Originally posted on June 5, 2025 @ 9:44 pm
The Mega Brands That Built America Recap for The World in Your Palm
-The Mega Brands That Built America season three is titled The World in Your Palm, and discusses the evolution of Palm Pilots, smartphones and other similar products.
-In 1987, computers are smaller and can be purchased for home use. It began the Team Apple and Team Microsoft battle we still know today. There were also laptops, but they were bulky, cumbersome and expensive…to the tune of $16,000 in today’s money.
-John Sculley was a marketing man for Pepsi and went on to work for Apple, which is described as the extension of Steve Jobs’s brain. Steve’s job was in trouble, so John was brought in to market Apple products.
-However, he promises higher than he can deliver, so he must find a way to make it happen.
-Enter The Newton, which is the very first version of the Palm Pilot….and text messaging, or infrared, as it was called back then. However, florescent lights pose a problem with making it work properly.
-The Newton is a failure and before long, their competition would take hold of the product they want so desperately to market. However, it got a spot on The Simpsons, so….winning?
-Jeff Hawkins is also working on a device and comes up with an idea for a handheld device. He and Donna Dubinksy ends up using a plank of wood as a model for the size of the device and a toothpick to mimic the stylus.
-They start small and in 1996, the Palm Pilot was born and is a HIT.
-Now Microsoft wants in on the action, as do many other competitors. Bill Gates comes out with the Casio…..and Steve Jobs returns to Apple with his own ideas.
-Steve isn’t playing and is determined to take on the competition. This scares Jeff and Donna, so they take the Palm Pilot to the next level.
-At that point, cell phones and beepers are also popular, so Jeff wants to put this all together in one product.
-Meanwhile, Apple is working on iTunes, but you needed a Macintosh product to use it. MP3 players were becoming popular, but were heard to use. Thanks to the transiter radio, things are worked on and in 2001, the first iPod is released….thanks to Jony Ives.
-The Treo follows suit, thanks to Jeff and Donna. This allows people to download apps, make calls and text, which is revolutionary at the time.
-The competition takes notice and tries to come out with copycats, including the Blackberry.
-Steve did not want to get into the phone business, but things would soon change.
-Jeff and Donna see this happening and join forces with Bill Gates. The Treo 700W was invented and added Microsoft to the new phones.
-Steve finally decides to get into the phone business by combining a phone and the iPod….and the iPhone is born…complete with touch screen!
-This poses a problem at first since people struggle with touch screens on ATMS, but when Jony sees a coworker using the FingerWorks Trackpad, which was made for people with disabilities. It allowed to zoom computer images in and out…and it would soon be added to what we now know as the iPhone.
-Steve goes to Verizon to sell his iPhone idea, but they said no. Cingular took a gamble on them and they made a deal….only to have news of the phone release leak to the media.
-Microsoft gets wind of it, but Bill Gates isn’t worried at all.
-Steve and Jony are struggling with the iPhone release, but are determined to release on time. It took a lot of work and on June 29th, 2007, the phone is released with tons of security, tons of WiFi and lots of people on pins and needles to watch Steve introduce it to the world.
-The iPhone became a huge hit and the way of the future, selling over one million units in the first year.
-The Palm would soon be discontinued.
-The iPhone is the top selling phone in the world and Apple is worth over a trillion dollars.
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