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Early 2005 iPhone Prototype Looked More Like a Thick iPad Mini
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They don't know a lot about many things, unfortunately.
(I've been here for years, and seen the comments here get progressively dumber and more self-centred.)
Uh it was revealed in the Steve Jobs book that Apple was planning on making a tablet first. It wasn't until later on in the development process that Jobs decided to go with a phone first. So that's almost certainly why these early prototypes look more like an iPad than any kind of phone.
I'm surprised you guys haven't picked up on that.
I'm surprised you guys haven't picked up on that.
Exactly my first thought when I saw it.
As for all the ports. No doubt some of those were for connectivity at the time. IE - if they wanted to output the screen to a monitor - they had a VGA port. If they wanted to test the system without wifi (but simulate a radio connection) - the ethernet. And so on...
Uh huh... The prototype is 5x7 inches in size, and nearly two inches thick - though much of the thickness was to accommodate features like serial and Ethernet ports installed purely to use the device in a development environment.
In 2005? Before the switch to Intel where all the PC nerds could finally use Mac OS knowing they could also run Windows? No, Apple wasn't "in" yet.
Remember a good portion of people posting on Macrumors probably never used a serial port...
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Does anyone know if this screen has touch capabilities? Just curious.
It's always very interesting to see how a product started in the development stage. These prototypes are always fun to look at. In this case the progression of the technology and design involved is really amazing.
This thing had an ethernet port, serial port AND a USB port. Wow! All those Android fanbois boasting about screen size, ports, etc. when Apple had the original phablet back in 2005! I really like the all glass front and aluminum (steel?) legs. Is that chamfered edges I see? Not so sure...
It was more of a snarky comment about how some Apple fans are a bit too zealous. And that a turd in a box would still be seemed as awesome.
My favorite anecdot about this is: a friend of mine if a big Apple fan. He's had every iPhone, been a user since well into the PPC days, lots of old Mac laptops and such lying around.
He heard about the Galaxy S3 having a bigger screen and went on and ON and about: lame lame lame. Apple's screen size is perfect. It is the TRUEST phone screen out there. It is perfect. Anything bigger is just stupid epeen stuff. Bla bla bla, any screen size different than THIS is WRONG
Then he finds out that Apple's iPhone 5 is going to have a slightly longer screen than usual
This is perfect. This is the PERFECT screen. Anything smaller than this, I can't even use. This is awesome. Who would WANT a smaller screen. Smaller screens are lame lame lame
He just wouldn't see the hypocrisy in his statement. I'm not saying the S3 is a "better" size, heck it's still a little of the big side. But the whole going from "Is perfect, bigger is lame" to "Is perfect, smaller is lame" was just infuriating.
What we don't know is that this is just a prototype for a future product that we have yet to see!
The iTable! Eat your dinner and have fun on the computer at the exact same time! So this is the Post-PC device Apple keeps talking about! This is what Jobs was originally talking about. This was his new baby!
The iTable! Eat your dinner and have fun on the computer at the exact same time! So this is the Post-PC device Apple keeps talking about! This is what Jobs was originally talking about. This was his new baby!
Pretty obvious this is just a big kit to show all of the parts and pieces, the current sizing of them, the crazy amount of connectors available and the challenges the design would face to bring the thing to market. A design trick.
And they were looking at an ipad first if read Job's version of the story...
And they were looking at an ipad first if read Job's version of the story...
Actually, anyone who uses a USB device today is using a serial port. The proper name for that connector is a DB9.
Looks like a common software target system like many I've dealt with years before. I still remember the Nintendo 64 target kits. Nine PCB's stacked in the same manner with a common set of legacy debug ports. 9 pin Dsub serial, SCSI 2 connector, as well as a few proprietary ports as Nintendo is always doing something odd.
These kits ran so hot that if we didn't cool them with a common household box fan, they would shut down. You didn't want to damage those suckers as they cost as much as some of the cars we drove at the time.
Looking at this kit, I don't see a digitizer on top of the LCD frame. I wonder if it was operated via one of the serial ports. This kit reminds me of the older Windows CE/Embedded tablet displays as the size is similar but the older tablets had a resistive panel.
So the multi touch device must be somewhere else as a attached input device via USB or otherwise.
These kits ran so hot that if we didn't cool them with a common household box fan, they would shut down. You didn't want to damage those suckers as they cost as much as some of the cars we drove at the time.
Looking at this kit, I don't see a digitizer on top of the LCD frame. I wonder if it was operated via one of the serial ports. This kit reminds me of the older Windows CE/Embedded tablet displays as the size is similar but the older tablets had a resistive panel.
So the multi touch device must be somewhere else as a attached input device via USB or otherwise.
Hehehe... That's pretty funny
Some people are silly.
And yes, I agree people like that can be infuriating. But I think they're really the exception rather than the rule-- unfortunately, they also tend to be the most vocal and demand the most attention.