This isn’t one of those. In researching today’s post, I stumbled across the Sharp TM-20 TelMail E-Mail Organizer, which has dropped in price from $118.31 to $50. This device was introduced over twenty years ago, and at the time, allowed people to access email without the need for a computer. This pocketable device came with an acoustic coupler modem. If you wanted to send and receive new messages, you went to a phone booth and dialed a toll-free number, placing the receiver close to the device. Because of the limits of the device’s storage, plus the fact that dial-up internet is inherently slow, messages were limited to 4,000 characters long. Despite that, it was almost futuristic. It came with a full QWERTY keyboard. While there were no downloadable apps, it came bundled with several things we now carry in our pockets: an alarm clock, calendar, address book, and memo pad software. Here’s another: Of course, there are more recent reviews which are less glowing. One posted in August, 2019, has the title: “Device cannot use email.” Of course, there’s a reason why the Sharp TM-20 doesn’t work anymore. Firstly: payphones are no longer a thing. You can thank Nokia for that. Also, the company that operated the email servers, PocketMail, discontinued the service over a decade ago. The circumstances behind this are especially interesting. According to public documents, PocketMail rebranded to Avadle Resources Limited, and pivoted to — wait for it — uranium mining. I look forward to the day when WeWork decides trendy office space isn’t its bag and starts developing cluster munitions. But until then, I can reconcile myself with owning a bargain bit of tech history for just $50. Sure, it’ll just be a useless brick. But maybe it’ll be worth something one day? This post includes affiliate links to products that you can buy online. If you purchase them through our links, we get a small cut of the revenue.
