More than a dozen years have passed since the appearance of the first mobile phone. Over time, they were constantly improved, new functions were added, and their sizes were reduced. But at one point, all the functions invented by engineers became cramped in the concept of “mobile phone.” This is how the concept of “communicator” arose, and then “smartphone”.
- Mobile phone(eng. mobile phone) – a portable communication device intended primarily for voice communication.
- Smartphone(English smartphone - smart phone) - a mobile phone, supplemented with the functionality of a pocket personal computer.
- Communicator(English communicator, PDA phone) – a pocket personal computer, supplemented with the functionality of a mobile phone.
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The presence of a fully functional operating system makes smartphones and communicators more attractive in the eyes of most users. Modern solutions (mid-price models and above) cope well with many tasks that go beyond telephone calls: working with email, viewing text documents and spreadsheets, working with a task scheduler and many others. Expanding the functionality of phones is possible through J2ME programs, which are supported by almost all mobile devices. The screen of a number of phones is as good as most smartphones, and many models are equipped with a memory card slot.It is important to note that programs written specifically for the operating system of a smartphone or communicator are complete sequences of low-level microprocessor commands compiled into binary code. Specialized applications use processor resources more efficiently and, as a rule, have greater functionality than “universal” J2ME programs.
However, for most users this circumstance is not the main selection criterion. Smartphones are promoted by manufacturers due to other factors, such as:
- Advanced multimedia features (better camera, enhanced video playback capabilities, improved music capabilities);
- Increasing the number of cores and processor frequency;
- Using a unique model design;
- Protecting the device from external influences.
The history of smartphones
What is the first smartphone? They tried to combine the functionality of a mobile phone and a communicator almost immediately after the appearance of the first communicators in the early 90s of the last century.
A telephone is a device that allows people to talk from anywhere in the world. Currently, transmission is carried out through electrical signals. The term itself comes from the ancient Greek language: “Tele” means “far”, and “phon” means voice, sound.
Who invented the first telephone
Initially, telephones resembled large and bulky devices. They were devices with a lever for switching and a dialing device in the form of a disk or large buttons. They used two types of microphones: carbon and electret.
The first was carbon powder, which, depending on the value of electrical resistance, affected the membrane. She transmitted sound to the subscriber.
The second consisted of a capacitor, one of the platins of which was also a membrane. The sound affected the capacitor, which then transmitted vibrations to the plates.
Telephone set consisted of more than of 500 mechanical parts and was a bulky device. It could not be taken with you or placed at home. For this purpose there were social telephone exchanges.
But time has passed, technology has not stood still, and today they represent more compact and mobile options. 
The ancestor of the telephone is considered electric telegraph, which was invented after the discovery of electricity in the first half of the 19th century. 
The very first device for transmitting voice over a distance, which could already be called a telephone, was conceived, invented and demonstrated German scientist-inventor Johann Reis in 1861. The device itself consisted of three main components: a microphone, a speaker and a voltaic battery. 
History of the development of the first phones
In 1876, American scientist Alexander Bell patented the very first telephone in the world. entitled"talking tube" The first copy had a maximum range of 200 meters and greatly distorted sound at a distance.
Over the course of a year, Bell modified his equipment to remove interference on the line. After that, it served for about a hundred years for all mankind, until it was modernized.
It is believed that the scientist accidentally discovered the principle of the telephone. During one of the experiments to improve telegraph communications, one of the data transmission plates got stuck. His assistant, seeing the hesitation, began to curse. Unexpectedly for himself, Bell heard the indignant words of his partner in the telegraph tube. Thus, a random event led to the appearance of modern telephones.
However, in 2002, the American Congress recognized that the first inventor was Antonio Meucci. But the story that happened to the Italian is quite typical for that time. Italian inventor developed and came up with Scheme of operation of a device for transmitting voice at a distance independently. Unfortunately, at that moment in time, he was a beggar. He simply did not have enough money for a piece of bread. As a result he sold my development large company "Western Union" on the condition that they would issue a patent for it. When, after a long period of time, no response came, he himself filed a patent application. However, it was rejected.
At the same time, Antonio learns that the telephone was patented Alexander Bell. This information greatly affected him. He tried to fight the company to restore justice, but he lacked financial resources. The result of legal disputes was his recognition as the inventor of the telephone only in 1887. By that time, he was already old, and died in poverty and obscurity. It was not until 2002 that the United States confirmed that he was, in fact, the founding father of the telephone.
To transmit sound to another subscriber, it was also necessary to use special communication lines, which were created only in 1877. First line put into operation in Boston, and a year later the first telephone exchange was opened in New Haven. In 1878, the American scientist Thomas Edison introduced another model, which was more compact. 
As you can see from the photo, rotary phones were the first to appear. They were more convenient to manufacture, so for a long time they mainly used only the model with disks. Mass production began after 1896.
Feature phones first appeared only in 1963. This was another attempt to improve the current model.
Thanks to Edison, landline phones began to come into widespread use among ordinary citizens. In the fifty years since Alexander Bell's discovery, a device for transmitting voice over a distance had become so popular that it was found in almost every home.
Invention of cellular communication
The prerequisites for the emergence of cellular communications are the invention domestic scientist Alexandra Popov called an electromagnetic wave recorder. He presented it at the congress of the Physico-Chemical Society in 1895.
After several years, Guglielmo Marconi used Morse code to send a message almost one and a half kilometers away. This served as the next stage in the development of mobile communications. In 1896 he applied for a patent, and after receiving it founded a company Marconi and Co.
Gradually, an increasing number of scientists invested their research and practical experience in the development of mobile communications. Over time, Popov's first invention was modernized. 
In 1900 Reginald Fessenden sent a voice message from one subscriber to another using a radio wave. After this, research went in a different direction.
In 1921 the first mobile telegraph station. In its operating principle it resembled a pager. And only almost 12 years later, a two-way communication vehicle was created, the operating principle of which is still used today. True, improvements have been made.
Almost 30 years later, such cars filled every city on the planet. But they had a significant drawback at that point in time - frequency restrictions. They used the same frequency, which over time began to affect the quality of communication.
Thus, in 1947, an employee of the Bell Laboratories organization, Ring, proposed a new way of communication. It was called cellular communication. That is coverage area was divided into “cells”, and each had its own frequency.
Also this year, the first transistor was created, which led to a reduction in the size of telephone sets.
Almost a century later, after Popov’s invention, the head of Motorola, Martin Cooper, made first call by mobile phone to your competitors. The event occurred on April 3, 1973. This date is the official birthday of mobile communications.
The first representatives were also large and bulky, but relatively mobile. 
After some time, various models of telephones began to appear, which became more compact and convenient.
The first Russian cell phone appeared in 1957. It was development of a Soviet engineer Leonid Kupriyanov. The device weighed 3 kg and allowed it to go 30 hours without changing the battery. 
Unfortunately, the further history of the development of this device is unknown. It was replaced by the Altai telephone complex, which was used on ambulances for operational communication with the hospital.
In Russia, similar developments have been going on for a long time. passively. It was only in 1987, when Gorbachev used a mobile phone to call from Helsinki to Moscow, that development received a boost.
September 1991 was marked by the following fact: the mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak, made a call to the United States using a Nokia 1011 device. This development was presented by Delta-Telecom.
In Moscow, cellular communications appeared after 1992 thanks to the efforts of the Moscow Cellular Communications and Ericsson companies.
The very first touch phone in the world appeared relatively recently - in 1998.
Company "Sharp", from Japan, presented to the world its model of a wireless touch phone - PMC-1 Smart-phone. 
However, the main goal - to knock out competitor Nokia from the mobile phone market - was not achieved. At the same time, Alcatel, compared to other manufacturers, is launching a device on the market “ OneTouch" Literally translated from English - one touch.
Unfortunately, at that time, both developments did not interest the mass consumer and were soon forgotten.
In 2003 " Nokia“decides to use a sensor to control mobile phones. This is how the Nokia 7700 project was born. But due to constant postponements, the consumer is presented with model 7710. 
After this, many vendors start producing touch devices.
Development of cellular communications
The development of mobile phones is represented not only by models and different brands, but also by the standards of communication itself.
Initially there was a standard NMT-450, which was a joint development of several countries. It appeared at the end of the 70s of the last century. However, this project was closed, and the development of cellular communications at that time was active.
Almost every country began to come up with its own standards that were not related to others. They were also analog, which imposed certain limitations.
All of the above led to the idea of creating single protocol cellular communications. The result was the emergence of a global standard - GSM. He was developed in 1982, and became global over a long period of time.
Literally a year later, the Qualcomm organization began to develop its own digital standard, which was later called CDMA.
Further development of mobile communications led to the emergence of a third generation protocol called FPLMTS (Future Public Land Mobile Telephone System). Its main difference from the previous ones is obtaining free access to the Internet. Also present backward compatibility.
Today, the standard is the fourth generation protocol, and active development of the fifth is underway.
First smartphone
The development of mobile phones and laptops has led to the idea of combining two products into one. This is how smartphones were created, and then communicators.
The prototype can be developed by IBM - Simon, which was introduced in 1992. However, at that time it was not accepted by the world community, and further research was stopped. 
The next step is a joint project HP and Nokia - the 700LX communicator, which was released in 1996. This is a hybrid of two models: Nokia 2110 and HP 200LX. However, these were two components working independently of each other. 
Therefore, a year later, the Finnish company demonstrates the Nokia 9000 Communicator - a full-fledged device. 
In 2000 " Ericsson» releases its smartphone R380s. 
In response to this, Nokia is introducing a development with color display. This is the first working model that displays information in colors other than black and white. The model was named Nokia 9210. It runs Symbian 6.0 and was revolutionary at that time. After it, many brands began to produce phones with the OS. 
After this, the market experienced an unprecedented rise in the development of smartphones and communicators.
Android and iPhone
Symbian is considered the first OS on mobile phones. This is a joint development of Psion, Motorola, Nokia and Ericsson, which was officially introduced in 1998. Further developments of the operating system are related to the popularity of smartphones, which were described in more detail in the section above.
However, today there is two mobile OS, which compete with each other: Android and iOS.
The history of the first OS originates in the 2000s of the 21st century. An unknown person, Andy Rubin decided to develop his own OS for mobile platforms. He kept his idea a big secret, and the result was a shortage of funds. In 2005, Google bought Andy's idea and drawings, which served as the starting point for the development of Android. The official presentation of the new operating system took place on July 26, 2005.
In 2007, after a boom in the development of sensors on phones, Apple introduced its vision - the iPhone. This was the first device that supported function“MultiTouch”, that is, touching your finger in several places on the touch screen at once. The OS used in the company's devices was called iOS. The system core was taken from sources of Unix-like systems and brought to the end user by the developers.
At the current time, Android and iOS are the biggest competitors in the mobile OS industry.
Nowadays the word “smartphone” won’t surprise anyone. Even if you don’t have it, you’ve heard it at least once and know roughly what it means!
But that’s the point, roughly. Not everyone knows exactly what the word smartphone means, how it appeared and how this gadget differs from a telephone, communicator or PDA. Let's try to figure it all out together.
Meaning of the term Smartphone
The Russian language nowadays is full of foreign words. And this term is no exception.
The word Smartphone comes from the English Smartphone, which, in turn, combines two words:
Smart- means "smart"
Phone- means "telephone".
Thus, we can conclude that Smartphone is a phone that has “smart” functions of a mobile computer: both computing (processor, RAM, ROM) and communication (WiFi, 4g/LTE, Bluetooth, GPS, GLONASS).
What then is called the Communicator?!
Don't forget about the synonymous word - Communicator. The fact is that in their meaning both terms are actually the same thing. The confusion here arose again thanks to the manufacturers. And that's why! At that time there were no tablets, and in their place on the market there were PDAs - pocket personal computers. At its core, it was a small tablet running the Windows Mobile operating system. Despite the fact that it had a touch screen, it was impossible to control the gadget as it is now with a finger. For these purposes, a special stylus similar to a ballpoint pen was used (by the way, until recently it was still found on the Samsung Galaxy Note).
And what the manufacturer considered his brainchild to be depended on what he would call it. If the developers thought it was a phone with PDA functions, it was a “Smartphone.” If they positioned it as a PDA with telephone functions, then it is a “Communicator”.
Of course, now that the very concept of “Pocket Personal Computer” has simply disappeared, as have the devices themselves that represent this class, the semantic difference between the two names of the same device has disappeared.
There was another classification option based on the operating system installed on the device. It so happened that if the operating system is installed Microsoft Windows Mobile or PalmOS- then this is a communicator, but if the gadget is controlled Symbian OS, then this is already a smartphone. Of course, now, after some time, such a division seems strange and absurd, but then, in the early 2000s, that’s how it was. The funny thing is that the advent of Android and iOS almost eliminated their predecessors. Palm OS and Symbian have practically sunk into oblivion, and Windows Mobile has transformed into Windows Phone.
Mobile operating systems
Currently, we can name 10 main mobile operating systems that have been the most popular over the past 15 years:
Android - iOS - Windows Phone (Mobile, CE) - BlackBerry - Symbian - Samsung Bada - FireFox OS - Palm OS - Web OS - Linux Ubuntu
Unfortunately, a considerable part of them are already in the past and are unlikely to receive further development. Currently TOP3 looks like this:
The history of smartphones
At the beginning of 2000, a new mobile phone, Ericsson R380, appeared on the market. This was the first device that the manufacturer officially called a “smartphone” and from which the development of an entire class of mobile equipment began.
Ericsson R380 ran on the Symbian OS mobile operating system and had a monochrome touch screen.
Almost immediately after it, a competitor appeared on the market - Nokia 9210.
By this time, Nokia already had a whole line of communicators, but none of them were popular. They were bulky, uncomfortable and ineffective. Therefore, model 9210 was fundamentally different and, accordingly, they began to call it differently - Smartphone. That is, Nokia positioned it precisely as an advanced phone. Then a flurry of development began, during which more and more new players entered the race - HTC, Sony, Motorola, Siemens. Completely different technologies and form factors were tried (sliders, clamshells). The phones were equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard.
This continued until 2007, when a new trendsetter appeared on the scene - the iPhone smartphone on the iOS operating system from Apple.
This keyboardless monoblock set the direction of development for the next decades. And a little later, its main competitor saw the light of day - the Android operating system and first dozens, and then hundreds of smartphone models running on this OS.
What is the difference between a smartphone and a mobile phone
1. Software filling. The phone simply has firmware with a certain set of functions. The communicator already uses a full-fledged operating system (IOS, Android or Windows), which allows you not only to use the existing capabilities, but also to expand it by installing additional programs.
2. Hardware capabilities. It’s unlikely that anyone knows what chip and how much RAM is used on a regular push-button phone. But modern smartphones already use multi-core processors and several gigabytes of RAM. In terms of performance, such devices outshine computers older than 5-6 years.
3. Communication capabilities: availability of WiFi, 4G/LTE, GPS, GLONASS modules.
4. Additional features: Pedometer, gyroscope, IR port, USB.
5. Ability to work with various types of files: audio, video, documents, tables, presentations.
6. Data synchronization with cloud services Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc.
7. Screen size. The phone does not need a large diagonal display. And it simply cannot work with higher resolution due to modest hardware capabilities. Smartphones and tablets have an average screen size of 5 inches.
The first smartphones (communicators) appeared in the world almost 20 years ago. They made it possible to solve the simplest tasks related to opening and editing documents, and were able to send faxes and e-mail. However, the market was dominated by feature phones and small Palm pocket computers. At the end of the 2000s, devices running Android began to appear on the market. What is Android and what capabilities does this operating system provide to modern mobile devices?
For a long time, mobile phones have been a means of making voice calls and a tool for sending/receiving SMS. With the development of technology, phones with J2ME support began to appear on the market - this made it possible to expand functionality using additional applications. But they were very, very far from a full-fledged pocket computer.
Regular mobile phones (not smartphones) can make and receive calls, have functions for working with SMS and MMS, and can access the Internet and send email. There are simple browsers for accessing the Internet. All these features are built into the phone’s memory, so replacing an inconvenient dialer won’t work here. Don't like the built-in audio player or don't have enough codecs to play video? You'll have to grind your teeth and endure.
Some of the market for smarter devices has long been occupied by smartphones/communicators based on Windows Mobile and Symbian. There was already multitasking, there was the ability to find and install various programs. Users were happy with decent functionality, but it was all a little different - there was not the freedom of action that is provided to modern users of Android smartphones.
What is Android
The massive distribution of Android devices occurred at the end of the 2000s, when Windows Mobile (of all kinds of versions, often incompatible with each other) and Symbian dominated the market. In parallel with them, Apple products developed - its smartphones were an icon of functionality. The advent of Android was a real sensation. This operating system has taken over the market for smart devices, becoming the clear leader.
As of mid-2018, it powered more than 85.9% of mobile devices - Apple with its iOS was left far behind. Android is a multitasking operating system for mobile devices built on Linux. Hence the high performance and open source. The first version appeared at the end of 2008, followed by numerous updates. The latest version is Android 9.0 Pie, which appeared in the second half of 2018. Next up is Android 10.0 Q, release date unknown.
Each new development means new opportunities, increased efficiency and increased productivity. Android is an operating system that made it possible to create full-fledged pocket computers, which are all modern smartphones and tablets. Android OS devices can:
- Make and receive calls;
- Work with email;
- Work with any wireless modules (3G, 4G, GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi, NFC, etc.);
- Interact with users via touch screens, keyboards, mice, touchpads and gamepads;
- Access the Internet via wireless networks;
- Make video calls;
- Take high-quality photographs and shoot videos, working with several matrices at once;
- Verify users using numerous security measures, including using a fingerprint scanner;
- Work with printers, external cameras and other devices;
- Interact with smart devices.
But the most important advantage that endlessly expands the capabilities of Android is the ability to install various applications. With their help, smartphones and tablets become faithful assistants to users. Applications allow you to receive information about discounts, make purchases in stores, listen to music, watch videos, read news, surf the Internet and solve business problems. Users can also choose from service applications, sports applications, online magazines and much more.
An important function of smartphonesAndroid – the ability to replace a bank card. To do this, you need to link your card to Google Pay or Samsung Pay. To pay in a store, just bring your smartphone to the terminal, wait for the signal for a successful transaction and receive a receipt from the cashier. Devices with an NFC module have this functionality.
Android features
Android is an extremely user-friendly operating system. A few minutes are enough for initial acquaintance, and after a couple of days even the youngest beginners become quite experienced users. Most operations in Android are performed using simple gestures, and for installing applications, the system has a special Google Play store - here all the software is structured and presented in the form of a convenient catalog.
Simple installation of applications from your own store is very convenient for novice users - no need to scour the Internet and look for software in search engines.
Android is a very flexible operating system. It is easily customized to suit users' own needs, and the abundance of applications allows you to get additional functionality or replace some basic functions.
Don't like the standard dialer? No problem - download another application, replace the shortcuts on your desktop and use the new application. Don't like the built-in player? Just download another one from Google Play. You can also download here:
- Clients of popular social networks;
- Messengers for instant messaging;
- Bank clients;
- Mail programs;
- Wallets of electronic payment systems;
- News applications;
- Clients of online publications;
- Offline and online games;
- Cooking apps and more.
Android is very user-friendly, which means you can completely customize it for yourself.
You can get information without launching applications - for this, the system provides widgets that are located on the desktop and display useful information. This could be the latest news headlines, weather forecasts, exchange rates, people's latest activities on social networks, etc.
The latest versions of Android have implemented splitting the screen into two parts for simultaneous work with two applications at once.
Android is an operating system that runs on a variety of devices. These included smartphones, tablet PCs, some desktop PCs, smart TVs, game consoles, satellite and digital receivers, mini-PCs, multimedia players, e-readers, smartbooks and even wristwatches. And every day the capabilities of the operating system and devices. Buy an Android smartphone or tablet and try out the system’s capabilities first-hand – you’ll definitely like them!
Many people use the word “smartphone” in their speech, but not everyone knows what exactly it means, often meaning simply a cellular device. However, there are differences between a smartphone and a regular mobile phone.
A smartphone is like a phone: it can also make phone calls, just like a regular phone. But besides this, you can add advanced features and additional functions to your smartphone, for example, various melodies and ringtones, which can be found in a personal digital assistant (PDA) or on a computer.
Smartphones usually allow you to send and receive email, edit documents or view pages, social networks and much more.
How did smartphones come about?
When technology began to change, people began to think seriously about communication, they had mobile phones to make phone calls, as well as (PDA) devices such as the Palm Pilot. PDAs were used as personal organizers or day planners that could always be carried with you. People could synchronize their PDA with and save their contact information, calendars, and to-do lists.
PDA technologies have evolved, and over time they have new functions and capabilities. One of them was wireless communication, with which it was possible to send and receive letters.
Meanwhile, cell phones were also developing. With their help it was also possible to exchange short messages (SMS). Subsequently, the pocket personal computer received the functions of a cell phone, and functions similar to those already found in PDAs and desktop computers were added to mobile phones.
This is how the smartphone appeared, as a consequence of the development of the functions of mobile phones and the capabilities of pocket personal computers.
What is a smartphone and what are its main functions?
There is no standard definition of the term “smartphone”. The name comes from the English smartphone, which can be translated literally and means “smart phone”.
A smartphone is a smart phone that has an operating system.
What one consumer thinks should be in a smartphone may be outdated or unnecessary for another. However, there are some features that are common to most well-known smartphones, just as most cell phones have their own set of “standard” options.
The main functions of the smartphone include:
- mobile telephony (calls using one SIM card or 2 SIM cards, and sometimes four),
- receiving and sending SMS messages,
- Internet access using one browser or your choice,
- Email,
- for access to the Internet in addition to similar access using the services of the cellular operator that provided the SIM card,
- Wi-Fi distribution when the smartphone turns into,
- and so on.
The main difference between a smartphone and a mobile phone
A smartphone is a telephone, a camera, a device for listening to music, audio books and for reading e-books, as well as e-mail, a calendar, a bank card and more. Mostly,
a smartphone differs from a mobile phone in the presence of an operating system,
allowing you to run applications with performance that is clearly superior to that of a cell phone.
Depending on the manufacturer, there may be many different types of operating systems on different smartphone models.
Android smartphone is a smart phone running the Android operating system, which is widely used due to its open source code based on Linux. The system is being developed by the OHA group of companies led by Google. The presence of open source allows numerous Android programmers to develop their own applications for smartphones.
Smartphone iPhone(iPhone) is an Apple smart phone with the iOS operating system.
BlackBerry smartphones run the BlackBerry OS operating system.
Other smartphones use Palm OS or Windows Mobile. Many operating systems are simple versions of desktop Linux systems that are available not only on computers but also on smartphones.
Flagship smartphone – what is it?
The term "flagship" comes from the navy, in which the flagship is the ship where the commander and headquarters are located and from where the fleet is controlled.
Similar to the fleet
the flagship smartphone is the best device from any major manufacturer,
with the most advanced characteristics and the best capabilities (working speed, video playback quality and other advanced features).
True, all this quickly becomes outdated, but, as they say, it will come later...
Smartphone application - what is it?
A smartphone application (English: “Mobile app” is a mobile application) is software designed to work on smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.
The application can be games, applications for social networks, for email, a flashlight, etc.
Many mobile applications are pre-installed on smartphones by the manufacturers themselves, which is why they are called pre-installed or built-in. For example, a new Android smartphone is usually filled to capacity with applications from, and a new iPhone is filled with applications from Apple.
An important feature of the smartphone is the ability to download additional necessary applications for free or for a fee at the user’s request from online application stores, such as the App Store (for iPhones), BlackBerry App World, Google Play (for), 1mobile market, Windows Phone Store, Yandex.store and others.
The presence of an operating system allows you to arbitrarily expand the number of applications installed on your smartphone. Such “luxury” was not available in ordinary mobile phones. Here, the number of additional applications is limited only by the size of the smartphone’s available memory, its performance and a number of other technical and software parameters. A smartphone allows its owner, with virtually no serious restrictions, to expand the possibilities of using his gadget.
The operating system on a smartphone also provides the ability to constantly install new updates to both the operating system itself and installed applications, which makes the smartphone truly “smart,” keeping the system and applications up to date.
About the safety of mobile phones and smartphones
Although they are inferior to modern smartphones, they are still often indispensable assistants in a number of cases. For example, many bank-client systems running on desktop computers and laptops use SMS notifications and SMS confirmation codes to identify a bank client and his transactions. Of course, these are just ordinary SMS messages that can be received by both simple mobile phones and modern smart smartphones.
However, the lack of an open operating system in a mobile phone does not make it as “easy” for fraudsters (relatively, of course, easy) as in a smartphone. Simple mobile phones are much better protected from various types of fraud inherent in open systems, with which smartphones are “friendly” and simple old and reliable “hardware” mobile phones are not at all friendly.
What is a pocket personal computer and what is its use?
Rice. 1. Pocket personal computer (PDA) A pocket personal computer (English term: Personal Digital Assistant, abbreviated PDA - “personal digital secretary”) is a small device with wide functionality.
Due to its small size, the PDA is often called a handheld. PDAs were originally intended to be used as electronic organizers. You cannot make calls from a “classic” PDA; it is not a mobile phone.
Now classic pocket personal computers are almost completely replaced
- communicators are PDAs with a cellular communication module and
- smartphones.
Rice. 2 (click to enlarge). Nokia communicator unfolded 
Rice. 3 (click to enlarge). Nokia communicator folded At one time, pocket PCs were convenient for distributing to employees of companies who were involved, say, in sales. Mobile applications were installed on the PDA, working in conjunction with the information systems of companies selling their goods and services. And employees could, holding in their hand a small, essentially computer, see the remaining goods in the warehouse, the work schedule of employees providing services, and so on, in order to resolve sales issues on the spot with the client. Convenient, nothing to say. Nowadays, tablets or smartphones are mainly used for this kind of action.
Replacing PDAs with smartphones hasn't actually changed anything. It became possible to install the same mobile applications on communicators and smartphones, which gradually replaced PDAs. But…
If old PDAs only allowed you to work with the Internet, with mobile applications using a SIM card, then smartphones began to allow you to do a lot more: make calls, exchange SMS, use browsers, send and receive email, etc. But all these “pleasures” use SIM card resources, for which the employer must pay! It turns out that the replacement of PDAs with smartphones “doomed” employers to strictly control the work of “field” employees using smartphones. The use of PDAs in the past did not cause such problems and did not lead to inflated costs in a particular company for the use of mobile communications.
You can find many similar examples, when old gadgets, old mobile phones, communicators, PDAs, worked more reliably (in some cases) than modern smart smartphones.
Results
However, progress cannot be stopped. The ease of working with smartphones, the openness of the operating system, the ability to receive updates, expand functions at the request of users, independently write new applications and other conveniences have gradually replaced previous gadgets that were not flexible enough in nature and functions.
Now you can do almost the same things on your smartphone as you can on your computer, and sometimes more. And we have to live and work in new realities, sometimes adapting to them, but how could it be otherwise?!
