Past Forward: Ode to the Envoy
Allison C. Marsh · IEEE Spectrum · 2022
The Motorola Envoy was a handheld device that heralded nearly every basic function of today’s smartphones. Unveiled in 1994, the Envoy featured an icon-filled home screen depicting an old-school office desk, complete with telephone (a landline, of course), Rolodex, notepad, and calendar; a wall clock, in- and out-boxes, and filing cabinet completed the scene. In the graphical user interface, which ran on the innovative Magic Cap operating system, each icon linked to its associated application. By intuitively integrating numerous functions on a single device, the Envoy prepared its users for the eventual arrival of the smartphone