Washington Museum Acquires Wireless Picturephone Prototypes

The invention, known as “Intellect,” was designed to receive pictures and video data from a message center for display on a portable device. It also anticipated spam filtering for wireless devices and the convergence of wireless communications and portable computing devices, which allowed users to see, hear and access information while moving in a mobile world.

“Digital convergence is among the most important phenomena of recent years,” said Brent D. Glass, director of the museum. “These new objects make significant additions to our holdings in this area. We appreciate Mr. Henderson’s continued support of the museum.”

This donation adds to a previous collection of wireless technology that Henderson donated to the museum’s Information Technology and Communications Division in 2003, including the Casio Z7000 “zoomer,” the immediate predecessor to the Palm Pilot, and the Atari Portfolio, the world’s first palmtop computer. Other museum holdings include early Internet telephones and tablet computers. -- www.americanhistory.si.edu