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First appearance of a smart phone in a comic book
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25 posts in this topic

Interesting topic.

Maybe one of the Golden Age experts could find a panel with someone talking while holding a rectangular object that resembles a modern day smartphone, similar to the images and film scenes from the early 20th century which get shown on other websites as 'evidence' for time travel.

Of course, * Tracy had a prototype wi-fi enabled Apple Watch.

Edited by Ken Aldred
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37 minutes ago, jools&jim said:

Mother Box...?

DHDydr-UIAAZkei.thumb.jpg.440940277d1ed497cb7461e60945ac81.jpg

That counts.  Judging from the dialogue balloon, it has iPod-like functionality as well, as in modern smartphones.

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There is a story in a late 30s Centaur comic, I forget which one, where someone has what I think they call a "television tablet"  or something similar that they carry around and use to communicate with. I remember a character with a face like a skull being shown on it talking. I'd have to dig around to find what title and issue it is in, I can't remember.

Edited by catman76
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9 minutes ago, Dr Zen said:

How about a tricorder? If it counts then one of the early Gold Key comics. #1 maybe?

 

Spocktricorder.jpg?itok=FoBqtmWm

It would be the Star Trek communicator rather than tricorder.  The science-fiction nerd inspiration for the flip / clamshell design smartphone.

Edited by Ken Aldred
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Yeah this could be interesting... are we talking about a handheld communicating device?  I am sure there are Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers material that shows things like that from the 1930's.

 

However, if you are talking about an artist drawing an iPhone or something in a comic... that is another thing all together. 

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44 minutes ago, kav said:

I think it is first app of an actual existing piece of tech not buck rodgers.

Looks like the furthest back might be 1994...

 

“The first smartphone, created by IBM, was invented in 1992 and released for purchase in 1994. It was called the Simon Personal Communicator (SPC). While not very compact and sleek, the device still featured several elements that became staples to every smartphone that followed.

For example, the SPC was equipped with a touch screen as well as the ability to send and receive both emails and faxes. It had a calendar, address book, and a native appointment scheduler. It even featured standard and predictive stylus input screen keyboards!

These features were different and advanced enough to deem it worthy of the title “World’s First Smartphone.”

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5 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

Looks like the furthest back might be 1994...

 

“The first smartphone, created by IBM, was invented in 1992 and released for purchase in 1994. It was called the Simon Personal Communicator (SPC). While not very compact and sleek, the device still featured several elements that became staples to every smartphone that followed.

For example, the SPC was equipped with a touch screen as well as the ability to send and receive both emails and faxes. It had a calendar, address book, and a native appointment scheduler. It even featured standard and predictive stylus input screen keyboards!

These features were different and advanced enough to deem it worthy of the title “World’s First Smartphone.”

My brother was a cab driver and had one of the earliest cell phones:
Early Mobile phones | Barndomsminnen, Mobiltelefoner, Telefon

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I also remember when regular size cell phones arrived-people would find any excuse to use them in public LOOK AT ME I HAVE A CELL PHONE L@@K!!!!
it was truly nauseating back then.

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1 hour ago, kav said:

I also remember when regular size cell phones arrived-people would find any excuse to use them in public LOOK AT ME I HAVE A CELL PHONE L@@K!!!!
it was truly nauseating back then.

Like beepers?

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The first time I remember cell phones being widely used in a TV series was X-Files (maybe because I watched it lol ) I was out of comics in the 90s and never read the comics but assume cell phones were used in the stories?  Not smartphones with all the capabilities we have now but could that be a possibility?

I also thought of the video phone used in the Jetsons but not portable but they did have the TV watch (gawd, I so wanted one of those).  And more archaic but D ick Tracy did have the wrist radio.

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19 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

 

However, if you are talking about an artist drawing an iPhone or something in a comic... that is another thing all together. 

Yes, this is what I mean. 

A lot of sci-fi communication devices appeared since the golden age. 

I am talking about actual modern smart phones. 

We can split, first appearance of a classic cerl phone and first appearance of a smart phone

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Just a thought.  The Japanese tend to be extremely tech-savvy, so it’s possible that we could end up overlooking an earlier appearance of a smartphone in a manga comic.

 

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