling
arises.

As Ray assumed, I'm trying to learn about portable devices that combined
datacom/voicecom before 1993.  Why 1993?  Because that's the year of the IBM
Simon, which (I'm pretty sure) was the first so-called "smartphone" ... I'll
have to do some more searching, but I don't see any cellular phones from '92
or earlier that could send any data other than voice.  (Here again,
suggestions are welcome.)

Specifically, this is for a chapter of the book I'm writing about the
history of portable computing.  (Some of you may recall that I asked about
portable teletypes, such as the Silent 700 and the Model 29, a year or two
ago on the Greenkeys list.)

Someone mentioned pagers -- they'll definitely be included.

Thanks again,
- EK


>>>> Evan Koblentz of the MARCH computer group at InfoAge posed the
following interesting question to several of us: "I was wondering today ....
are there any radios from before 1993 .. specifically radios that are
portable/meant to be carried around ... that
sent/received any kind of data other than voice?  Please enlighten me with
specifics."  Obviously there are CW (morse code) devices and maybe some
military stuff but I cannot think of any others.  Any comments?  Obviously a
referance to the introduction of data transfer on cell phones etc.  Evan is
at evan at snarc.net.
Ray