The fast pace of technological development, particularly in smartphones and PDAs, is nothing new. Yet it's still amazing that only 3 years have passed since the release of the Treo 600.

On November 2003, Wired Magazine's Gadget Lab featured the smartphone. The author was apparently smitten by the device. Everything was to his liking, except for the 0.3 megapixel camera. The Treo 600's greatness seemed to point to the end of the PDA, and marked the advent of the mobile office without the laptop.

Back to the present. More Americans actually prefer laptops over phones to get things done. And PDA sales set a record last year, fueled by sales of the Blackberry.