Twitter was released to the world in 2006. However, if I remember badly, I found out about its existence the following year. It was then when I opened my personal account without knowing exactly what that was. ¿Tell what am I doing now? Put only text? Who am I following? All this was what made me wonder what Twitter would really do. I left it parked.
However, a year later, Twitter begins to have a lot of relevance. And no longer as a social network as many indicated, but as an instant communication channel that let users know what was happening in any corner of the world. In full In 2008, the Beijing Olympic Games were held. And the records and videos of the winners began to proliferate on Twitter; that is, users left their message and a link was attached to what they wanted to link to. It could also be said that it was a way of microblogging.
The relevance and use of Twitter continued to grow and companies seeing the importance of this communication channel wanted to get their own piece of the cake. Hence, some companies even bet on launching devices that only allow the user to launch their messages wherever they were. And so the TwitterPeek.
Twitter in the palm of your hand with an air of BlackBerry
Before entering fully, it should be noted that by then smartphones how BlackBerry was very popular with media stars. Phones that had a complete physical keyboard and bet on a constant Internet connection to manage email, was the maximum that the ordinary user aspired to. Therefore, they had a benchmark to look at - at least as far as design is concerned - and Twitter as the main claim, seemed a guaranteed success. What's more, the TwitterPeek would have a side roulette with which the BlackBerry became famous throughout the world.
El TwitterPeek was a version that arrived in November 2009. Although the company already had Peek under its belt, the original model that allowed you to have a device with which to manage your email. Of course, it only served for it; did not have an integrated phone. Therefore, it was closer to a PDA than a smartphone.
Well, TwitterPeek was the version of this Peek from 2007 but focused on its use on Twitter only. The device allowed you to manage your account on the social network, not only being able to send the «tweets» but you could also be informed at all times of interactions with other users of the network. Therefore, it was presented as the first «Social Media» tool of the moment. However, it had some restrictions: it couldn't attach photos (it didn't have a camera) and it didn't open pages in a browser (it didn't have one).
TwitterPeek in two versions
Let us remember like the smartphones They did not have such a presence in the market and it was not until 2010 that Steve Jobs appeared on stage to present the terminal that would eventually revolutionize the smartphone market. On the other hand, this TwitterPeek was launched exclusively in the United States and the price was 100 or 200 dollars (85 or 170 euros respectively). At this price a data rates that could be 6 months or an unlimited rate.
However, as the years went by - a few months later rather - the iPhone revolution began. In addition to the Samsung Galaxy family. The use of smartphone it was beginning to expand rapidly. And the data rates also offered more facilities for browsing the Internet. Therefore, the sense of getting a TwitterPeek was already non-existent; the smartphone met the needs of Peek's product. These were: a web browser, a camera, the ability to manage email, and amazing ease of use - no longer needed a physical keyboard and fingers were used to do everything.
As a curious note, Facebook also tried the same, but with models of the —by then— powerful HTC. It was said to add a physical button that when pressed would lead directly to the social network par excellence. These inventions also left few sales by the way.