GENEALOGY OF THE PORTABLE PCs

In the beginning was the “portable computer”, nothing more nothing less than a transportable computer, thank to its small size.

With the addition of the rechargeable battery (early models had not it) born “laptop”, which adopt the camshell design.

The laptops evolved in two directions. The first one brought to the “notebook” (products that tend to all-in-one), which moved to: 1) reduction in the width and length of the products, generating “handheld PCs”, and 2) the reduction in thickness and weight of the products, leading to the “ultrabook PCs”.

The other main evolution direction of “full size laptop” brought to "tablet PCs", products designed as an effort to innovate  the interface. Existing “tablets” descend directly from them, as well as the PDA (also in credit with the “handheld PCs” family).

From “handhed PCs” focused on the Internet, “netbooks” were born, from those focused on mobile phones came  “pocket PCs”.

FAMILIES OF MOBILE

Here's a first classification of the most commercially successful mobile products in recent decades.

It 's obvious that, at present, there are many more intersections among the different families that pure blood descendants.

But their perception is very often influenced by their original identity, something we can not ignore in defining the media mix of a campaign. A smartphone, for istance, even if enriched with other functions, will still be perceived and lived as a mobile phone. Once and for all: "The medium is the message."