todd on Nostr: ...

quoting nevent1q…69er

I liked the Sharp Zaurus SL-C* line the best.

This note from Luke Dashjr (nprofile…mld5) (comment from jack (nprofile…c4e8) ) inspired me to tell a portion of my business story. The Sharp Zaurus SL-5000D (developer model) was introduced in 1999 as a Linux handheld with Qtopia GUI. My cousin and I both bought one and joined the Sharp developer challenge. In our category of device drivers (CompactFlash cellular connection and barcode scanner), we won the challenge and Sharp eventually asked us to provide their developer support service in the US. This launched SDG Systems as a side business.

In 2004, Sharp released the SL-6000 targeted to business customers. In many ways, it was a device ahead of its time. Sharp did not have enough volume to justify staying in the US market. In late 2004, they told their existing customers, "If you want to continue with Linux mobile devices, work with SDG Systems." One of those companies, 10East, started us on a journey of porting Linux to the TDS (now Trimble) Recon and several other devices. SDG became my full-time occupation.

In 2009, when Google released the open source version of Android, we ported it to the Trimble Nomad which was, to our knowledge, the first port of Android to a rugged handheld device. I think my preoccupation with the mobile revolution made me ignore #Bitcoin in the early days, but that's another story.

While we no longer port Linux or Android, but pivoted to being a SaaS and software consulting company, SDG Systems has been a great journey for me, and I thank God for his provision for all of these years.