Psion: The Last Computer
Psion's Protea project resulted in the Series 5 pocket computer, showcasing exceptional software development and innovation. Psion's legacy endures through the Symbian OS, powering numerous phone models and generating substantial revenue.
Read original article
The article discusses Psion's groundbreaking Protea project, which led to the creation of the Series 5 pocket computer. This project marked a significant achievement as Psion developed new silicon, an operating system, middleware stack, and applications from scratch in just over two years. The Series 5 was a triumph of creativity and management, being one of the last instances of creating a general-purpose computer from the ground up. Despite Psion's innovative endeavors, the company eventually shifted away from consumer electronics, with former staff members going on to lead successful ventures in related fields. Psion's legacy lives on through the Symbian OS, which powers over 100 phone models and remains a significant revenue generator. The article highlights Psion's engineering prowess, particularly in software development, showcasing the company's ability to create high-quality applications with minimal resources. Psion's Protea project exemplified extreme efficiency and innovation, setting a standard for software development in the industry.
Related
You Can't Build Apple with Venture Capital
Humane, a startup, faced challenges with its "Ai Pin" device despite raising $230 million. Criticized for weight, battery life, and functionality, the late pivot to AI was deemed desperate. Venture capital risks and quick idea testing are highlighted, contrasting startup and established company product development processes.
Of Psion and Symbian
Psion, founded by David Edwin Potter in 1980, developed games for Sinclair ZX81, expanded to productivity software, and launched handheld computers like the Organiser II with enhanced features and programming capabilities. Their innovative products revolutionized portable computing in the 1980s.
Pocket Z project hopes to rekindle pocket PC form factor with a RPi Zero 2W
The Pocket Z project reimagines pocket PCs with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, featuring a 7-inch touchscreen, membrane keyboard, Linux OS, and USB-C connectivity. Plans include downsizing to a 5-inch display.
12 commentshttps://github.com/SymbianSource
Please, please, someone revive this. It was a pleasure to use.
Junk as much as possible of the idiosyncrasies and slap a standard GUI toolkit on top, like Qt or Gtk or something.
It already has a POSIX layer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.I.P.S.
It's as if BeOS had been open sourced and nobody noticed.
It's more complete and more functional than Genode, for instance. It runs on bare metal, unlike Serenity OS.
Back then I was a serial adopter of electronic organizers. Plenty of them were neat enough on their own, but only a few of them were smart enough to allow for easy backup, or (better yet) desktop access.
Interestingly, the Newton did this really well AT FIRST, and included a "Newton Desktop" tool that ran on Windows -- but abandoned that with the rev to 2.0. You could still back up to your computer, but you couldn't use the data there. It was a wild misstep, since just around the corner was Palm with its connectivity-first handheld that was also half the price and could fit in your pocket. Oops.
You know, I wasn't involved at the time but I understand why the experts would have thought this. And perhaps it wasn't too off base, we just don't recognize the reality because 'functional components' turned out to actually be, like, npm packages or something.
Of Psion and Symbian
Related
You Can't Build Apple with Venture Capital
Humane, a startup, faced challenges with its "Ai Pin" device despite raising $230 million. Criticized for weight, battery life, and functionality, the late pivot to AI was deemed desperate. Venture capital risks and quick idea testing are highlighted, contrasting startup and established company product development processes.
Of Psion and Symbian
Psion, founded by David Edwin Potter in 1980, developed games for Sinclair ZX81, expanded to productivity software, and launched handheld computers like the Organiser II with enhanced features and programming capabilities. Their innovative products revolutionized portable computing in the 1980s.
Pocket Z project hopes to rekindle pocket PC form factor with a RPi Zero 2W
The Pocket Z project reimagines pocket PCs with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, featuring a 7-inch touchscreen, membrane keyboard, Linux OS, and USB-C connectivity. Plans include downsizing to a 5-inch display.