zlacker

> The US can't even make a smartphone any more

Has the US ever made one in the first place? IIRC Apple had to go to China for the first iPhone, were there any brands that could do it all in the US?

>>ben_w+(OP)
When Motorola was acquired, a plant was purchased (a formerly Nokia one in Fort Worth, Texas) and the Moto X line was made in the US [0].

It was a short-lived experiment. Motorola was sold to Lenovo, and the plant shut down, within a few years.

[0] https://www.theverge.com/2013/9/11/4717796/made-in-america-a...

>>ben_w+(OP)
Palm pilot was manufactured in the US.

>>kasey_+2g
And wasn't a smart phone.

>>kevind+9f
Nice find, short-lived explains why I'd not heard of it.

>>ben_w+eq
The treo was. Before that the vii was a smart pager. That is it piggybacked on the pager systems for wireless communication.

>>kevind+9f
Early cell phone manufacturing was more automated than it is now. The "brick" type phones (Nokia, etc.) were a stack of boards with cutouts for the thick components. The whole stack was squeezed together and sometimes riveted. So the internals were well-supported and very tough.

That kind of assembly could be totally automated. Pick and place to make the boards, stack and rivet to put it together.

Modern phones have little pieces and wires all over the place.[1] You'd think these things would be designed for automated assembly, but they're not.

[1] https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/2020/11/15/part-2-ifixit-iphon...