How IBM invented the smartphone, then abandoned it

1994’s Simon was the first rough draft of a device that would change the world. But it was also a dead end.

In October 1994, I reviewed a new gizmo for InfoWorld, a prominent tech newsweekly. The device in question—the result of a collaboration between IBM and wireless carrier BellSouth—was a mobile phone known as Simon. Like all 1994 cellphones, it was a brick-like behemoth. But the reason InfoWorld cared about it was because it was also a handheld computer. Its tiny touchscreen interface let you access and send email, manage your calendar, take notes, and—whoop-de-doo!—send faxes.