
Product Review: Siemens' SIMpad SL4 (2003) - guylhem
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6733
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iuguy
I don't understand why this article is on the front page given the headline.
This was as much an iPad as a Commodore 64 is a zBox 4 supercomputer.

The SIMpad 4 (referenced in the article) was invented by Keith and Koep of
Siemens AG, not Microsoft and ran WinCE 3.0 and WinCE 4.0, but could run
Linux. It was designed as a portable Internet browser, not as a media
consumption device (the StrongARM processor used was the same as that used in
the early iPaqs that I used to work on with Familiar Linux and wasn't anywhere
near powerful enough to do things like hardcore media playing beyond MP3s and
low-res Mpegs).

Incidentally, as someone that used OPIE I can tell you it was a sack of the
proverbial and nowhere near the experience of the iPad. It was very much
experimental in terms of user paradigms that didn't always work and certainly
weren't suitable for normal non-techie users. To be fair, much of the same
charges could've been made against the appropriately named WinCE at the time.

~~~
edtechdev
I agree, an 11 year old device with 32 MB RAM is nowhere near the experience
of the iPad, IMHO

~~~
guylhem
You have to remember the constraints of the time - just like an early mac
offered a windows (as in WIMP) experience compared to the prevalent DOS

~~~
johncoltrane
The saying goes that the iPad was on the map since a long time but serious
work on it kept being pushed back specifically because of hardware
limitations. Some go as far as considering the iPhone as a byproduct of the
R&D put into the future iPad.

I think that it makes quite some sense.

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headShrinker
There seems to be a misunderstanding. When you say iPad you mean a device that
looks like a portable EKG from 1996. When I say iPad I mean that device that
looks like the tablet "Data" is holding in Star Trek.

~~~
makmanalp
I daresay the power/space ratio of computers increased dramatically from 2000
to 2010 (ipad release), allowing much more elegant designs, not to mention the
absolute transformation of computers from a moderately expensive specialty
tool with side uses to most definitely being a common household appliance
worthy of design.

For comparison, here's apple's powerbook g3 from the same era:

[https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=powerbook+g3&hl=en...](https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=powerbook+g3&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=K5yWUO7eNIrKrAf444GQCg&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1094&bih=685)

(herp derp I R dell computer!)

Or how about the disgusting early powerbook g4s?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:15-inch-titanium-
powerbook...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:15-inch-titanium-
powerbook.jpg)

Looks just as tacky as apple imitators today.

I'm always surprised by the lack of humbleness that apple fanatics display,
forgetting apple's own history.

~~~
guylhem
Indeed, the technical progress allowed a finer device, but besides the
thinness (and therefore the weight) it was as similar as possible to an iPad
with the constraints of the day.

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jakejake
Microsoft and Apple and many other companies were designing "iPad like"
products even in the 90's.

The iPad didn't just fall out of the sky as a totally new product. But it did
have a bunch of subtle improvements that make it easy to use.

~~~
craigvn
Correct. Tablet computers were nothing new when the iPad was released just as
smart phones were nothing new when the iPhone was released. Apple just has the
knack of getting them right for consumer adoption.

------
revelation
_Siemens is known to the public mostly for the cellular phones it builds_

Siemens is known to the public for (once upon a time) powering everything from
consumer hardware, marine current turbines, to Irans nuclear program. The
company is massive.

They probably built this more for themselves than anyone else.

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guylhem
I see many comments wondering how this can be compared to an iPad.

Given the technology of the time - yes it was as close as possible to an iPad.

Microsoft made the OS (a windows CE with minor tweaks) and Siemens made the
hardware.

A ARM powered tablet, with wireless (DECT), oriented toward consumption of
internet content, without any user replaceable part besides a PCMCIA port.

It was impressive in 2001 - and still good enough in 2003 to get many
followers when it was EOL'ed.

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guyzero
There were windows slates available in the same time period, like the Compaq
TC1100. iPad -like in the overall form factor but very far off in terms of
price, weight and simplicity.

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denzil_correa
An iPad - seriously?

