Evolution of Smart Phones Informative Prompt 2 1 1 .pdf – FSA ELA Writing Practice Prompt Writing Prompt Write an informational essay that | Course Hero

FSA ELA Writing Practice Prompt

Source 2: The Brief History of Smartphones

by Tuan C. Nguyen

In 1926, during an interview for “Collier” magazine, legendary scientist and inventor

Nikola Tesla described a piece of technology that would revolutionize the lives of its

users. Here’s the quote:

When wireless is perfectly applied, the whole earth will be converted into a huge

brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole.

We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of

distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and

hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite

intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which

we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present

telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket.

While Tesla might not have chosen to call this instrument a smartphone, his foresight

was spot on. These future phones have, in essence, reprogrammed how we interact

with and experience the world. But they didn’t appear overnight. There were many

technologies that progressed, competed, converged, and evolved toward the fairly

sophisticated pocket companions we have come to rely on.

The Modern Smartphone

So who invented the smartphone? First, let’s make it clear that the smartphone didn’t

start with Apple — though the company and its charismatic co-founder Steve Jobs

deserve much credit for perfecting a model that has made the technology just about

indispensable among the masses. In fact, there were phones capable of transmitting

data, as well as featured applications such as email, in use prior to the arrival of early

popular devices, such as the Blackberry.

Since then, the definition of the smartphone has essentially become arbitrary. For

example, is a phone still smart if it doesn’t have a touchscreen? At one time, the

Sidekick, a popular phone from carrier T-Mobile, was considered cutting edge. It had a

swiveling full-qwerty keyboard that allowed for rapid-fire text messaging, LCD screen,

and stereo speakers. In modern times, few people would find a phone remotely

acceptable that cannot run third-party apps. The lack of consensus is muddied even