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Note-it’s an evolutionary process over the last 16 or so years;

At first, it was handheld video games, mini versions of game consoles, where the thumb became the main finger to play these games with, in the Mid-’90s. One could see 9-15 year old people busily engaged in a mini video game. While it wasn’t a communications device, it was a jump off point for the new use for the thumb, as something other than merely a grip;

Now if anyone remembers when cell phones were bulky and carried around in a box, as I saw in 1992. By 1994 in the US, they became the pocket devices we know of, today. People used their thumbs to turn on the phones and dial numbers;

The carriers relied on  Spectrum technology. Carriers in the USA & Canada, used Analog, Time Division Multiple Access & Code Division Multiple Access;

Enter Global Standard for Mobile Communications, the system employed on mobile phones, especially in Europe. In 1992, the 1st mobile Short Message Service, was developed, when a short message was sent from a computer to a mobile phone;

In 1996, especially in Europe,  Short Messaging was now possible from mobile to mobile. One did not need to use voice to communicate. This became popular in Ireland, as the Emerald Isle, became the epicentre of the Short Message Movement, especially among the young. Having witnessed young Irish Emigres sending text messages from pubs in NYC, across the pond, I realised that it sure saves on sending post cards. One could actually send photos & videos, anywhere in the world, minus a computer terminal.  One regional carrier in the Northeastern US, was the 1st carrier in the US to allow for mobile to mobile text messaging, as well as for news headlines and airline schedule times to be delivered by short message. The carrier was innovative enough to allow handsets to receive and forward faxes. The carrier is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of the largest mobile carrier in Germany(None of the other Major Carriers had Mobile to Mobile Text Messaging Service until sometime in 2000, with Verizon Wireless being the last carrier, in 2001);

Now, typing from a standard mobile phone is not the easiest thing in the world. Truly, it’s neither natural nor comfortable. There have been attempts at making this easier, as one attempts to either enter data or message a colleague. There have been some ergonomic improvements in those regards;

Handspring, now part of Palm, developed an easy to use portable computer, contained with the mobile phone, with keypad, in QWERTY Format, allowing for comfortable entry of data by use of a separate section for alphabet & symbols, and a  bank of #s. One did not have to use a stylus to enter data. One could write/edit documents, using this device, as well as for web/e-mail access;

In September, 2002, a company called Danger, came out with a combo phone/web device, marketed by T-Mobile USA, called the Sidekick. It was advertised as a Desktop To Go, as real web, as opposed to mobile web, was seen on these devices. I purchased one in January, 2003. It was a good choice at the time, because my Windows 98 Laptop crashed and burned itself out. Like the Handspring, it had a small but comfortable keyboard, from which I could send e-mail, use AOL Instant Message, send text messages and look up things on the web.  It also had a small digital camera device.The problem with the Sidekick was that it didn’t support Java Applications. It did, however, open up MS Word and Word Perfect documents, as well as EXCEL Sheets;

Currently, with stylus in hand, I’m working with my Palm T/X, a mobile computer, which can be connected to the web, via Wireless Fidelity, or with an enabled phone. My right thumb is getting a traditional workout as the gripping finger for my stylus, which allows me to enter text and data, as if I was writing in a memo pad. There is a small keyboard, blue-tooth-enabled, which would allow one to type in information, as if one was at his or her home computer;

To think that the thumb was merely a grip and nothing else, until the last16 years, shows how things evolve. To think that the most use the thumb got was gripping a bowling ball, a pair of scissors, a pen & pencil, or a beverage container, tells me that humanity adapts to challenges in the environment and workplace. In this era of I Want It Yesterday, with work being capable of being carried in a jacket or shirt pocket, with small devices to digitally carry that work, one has to adapt. Who knew that the thumb would become the most-important finger in the digital age, as I 1st discovered when sending my 1st mobile to mobile text message, in 1997. I remember in ‘02 when I had to send out a report to my office, from a location where a truck was being impounded, using my thumbs to write the report, then faxing it from my AT&T Digital Pocket net  Phone. My thumbs got a workout, in this digital age, where time is of the capital;

The old expression ”He(She) is all thumbs”, meant one was clumsy. Today, in this digital revolution, it means that one is adept to keeping up in the office by using these digital devices, quickly and quite-well. ”All Thumbs” now has a new meaning. One never knows what the future will bring.

Michael, an early adapter of this type of mobile technology, wrote this report on his Palm T/X, from the Ci-ti Field Plaza, in Corona, Queens, NY. He lives in Wood-haven, in Queens, not far from his Native Brooklyn. He avidly follows the Boston Red Soc, once sending short e-mail to his friends from the Center-field Bleachers at Fen-way Park, on a few occasions. He once tested his new home computer’s e-mail, by sending a short e-mail from his  handset,  from the Mezzanine Section of Shea Stadium, on Opening Day, Tuesday,  March 31st, 1998. The test e-mail was a success.