Portable handheld technology was first developed by NASA to allow astronauts to use tools in an isolated area like a space ship or space station. When these items were shown to the general public, the need for portable technology became apparent. The greatest technological revolution of the 20th and probably the 21st century is cell phone technology. People are now able to manage their bank accounts, e-mail accounts and purchase items through their cell phones. They are literally taking over other portable technology industries.
Many people question the value of modern handheld devices with the advent of multifaceted cell phones. A cell phone can play music, check e-mail and yes, be used as a calculator. Calculators have serve valuable purposes in the past and present. Keeping on top of finances for business or handling complex equations for school are tasks that keep society moving forward. So, do handheld devices like calculators, MP3 players, the computer mouse and others still relevant in the scheme of modern technology?
The BlackBerry smartphone has its roots in a two-way messaging device called the “Interactive Pager” released in 1995 by Research In Motion, a small hardware designer based in Waterloo, Ontario. Unlike today’s BlackBerry devices, the Interactive Pager did not work on normal cellular data networks, instead using a special-purpose wireless data network known as Mobitex. The device even looked like a pager, except that it included a small keyboard for user input.