An Inside Look at Google's Reaction to the Original iPhone Introduction

[Digital Skunk]

Not quite 65bit caught everyone off guard once again!!!!!!!!!!!

64bit, and yes. Although for the most part it won't have an consequence on the overall UX just yet.

I just hope Apple can use that power and give me a true Note replacement. Folks have been dual booting Android and Ubuntu on the Note 2 without a hitch for over a year now.

iOS can barely run two apps in RAM on the iPhone or iPad unless you jailbreak.

But I thought what the iPhone did was "obvious" so why did the android team have that reaction?

Where are the shills to tell us the iphone wasn't special and soooo many companies "did it first"...?

No one, even the shills are saying that the iPhone did "X" first.

What they, and the REAL tech aficionados are saying is that Apple was the first to put key technologies together in a very user friendly way. The overall product is innovative.

Dingbat iPhone users that claim that "EVERYTHING ABOUT THE IPHONE WAS ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE AND APPLE DID EVERYTHING THEN BEFORE THEN AND AFTERWARDS INTO THE FUTURE FIRST" are the ones that have to be reminded of that.

For example, there are still folks that seem to think Apple was first to have a music player that syncs with iTunes on a phone first. Or that Apple was first with an app store that could be accessed over broadband. Or that Apple was first to allow syncing or printing or files transfers over WiFi. Or that Apple was first with a grid of icons, or that Apple was first with a phone that connected to Macintoshes, or that Apple was first with a phone that was an internet communicator, a phone, and a music player that accepted AAC and other audio formats via syncing through iTunes.

Yeah, Apple wasn't first with any of those things, but Apple was the first to give you the complete package, in a flawless design that worked out of the box with little to no configuration needs, that functioned far better than anything anyone had ever seen prior, and in many cases since.

If we give credit where credit is due, we could cut out a lot of the bickering.

 

[LagunaSol]

But the world was already moving towards smartphones with touch screens.

They were heading somewhere. But not the same somewhere Apple was heading, per Google's own engineers.

Some people just refuse to give Apple its massive amount of due regarding the iPhone.

 

[Icaras]

Again, this still makes no point that I ever refuted.

Just because I stated a perspective doesn't mean I need you to chime in with your own perspective and back it up with loosely laid facts.

Not that you're wrong, just that you're addressing something that doesn't need addressing.

Those same tech critics and journalists in the tech industry also have opinions, and many of them say what I just say too. Many say that iOS is stale and many say they are leaving it for Android or Windows Mobile.

Even more say that iOS 7 is a total rip from Android.

In the end, it's all moot, because it's just perspective.

Hello pot, meet kettle? If your comment doesn't need addressing, why address the original post with a rolly eyed comment to to begin with?

I totally agree with you that it's all perspective, and I'm just exercising my freedom of opinion on a public forum just as you did earlier. What you said will resonate with a lot of happy iPhone users here who will disagree with you as well, so if anything you should expect quite a few quote notifications and more chiming in of your comment.

 

[mrothroc]

With the first iphone, Apple managed to get people to pay an unsubsidised price, whilst still signing up for an 18 month contract at a price similar to plans that offered free phones. So in essence, paying the subsidy, without getting any money off the phone price, that money went straight to apple... That was the difference...

This is only true in the US. In Europe (and the rest of the world), people have been buying phones, some very expensive, for many years. Europe was smart enough to encourage all of the networks to use the same technology, so you can buy a phone and use in on any of the operators, or the MVNOs that ride those networks.

Remember the Nokia E-series (e.g. the E51, E61, or E71)? Those were expensive when first launched, and Nokia sold many of them, unsubsidized, in Europe and the ROW.

Apple helped moved this idea along in the US, but it's been how the rest of the world works for a long time.

 

[roadbloc]

Now we know the truth.
Android did copy the iPhone.
Enough said.

One engineer ≠ Google.

 

[giantfan1224]

Dingbat iPhone users that claim that "EVERYTHING ABOUT THE IPHONE WAS ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE AND APPLE DID EVERYTHING THEN BEFORE THEN AND AFTERWARDS INTO THE FUTURE FIRST" are the ones that have to be reminded of that.

What I want to know is who actually says that?

 

[MacLC]

So this article is essentially about how Google went from designing a device that copied the Blackberry to a device that copied the iPhone. Imagine how exciting the tech world would be if everyone innovated as much as Apple did and brought to market their own ORIGINAL ideas. Then we'd have true choices, not just iPhones and watered down copies of iPhones.

Agreed. When I first saw that I thought it was a Blackberry. They don't think as outside the box as I thought they might. It's not like they don't sometimes have good ideas though.

Apple's innovation can also be a lag monster. iOS 1-4, double speed, 5, slowing down, 6-7, 2fps. Original iMac, triple speed, rest of the iMacs until flat screens 1fps.
Same with iWork, iLife, and other software. For a few years I used it instead of Office. I just can't do that anymore That's beyond lag, that's BSOD.

Other than shrinking the iPad and adding high resolution "retina" displays, iPad development has stagnated since the first generation.

I cannot speak for a member of the target market but the new Mac Pro seems amazing. I just have to wonder why did it take 18 months between releases and 2 years from the previous release? Seems like more lag.

Hopefully 2014 will be a year of innovation for Apple again.

 

[guzhogi]

I still think that the Microsoft Courier project was kinda cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmIgNfp-MdI

 

[giantfan1224]

One engineer ≠ Google.

What do one engineer and "Android chief Andy Rubin" equal?

 

[JackieInCo]

Nowadays, it is still an excellent phone.

Beyond a doubt it still is. People still stand in huge long lines on every iPhone release.

 

[Digital Skunk]

Hello pot, meet kettle? If your comment doesn't need addressing, why address the original post with a rolly eyed comment to to begin with?

Then don't join in on my ignorance with more ignorance. State something like this first:

I totally agree with you that it's all perspective....

. . . then move on.

What I want to know is who actually says that?

This person:

Apple were instrumental in getting the general public to accept that mobile phone business model though. They wanted control over the price points and presumably didn't want to fight AT&T over subsidies and profit sharing agreements. So much so that T Mobile now base their entire business model on transparently informing the customer of the true price of the handset.

To sum it up for you, they thought that Apple was FIRST to introduce the public to buying a phone outright and then signing up for a two year contract when that isn't the case.

Search the forums for hundreds of thousands of other cases please.

 

[osofast240sx]

64bit, and yes. Although for the most part it won't have an consequence on the overall UX just yet.

I just hope Apple can use that power and give me a true Note replacement. Folks have been dual booting Android and Ubuntu on the Note 2 without a hitch for over a year now.

iOS can barely run two apps in RAM on the iPhone or iPad unless you jailbreak.



No one, even the shills are saying that the iPhone did "X" first.

What they, and the REAL tech aficionados are saying is that Apple was the first to put key technologies together in a very user friendly way. The overall product is innovative.

Dingbat iPhone users that claim that "EVERYTHING ABOUT THE IPHONE WAS ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE AND APPLE DID EVERYTHING THEN BEFORE THEN AND AFTERWARDS INTO THE FUTURE FIRST" are the ones that have to be reminded of that.

For example, there are still folks that seem to think Apple was first to have a music player that syncs with iTunes on a phone first. Or that Apple was first with an app store that could be accessed over broadband. Or that Apple was first to allow syncing or printing or files transfers over WiFi. Or that Apple was first with a grid of icons, or that Apple was first with a phone that connected to Macintoshes, or that Apple was first with a phone that was an internet communicator, a phone, and a music player that accepted AAC and other audio formats via syncing through iTunes.

Yeah, Apple wasn't first with any of those things, but Apple was the first to give you the complete package, in a flawless design that worked out of the box with little to no configuration needs, that functioned far better than anything anyone had ever seen prior, and in many cases since.

If we give credit where credit is due, we could cut out a lot of the bickering.

The 64 bit UX on infinity blade 3 is awsome

 

[kdarling]

So this article is essentially about how Google went from designing a device that copied the Blackberry to a device that copied the iPhone.

For the millionth time, Android was NOT targeted at the Blackberry.

It was meant as an alternative and defense against Windows Mobile, because Google was worried that Microsoft would make Google Search etc hard to use on their mobile devices.

Confirmation for the many of us who argued that Google started its photocopiers the day of the iPhone announcement. And a refutation to many Android fans' claims that Google was already heading in that direction anyway and Apple didn't really innovate at all.

Nobody said Apple didn't innovate by putting neat stuff together. However, they did not invent most of that stuff.

As for Android: because it was meant to fight Windows Mobile, Android was planned from the beginning to work on both non-touch and touch devices.

After the iPhone debut though, Google knew they could no longer start out with the non-touch version.

Most importantly, their surprise lets us know that the Android group had not been told any secrets ahead of time.

--

One of the more interesting revelations in the book, is that there WAS a totally different (and partitioned off) group at Google who already knew everything about the iPhone.

While they were developing Android, a handful of engineers in another building a few hundred yards away had almost become an Apple satellite operation , with more knowledge about the iPhone project than all but a few dozen Apple employees.

Inside Apple, Jobs strictly controlled and siloed access to the various portions of the iPhone project. At Google, some members of the team developing Maps , search, and YouTube for the iPhone had seen almost everything— the chips Apple was using, the touchscreen, the software. A few had even seen the most recent prototypes and used the phone before the announcement.

“Apple particularly wanted the Google Maps product,” said one of the engineers. “Steve, I think, personally liked it a lot and wanted to make sure it was integrated into the iPhone. So we knew the iPhone was coming.”

Vogelstein, Fred (2013-11-12). Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution (p. 62). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.

Which also points out again how much Apple needed Google's help back then. Imagine the iPhone debut without Google Search or Google Maps. Also imagine it going on sale without custom YouTube support from Google... that would've quite likely meant Apple having to use Flash.

 

[Winni]

Android is a fine OS, but no one can deny that the original iPhone was truly an innovative device and I mean that in the traditional sense of "innovative".

Today, companies through the word "innovative" around constantly to describe incremental improvements. In truth, innovative should me a major change, something that creates an entire new class or fundamentally changes the way we accomplish things. The original iPhone started that, it was innovative.

Yes, the iPhone was innovative - because it was elegant and sexy, didn't have a physical keyboard and did not need a stylus to be used.

But I remember that Windows Mobile phones already had web browsers years before the iPhone was introduced. They had touch screens which were meant to be used with a stylus or pen. They were not sexy and elegant.

But let's be honest for a second here: The technological foundation was already there, so it's an exaggeration to say that "the original iPhone started that". It didn't. It was beautiful, but it nevertheless stood on the shoulders of giants that had already been there long before it.

You know, just because the Porsche 911 might have been one of the first beautiful, well designed and street compatible sports cars it would simply not be true to say that Porsche "started it all." The iPhone did not bring the Internet to mobile phones, it was not the first phone on the market with a touch screen, nor was it the first Internet-capable phone that did not have a physical keyboard. (Nor was Siri the first voice assistant in a smartphone, nor was iCloud the first working online storage and synchronization solution for mobile devices.) But as it seems, Apple managed to put that impression into everybody's mind. They're really good at marketing, these folks in Cupertino.

 

[sbrhwkp3]

This makes me grin like crazy. Can't imagine how pumped Steve Jobs would have been to read this. Hahaha

 

[Casiotone]

Some of the naysayers should go back and read articles and forum posts from 2006 up to December when the iPhone rumors had reached their peak.

Almost nobody had any clue about what Apple would release, and only a very few envisioned something close to the final product ("large" multi-touch screen phone running a subset of OS X).

Most where thinking about an iPod/phone hybrid with a click-wheel and/or keyboard running a similar interface and OS as the iPod, and a "large screen" video iPod was rumored as a separate device (Remember Jobs' "They're all the same device!"?)

At the time I had found clear references to a phone in the iPod nano firmware, which Appleinsider published as an article and it made the rounds in the tech news.

I remember being amazed when it was unveiled that this thing would run OS X, even a small subset of it.

It wasn't "obvious" at the time. While some companies were experimenting with touch screen phones, they were very hesitant to commit, as a smartphone without a keyboard was deemed as a ridiculous idea by most of the population. It wasn't seen as the next big thing by most of the tech press. Apple bet their company on a touch screen smartphone, something no other company did at the time.

 

[giantfan1224]

To sum it up for you, they thought that Apple was FIRST to introduce the public to buying a phone outright and then signing up for a two year contract when that isn't the case.

Search the forums for hundreds of thousands of other cases please.

Oh, I get it. You take a rather innocuous claim and morph it to mean:

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE IPHONE WAS ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE AND APPLE DID EVERYTHING THEN BEFORE THEN AND AFTERWARDS INTO THE FUTURE FIRST

 

[kdarling]

Agreed. When I first saw that I thought it was a Blackberry.

The Sooner development device was actually a version of an HTC Windows Mobile phone:

 

[Digital Skunk]

For the millionth time, Android was NOT targeted at the Blackberry.

You'll have to say this many many more times to come.

The 64 bit UX on infinity blade 3 is awsome

Brother, I can't wait until the day Apple allows me to drop a 5" iPhone 7 Pro into a dock and have it start running Mac OSX.

Oh, I get it. You take a rather innocuous claim and morph it to mean:

Look up the word innocuous first, then stick around on this thread a bit longer, or delve into the comments that others have been saying on these forums for years.

 

[cdmoore74]

Apple has changed the world.

To bad that has worked in Google's favor. Apple has been slow to react to the market and Android has been number one for a few years now. It's clear that Apple hasn't changed their IPhone/ipad plans and is becoming niche just like the Mac. Shows you how much Google is better than Apple at changing with the times. If Google can do it why can't Apple?
There is going to be a war coming Apples way that will pit low cost premium phones vs. Apples high profit margin device's that cost double for similar features. Apple will not know how to react.

 

[giantfan1224]

Look up the word innocuous first, then stick around on this thread a bit longer, or delve into the comments that others have been saying on these forums for years.

There's a lot of outrageous things said on this forum. I don't believe your hyperbole is as widespread as you make it out to be.

 

[Soccertess]

Behind

I think that might have been there original reaction, but I think apple should be having that reaction to new Android devices now.

I was playing with my friend's note 03, and was impressed. I found many of the features gimmicky and useless, but a lot of useful and fun stuff.

I'm not too impressed with my iphone 5s. It's what the iphone 5 should have been. It's a solid phone, but no wow factor. Was it Schiller who said "can't innovate my ass, I just feel like my iphone is too simple (with a screen size too small - 4 inch screen size reminds me of the one button mouse debacle). More frustrating is that most of the features in iOS7 were available YEARS before in the jail break community.

Argg.... When I see articles like this, I can't but think we are still living in the past as the glory days are over. Hopefully Timmy can prove me wrong.

P.s. I played with his wife's iphone 5c and was like... this should be a starter phone at $250 max (off contract). Reminds me of Nintendo's desperation, keep releasing different form factors in different colours. I would love to see the sales figures on it....



frustrated apple customer
Iphone 5s
Mini Ipad (1 gen)
Mac book Air (2013)
Apple TV

 

[cdmoore74]

This makes me grin like crazy. Can't imagine how pumped Steve Jobs would have been to read this. Hahaha

So Steve Jobs is happy that Android/Google is winning? Can't live in the past.

 

[NuggetSauce]

Using my macbook air at home, then going to work and using my windows 7 PC, made me feel like I was traveling back in time to 1998.

But now that almost every laptop looks like a macbook, and with windows 8's look, the lines are a bit more blurred.

 

[bsolar]

Confirmation for the many of us who argued that Google started its photocopiers the day of the iPhone announcement. And a refutation to many Android fans' claims that Google was already heading in that direction anyway and Apple didn't really innovate at all.

Then Google's photocopiers are broken. I mean, just take a look at Android, does it look like iOS to you? What they did is get inspired by a groundbreaking product, which is much different from blatant copying. Even Apple did offer solutions "inspired" by ideas found in competitors' products. If the idea is good it makes sense and if you can improve it even better.