when were touchscreen interactive kiosks first introduced to commercial and retail settings
Interactive kiosk The first self-service, interactive kiosk was developed in 1977 at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign by a pre-med student, Murray Lappe. The content was created on the PLATO computer system and accessible by plasma touch screen interface. The plasma display panel was invented at the University of Illinois by Donald L. Bitzer. Lappe's kiosk, called The Plato Hotline allowed students and visitors to find movies, maps, directories, bus schedules, extracurricular activities and courses. When it debuted in the U of Illinois Student Union in April 1977, more than 30,000 students, teachers and visitors stood in line during its first 6 weeks, to try their hand at a "personal computer" for the first time.
Smartphone The first commercially available device that could be properly referred to as a "smartphone" began as a prototype called "Angler" developed by Frank Canova in 1992 while at IBM and demonstrated in November of that year at the COMDEX computer industry trade show.[5][6][7] A refined version was marketed to consumers in 1994 by BellSouth under the name Simon Personal Communicator. In addition to placing and receiving cellular calls, the touch screen-equipped Simon could send and receive faxes and emails. It included an address book, calendar, appointment scheduler, calculator, world time clock and notepad, as well as other visionary mobile applications such as maps, stock reports and news.[8] The term "smart phone" or "smartphone" was not coined until a year after the introduction of the Simon, appearing in print as early as 1995, describing AT&T's PhoneWriter Communicator.[9][non-primary source needed]