I owned one of the first Nokia 770s through their open source developer program, and it was a useful handheld computer but it was no iPhone.
iPhone features that the 770 anticipated well:
- Full-featured web browser.
- On-screen keyboard.
- App development based on a full-featured desktop toolkit adapted to a handheld screen.
Things that make it a strikingly different experience:
- Not a touch interface. The resistive touch screen on the 770 was really only usable with the stylus, and their interface designs reflected this. This didn't really start changing until after the iPhone was released.
- Not actually pocketable. To deliver a full-featured browser, Nokia used a screen with almost twice the area of the iPhone's. They didn't figure out the tricks Apple used to get a near-desktop-class web experience on a truly pocketable screen.
- UI conventions. The original Maemo tablets had a fairly desktop-like interface. Menus, dialogs, a Windows-like task bar. Plenty of hardware buttons. In contrast, the iPhone made a much cleaner break with previous UIs, popularizing things like multitouch gestures and momentum scrolling.
Not only that, but the web browser (Opera) on the 770 didn't really zoom well at all. Nothing like Mobile Safari's double-tap zooming. It is actually quite painful to use now. I occasionally break mine out but it is quickly replaced with my iPhone. It really wasn't much of a mobile platform and quite underpowered.
Comments
I owned one of the first Nokia 770s through their open source developer program, and it was a useful handheld computer but it was no iPhone.
iPhone features that the 770 anticipated well:
- Full-featured web browser.
- On-screen keyboard.
- App development based on a full-featured desktop toolkit adapted to a handheld screen.
Things that make it a strikingly different experience:
- Not a touch interface. The resistive touch screen on the 770 was really only usable with the stylus, and their interface designs reflected this. This didn't really start changing until after the iPhone was released.
- Not actually pocketable. To deliver a full-featured browser, Nokia used a screen with almost twice the area of the iPhone's. They didn't figure out the tricks Apple used to get a near-desktop-class web experience on a truly pocketable screen.
- UI conventions. The original Maemo tablets had a fairly desktop-like interface. Menus, dialogs, a Windows-like task bar. Plenty of hardware buttons. In contrast, the iPhone made a much cleaner break with previous UIs, popularizing things like multitouch gestures and momentum scrolling.
Not only that, but the web browser (Opera) on the 770 didn't really zoom well at all. Nothing like Mobile Safari's double-tap zooming. It is actually quite painful to use now. I occasionally break mine out but it is quickly replaced with my iPhone. It really wasn't much of a mobile platform and quite underpowered.