New Video Pits iPhone Click Wheel Prototype Against Scott Forstall's Icon-Based iPhone Prototype

[MacRumors]

A couple days ago Sonny Dickson shared a look at one of two early prototypes for the original iPhone, the iPod Click Wheel-based OS that iPod "Godfather" Tony Fadell was working on. Tonight, Dickson has shared a video pitting Fadell's version against Scott Forstall's icon-based iPhone prototype, which went on to become the basis for iOS.

Fadell's prototype was referred to as P1 while Forstall's prototype was referred to as P2. The two projects reportedly went head to head in 2005 when Steve Jobs pitted the two against each other. While the P1 used the click-wheel interface to navigate the OS, the P2 used a series of touch-based icons to move around the OS.

Both P1 and P2 run a prototype OS Apple codenamed "Acorn OS" internally, though Dickson notes that P1 runs faster because it uses a slimmed down version of Acorn OS. Each prototype also sports a unique logo that pops up after the Acorn OS logo while it boots up.

The P2 loads octopus whereas the P1 has the iPod classic logo. The P2 takes a significantly longer to load because it actually has a real OS, whereas the P1 takes much less time since the OS is slimmer. These P unit prototypes are so early in the development process that they rely on a custom process to be turned off, and can only be powered down during a certain step of the boot process.

The video, and accompanying photos, provide both a look at the choice Steve Jobs and Apple employees faced as they were developing the iPhone and iOS 10 years ago and how Apple explores ideas. As Dickson notes, "P devices" are the first step of any project at Apple. They're barely-functioning devices that allow the company to explore and test concepts, iterating on them until they're satisfied enough to push the project further.

More images of the P2 iPhone prototype are available on Sonny Dickson's website.

Article Link: New Video Pits iPhone Click Wheel Prototype Against Scott Forstall's Icon-Based iPhone Prototype

 

[teddybearstand]

That is some serious minimalistic design there, Scott.

 

[ThomasJL]

More proof that Tim Cook is clueless for firing Scott Forstall.

 

[budselectjr]

That is some serious minimalistic design there, Scott.

My mom would love that phone.

 

[RamalTheCamel]

I honestly cannot see how I could live my life using a phone with a clickwheel - I mean imagine typing on this thing...

 

[MH01]

The one on the left is something the onion would do a parody of

 

[farewelwilliams]

My mom would love that phone.

starting to feel this crazy feeling that tim cook has this master plan with scott forstall:
forstall clashes with jony and others at Apple, so tim made a deal with forstall that he'll take a long leave of absence until jony and others retire. then by that time, tim (now age 56) will retire and bring back forstall because he's a "product person" like steve. isn't it weird that forstall hasn't accepted a job position anywhere else (of course maybe there's a non-compete clause in his contract) and hasn't talked about why he left/was fired?

 

[Keymaster]

And you can immediately see why P2 was selected...note how much the user is pushing the buttons on P1 and not using the wheel. That would have been clear from anyone playing with it, and a wheel on a touch screen just wouldn't make sense when you can touch buttons/icons instead. P1 is definitely prettier, but P2 is already more useful even at this basic level, and with a more powerful OS in place the capabilities were greater. It's interesting to see the thought process that went into making the iPhone laid out like this.

 

[Born Again]

The iPhone has lost its soul.

Bring back Scott

 

[Applebot1]

Very interesting to see. Especially for us whom remember the original rumours especially on,"Think Secret".

 

[J InTech82]

starting to feel this crazy feeling that tim cook has this master plan with scott forstall:
forstall clashes with jony and others at Apple, so tim made a deal with forstall that he'll take a long leave of absence until jony and others retire. then by that time, tim (now age 56) will retire and bring back forstall because he's a "product person" like steve. isn't it weird that forstall hasn't accepted a job position anywhere else (of course maybe there's a non-compete clause in his contract) and hasn't talked about why he left/was fired?

Are you kidding? He's producing some award winning plays on Broadway! /s

 

[Vjosullivan]

Acorn OS? So the iPhone is actually British. Excellent!

 

[M2M]

I honestly cannot see how I could live my life using a phone with a clickwheel - I mean imagine typing on this thing...

Get the new AppleTV with Siri remote and use it to "type" things with the string "keyboard". Should be near enough

 

[ntnskrds]

I love these videos !!!

 

[44267547]

More proof that Tim Cook is clueless for firing Scott Forstall.

Or are you clueless why Forstalls departure occurred? Of course Apple never confirmed specifics, but allegedly He wasn't just terminated because of Cooks doing. Forstall botched Apple maps and Siri was over hyped during his reign, which fell flat. He partly put himself in this position with projects he failed to deliver upon.

Not to mention Forstall was in serious clash with Ive during that period, who was very close to Jobs. So, there were Indifferences between the two. I believe Forstall was a part of Apple's heritage, but we don't know Apple's current standing if he was still employed today.

 

[Naraxus]

I love the "Wow isn't this ugly" at the bottom of P2. I can't imagine what the iPhone would look like had they gone with Fadell.

 

[rmbpuser]

More proof that Tim Cook is clueless for firing Scott Forstall.

I remember the countless cruel jokes MacRumors people would throw at Forstall for months.

 

[Negan Lannister]

Steve picking Scott's design was the right choice. Having a scroll wheel taking up half a screen would make no sense when we can just scroll up and down to navigate. So what does Apple do to reward the father of iOS and a Stanford alumni who actually knew more about code than Jobs did? Relieve him five years later after Steve passed away and make the underdeveloped Apple Maps as the scapegoat because Jony hated working with him.

Skeuomorphic was better looking to me than Jony's flat look. Apple lost two strong personalities within a year for the sake of a weaker and petty one where he looks like he is ready to cry in every product intro. No wonder Apple became fat cats. Nobody like Steve and Scott at Apple to be a strong driving force and light a match under their ***!

 

[emm386]

Scott Forstall is excatly the kind of person that, Apple would need right now.
Strong personality, clear words and probably the only high-ranking Apple exec with a sense for reality.

That doesn't mean I ignore his shortcomings and the mistakes he made.
But as it looks now, they are definetly the lesser evil.

 

[Naraxus]

Or are you clueless why Forstalls departure occurred? Of course Apple never confirmed specifics, but allegedly he wasn't just terminated because of Cooks doing. Forstall botched Apple maps and Siri was over hyped during his reign....

Bulls**t. Forstall was the fall guy for Maps. He was Job's guy, didn't mesh with King Ive & was conveniently shown the door when he rightly refused to sign the apology letter. Apple Maps was a disaster from the get-go and was rushed onto the iPhone before it was even CLOSE to a golden-master. His replacement Cue even said as much saying that Apple "had completely underestimated the product, the complexity of it." This falls on Cook as the CEO. He approved & rushed an incomplete product out the door and when he was caught with egg on his face, rather than accepting the blame as he should have, he foisted it off to those beneath him and summarily dismissed them.

And let's not even get started on the Maps 2.0 that is Siri.

 

[44267547]

Bulls**t. Forstall was the fall guy for Maps. He was Job's guy, didn't mesh with King Ive & was conveniently shown the door when he rightly refused to sign the apology letter. Apple Maps was a disaster from the get-go and was rushed onto the iPhone before it was even CLOSE to a golden-master. His replacement Cue even said as much saying that Apple "had completely underestimated the product, the complexity of it." This falls on Cook as the CEO. He approved & rushed an incomplete product out the door and when he was caught with egg on his face, rather than accepting the blame as he should have, he foisted it off to those beneath him and summarily dismissed them.

And let's not even get started on the Maps 2.0 that is Siri.

I'm not disparaging against Forstall. I indicated his disputes and blamings for projects under his name purportedly. No one specifically can identify the exact reasons for his departure, but I do believe Forstall had an ego that affected his relationships with Cook and Company, which put him in a tight corner until his leave.

 

[Bevz]

I love the "Wow isn't this ugly" at the bottom of P2. I can't imagine what the iPhone would look like had they gone with Fadell.

Ha you beat me to it, i was going to post almost exactly this!

 

[Naraxus]

I'm not disparaging against Forstall. I indicated his disputes and blamings for projects under his name. No one specifically can identify the exact reasons for his departure, but I do believe Forstall had an ego that affected his relationships with Cook and Company, which put him in a tight corner until his leave.

Agreed. With that ego and this face I'm rethinking it being a bad decision to fire him https://www.google.com/search?q=sco...ved=0ahUKEwjR2O2AzLnRAhWrxlQKHV9cDx8Q_AUIBygC

 

[KJL3000]

There seems to be a home button already, but without the square icon on it (i guess it came later with the further development of P2, resembling the app icons). But was the home button's function clear even before the UI (and OS) were decided? In case of P1, the home button somehow would remind users more of the button in the middle of the click wheel of an iPod (or even on the apple remote), but the function of that was "enter" whereas the home button now obviously acts as "escape" or "exit". Maybe the "virtual" click wheel would have been combined with the physical "home" button (to resemble the original clickwheel button and prevent unintended scrolling in the wheel when tapping it)?

So if P1 would have won the race, could it be that the "home" button's function would be the complete opposite today?

 

[keysofanxiety]

Bulls**t. Forstall was the fall guy for Maps. He was Job's guy, didn't mesh with King Ive & was conveniently shown the door when he rightly refused to sign the apology letter.

Forstall was head of iOS software. He's the one who demoed Maps in the keynote, for goodness' sake. If anybody should make a decision whether or not it was ready for prime time, that's him. That's exactly his job description.

That's not for the CEO to decide. That's not what CEOs do. Jobs was very, very much the exception to the rule. Dear me, people here are delusional.

Ultimately Forstall was arrogant. The decision to release Maps was on him, not on Cook. I can't imagine you remember the incessant Forstall digs from commenters here. Or the elation on MacRumors when it was finally announced he was getting booted and Jony was taking over iOS design, which I still think is the right decision. iOS 6 looks incredibly dated.