Just watched the iPhone intro at 2007 WWDC..

[Tones2]

A lot of iPhone haters up in here. Why are you guys here?

It's like going to church and walking around telling everyone there is no God.

I don't care that you hate the iPhone, but it concerns me that you took time to join a forum to preach that.

Fact: the iPhone revolutionized smart phones. No ifs ands or buts. Without the iPhone, phones wouldn't be where they are. Get. Over. It.

Well, I'm not an iPhone hater. I'm a brainwashed fanboy bring-back-to-actual-reality clarifier.

I like the iPhone. I've owned every single one after the first one. I like the ecosystem. It's just wasn't this crazy revolutionary product. It's first ineration wasn't all that good. But so what, that was then and this is now.

 

[alent1234]

Huh? Do you really think you were one of a few that had smart phones prior to the iPhone? Have you heard of the Blackberry? Palm Treo? Everyone with a job had a smartphone prior to the iPhone. We all have extensive experience with life prior to the iPhone. We can all judge the merits of the iPhone. People might not feel that the iPhone is revolutionary or even any good right now...but in 2007 it made the competition look as hopeless as they were. It organized the business and personal lives of people into a single device. It immediately put the mp3, pocket camera, PDA and dumb phones markets on notice.

yes, i had a BB before the iphone. it did email good and that's it. the apps were crap and useless.

the original iphone was crap too but the 3G with the app store was so much better than BB

 

[ecwhite4S]

No, I am not not reading. Maybe you're talking about those guys who just stated simple facts about the original iPhone having a bad camera and such. It's true; my Razr (best phone ever if you just want a phone) had a lot of features that the iPhone lacked.

No I'm talking about the people that claim the original iPhone wasn't revolutionary and unlike anything at the time. I had a razr and I did like it, but I wouldn't say that it had more features than an iPhone. Not even close, are you high?

 

[Tones2]

who cares about flash when the camera is like 1mp and the photos suck?

long list of specs is useless if the specs don't work very well.

i tried android last year and the ms exchange was buggy and worse than iOS. and the phone wouldn't play pandora and spotify through my car's USB

Well, you can't take ANY picture at night without a flash, bad or good. And it DID work well - you guys just keep making those silly untrue statements.

And Android are NOT buggy and I have no idea why pandora didn't work since it works for everyone else. But that's a whole nuther' thing.

 

[ecwhite4S]

Well, I'm not an iPhone hater. I'm a brainwashed fanboy bring-back-to-actual-reality clarifier.

I like the iPhone. I've owned every single one after the first one. I like the ecosystem. It's just wasn't this crazy revolutionary product. It's first ineration wasn't all that good. But so what, that was then and this is now.

Well im not a fanboy at all, this is my first iPhone and only apple product and I can admit that the iPhone revolutionized phones. Anyone who can't see that is either blind or just disagreeing to disagree.

 

[Technarchy]

HTC - they were the king of smartphone at the time. They had a touch interface ALREADY for several years, which kept getting better

Please dear lord, you better not be referring to TouchFlo, which was a big sack of turds.

 

[Tones2]

Huh? Do you really think you were one of a few that had smart phones prior to the iPhone? Have you heard of the Blackberry? Palm Treo? Everyone with a job had a smartphone prior to the iPhone. We all have extensive experience with life prior to the iPhone. We can all judge the merits of the iPhone. People might not feel that the iPhone is revolutionary or even any good right now...but in 2007 it made the competition look as hopeless as they were. It organized the business and personal lives of people into a single device. It immediately put the mp3, pocket camera, PDA and dumb phones markets on notice.

I am i no way talking about the BUSINESS phones at the time, like Blackberry's. Even though they were technically called "smart phones" they were in no way media consumer devices like HTC and Sony smartphones. Yes, the original iPhone was better than a business oriented Blackberry, I'll concede to that. But that's NOT what I'm talking about.

 

[pdutta2000]

I am i no way talking about the BUSINESS phones at the time, like Blackberry's. Even though they were technically called "smart phones" they were in no way media consumer devices like HTC and Sony smartphones. Yes, the original iPhone was better than a business oriented Blackberry, I'll concede to that. But that's NOT what I'm talking about.

I get ya. I see where your coming from. Let me counter with the original iPhone was the first phone that gave users hope for the future. And by users I mean all phone buyers. By having email, phone, contacts and calendar, business users immediately saw the future of an integrated experience. A single device for all my business. With iPod, camera, text messaging, maps and photos, media buyers immediately saw the future as well. A single device for all my media. The fact that this was on one phone is what made the original iPhone revolutionary. A single device for my whole life both work and play. It might not have done all of these items the very best but you were excited for the future.

 

[alent1234]

Well, you can't take ANY picture at night without a flash, bad or good. And it DID work well - you guys just keep making those silly untrue statements.

And Android are NOT buggy and I have no idea why pandora didn't work since it works for everyone else. But that's a whole nuther' thing.

in 2007 everyone had a point and shoot so no need for flash. the point and shoots were a lot better than the crappy original iphone camera. even the 3GS was so so by 2009 point and shoot standards.

pandora didn't work through the car's USB because android phones are open and use standard micro USB ports. i think those only support charging and no data. best i get with android is it will play mp3's on the phone's flash storage. but no support for playlists or any metadata like i get with my iphone

my honda CR-v stereo can control my iphone from the steering wheel because of the proprietary apple cable.

 

[kdarling]

What was funny at the time, is that everyone knew Apple was going to bring out a phone and that its name was probably going to be "iPhone".

Chinese tech papers had reported production feelers back in November. Fanboys were pumping out concept designs, almost all of which involved a touch clickwheel. YouTube examples here mixed in with video iPod concepts.


You have to watch that YouTube video link above the photo. Seriously

--

The other thing that I remember is how Jobs cleverly and oh so nonchalantly avoided the Apple website, which IIRC either used Flash at the time and/or had so many iframes it was virtually unnavigable on any smartphone:

"All right, now I want to show you something incredible. I want to show you Safari running on a mobile device. So let’s go to the Web, and here we are. I’m going to load in, rather than apple.com here, a more universal site. I’m going to load in the New York Times, ... ."

I remember thinking "aha!". Of course, the Apple website was totally rewritten to work better on mobile Safari before the iPhone went on sale

 

[Tones2]

I get ya. I see where your coming from. Let me counter with the original iPhone was the first phone that gave users hope for the future. And by users I mean all phone buyers. By having email, phone, contacts and calendar, business users immediately saw the future of an integrated experience. A single device for all my business. With iPod, camera, text messaging, maps and photos, media buyers immediately saw the future as well. A single device for all my media. The fact that this was on one phone is what made the original iPhone revolutionary. A single device for my whole life both work and play. It might not have done all of these items the very best but you were excited for the future.

Yes, but what I'm saying is that "single devices all all of your media" ALREADY existed at the time. Like the HTC Tilt that I had - it could do all that PLUS run third party apps for things like eBook readers, internet radio streaming, games, etc. To have a new phone that DIDN'T have those things was definitely a backwards step. Heck it couldn't eaven CUT / COPY and PASTE anything until like 2 years later, not that there was much to paste TO on the original iPhone, mind you.

Like I said, what made the iPhone a hit was first that it came from Apple (with it's superior marketing, design and consumer awareness) and the fact that Apple made people who never used smartphons before believe that this was the only phone that could do these simple smartphone things. PLUS, at the time, Apple's music was DRM protected, so you could ONLY play iTunes music (which a LOT of people had because of the iPod popularity) on an Apple device. Add the coolness of the multi-touch interface, which WAS cool, and that's why the phone took over the market so quickly.

I was a big iPod fan and was EAGERLY awaiting the iPhone announcement at the time. But was hugely disappointed with it because of all the things it could NOT do that I could already do on the phone I had.

The iPhone 3G was really the phone that made the difference to me, even though the first version of OS 2 REALLY sucked. It crashed and bricked phones continuously and took Apple about 3+ months to sort out, always blaming 3rd party apps for the crashes (which of course wasn't true).

Note that before any version of the iPhone came out, I was the biggest Apple fanboy around. I LOVED my iPod (versions) and iTunes. But the initial iPhone disappointment and the initial bad OS 2 experience I had started to all turn me sour, and continued through the lack of current market features with new phones, although it took me until about a month ago to switch to Android because I was so tied into the ecosystem.

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in 2007 everyone had a point and shoot so no need for flash. the point and shoots were a lot better than the crappy original iphone camera. even the 3GS was so so by 2009 point and shoot standards.

pandora didn't work through the car's USB because android phones are open and use standard micro USB ports. i think those only support charging and no data. best i get with android is it will play mp3's on the phone's flash storage. but no support for playlists or any metadata like i get with my iphone

my honda CR-v stereo can control my iphone from the steering wheel because of the proprietary apple cable.

But I don't carry a point and click camera in my pocket, or ever really. My phone was my camera, and it was good enough for casual picture taking, which I take mostly indoors and / or at night where a flash is ESSENTIAL.

You can get data from a USB port. It's a friggin' fully functional USB port!! You can CERTAINLY get playlists and COMPLETE metadata with Android phones. There are about 100 apps, both free and paid (such as PlayerPro, Power Amp and many others), that will not only DISPLAY metadata and allow you to read and create playlists, but also allow you to SEARCH for missing data and / or edit it RIGHT ON YOUR PHONE, and save it back to your PC library. Furthermore, you can sync with iTunes itself directly and use the songs and playlists from your iTunes library using 3rd party apps like Double Twist and iSyncr, amongst others.

It's scary sometims how people make judgements based upon really no actual factual data.

 

[alent1234]

Yes, but what I'm saying is that "single devices all all of your media" ALREADY existed at the time. Like the HTC Tilt that I had - it could do all that PLUS run third party apps for things like eBook readers, internet radio streaming, games, etc. To have a new phone that DIDN'T have those things was definitely a backwards step.

Like I said, what made the iPhone a hit was first that it came from Apple (with it's superior marketing, design and consumer awareness) and the fact that Apple made people who never used smartphons before believe that this was the only phone that could do these simple smartphone things. PLUS, at the time, Apple's music was DRM protected, so you could ONLY play iTunes music (which a LOT of people had because of the iPod popularity) on an Apple device. Add the coolness of the multi-touch interface, which WAS cool, and that's why the phone took over the market so quickly.

I was a big iPod fan and was EAGERLY awaiting the iPhone announcement at the time. But was hugely disappointed with it because of all the things it could NOT do that I could already do on the phone I had.

The iPhone 3G was really the phone that made the difference to me, even though the first version of OS 2 REALLY sucked. It crashed and bricked phones continuously and took Appl about 3+ months to sort out, always blaming 3rd party apps for the crashed (which of course wasn't true).

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But I don't carr a point and click camera in my pocket, or ever really. My phone was my camera, and it was good enough for casual picture taking.

You can get data from a USB port. It's a friggin' fully functional USB port!! You can CERTAINLY get playlists and COMPLETE metadata with Android phones. There are about 100 apps, both free and paid (such as PlayerPro, Power Amp and many others), that will not only DISPLAY metadata and allow you to read and create playlists, but also allow you to SEARCH for missing data and / or edit it RIGHT ON YOUR PHONE, and save it back to your PC library. Furthermore, you can sync with iTunes itself directly and use the songs and playlists from your iTunes library using 3rd party apps like Double Twist and iSyncr, amongst others.

It's scary sometims how people make judgements based upon really no actual factual data.

double twist is crap and last thing i want to do is make a playlist on my phone. easier in itunes and just select which one to have on the phone at any one time.

lots of people are married and/or have kids. whole point of point and shoot and now DSLR is to have good quality photos of family functions

and i tried my 2 android phones on my USB, neither one worked in my car with apps like pandora. maybe samsung does but i'm on a family at&t plan and can't bounce around carriers looking for the one android phone that works

 

[Tones2]

double twist is crap and last thing i want to do is make a playlist on my phone. easier in itunes and just select which one to have on the phone at any one time.

lots of people are married and/or have kids. whole point of point and shoot and now DSLR is to have good quality photos of family functions

and i tried my 2 android phones on my USB, neither one worked in my car with apps like pandora. maybe samsung does but i'm on a family at&t plan and can't bounce around carriers looking for the one android phone that works

I use iSyncr and it works perfectly. It syncs with iTunes with one click of a button and transfer all of your iTunes songs (complete with all metadata) and playlists. It's very easy and works without intervention.

Of course, you don't HAVE to be tied to iTunes either. With Android, you can use ANY computer based media manager to sync to, like WinAmp or a slew of others, and create playlists on the PC. Don't blame the PHONE because you limit yourself to be tied to a particular ecosystem. Yes, it's effort and you may not want to do it, but that's nothing to do with the phone itself. If you were coming in completely new than using iTunes wouldn't matter much.

 

[Tones2]

What was funny at the time, is that everyone knew Apple was going to bring out a phone and that its name was probably going to be "iPhone".

Chinese tech papers had reported production feelers back in November. Fanboys were pumping out concept designs, almost all of which involved a touch clickwheel. YouTube examples here mixed in with video iPod concepts.

View attachment 349764
You have to watch that YouTube video link above the photo. Seriously

Wow. Those were REALLY bad guesses. Especially based on how other smartphones looked at the time, which were not all THAT different from how the 1st iPhone looked - I mean they all had large screens with square icons to trigger application of functions. The look of the iPhone was not dramatically different than that. I was not surprised at all at the iPhone's appearance when it first was announced, and would have guess that it would look NOTHING like an iPod, which it didn't.

 

[sakau2007]

The iPhone was certainly revolutionary in 2007, and when the 3G came around in 2008 and introduced the app store, that was almost just as revolutionary.

Since then, the competition has rapidly caught up and arguably passed Apple.

So yeah, the iPhone was the clear winner and was the clear innovator.

But now in 2012, I really don't care about who came up with the ideas... I care about whose product is currently the best for my needs. Right now, it is still Apple. But that's mainly because of their app ecosystem and the fact that all my close friends have iPhones... not because the operating system or phone hardware are superior.

It's like me going back and watching highlights of my Auburn Tigers during the 2010 football season. Yeah, brings a smile to my face. But it doesn't mae me feel better that I don't know who my starting quarterback or running back are for the 2012 season.

 

[tbayrgs]

HTC Tilt, amongst many others, primarily by HTC at the time.

I had a Tilt (HTC TyTn II was the actual non AT&T device name, I believe)--actually had a couple of them because they kept failing. I remember feeling pretty much the same way as you when the iPhone was released--no 3G, only iTunes music, no expandable storage, no keyboard, no third party apps (I used Slingplayer a lot), why would anyone choose this over a Windows Mobile device? (ugh, just threw up a little in my mouth ). Well, after replacing my Tilt twice and getting tired of having to constantly reboot it, I begrudgingly picked up a refurbished iPhone and quickly learned why there was such a fuss for the iPhone. It couldn't do half as much as my old Tilt but everything it could do it did SO much better.

There's only one reason why all smartphones now have a huge capacitive touchscreen, are super thin with great web browsing with tons of functionality. Only one reason why Window Mobile disappeared, why Blackberry and Nokia are next to dead, why Android has such a presence and why nearly everyone has a smartphone. The iPhone wasn't the most capable device but it did revolutionize the mobile industry and believing so has nothing to do with being an Apple fanboy, it's simply the truth and I'm sorry but you're not capable of objectivity if you state otherwise. I'm not saying it's the best device available but the mobile industry exists as it does today because of it.

 

[batting1000]

Thread title is wrong, should be MacWorld 2007.

 

[King Luis]

what a lot are failing to notice is that this was apple's first phone. to come onto the market and completely shock the technology world with something that worked so well was amazing.

yes, other phones had better features or things the iphone wasn't able to do. but when it came to navigating or just working day to day with the iphone, it was leaps and bounds better than any other current phone at the time. and since then, every manufacturer has been taking ideas or trying to achieve the same fluidity the iphone has. some touch screens to this day still are sluggish or don't respond that well.

 

[kdarling]

Wow. Those were REALLY bad guesses.

Yeah, some of those concepts were really weird. On the other hand, Apple originally started with the idea of an iPod based phone, so they were close in that respect. All I can say, thank goodness Apple didn't go with that plan, otherwise we'd all be here talking about how Apple revolutionized the world with its clickwheel iPhone!

Btw, I went back and watched that video more carefully, and found several fan concepts that came pretty close. I've always said that if Samsung wanted more proof that a rounded rectangle wasn't unique, they should bring up all the fanboy concept art that predated the iPhone AND the iPad:

 

[wtmk81]

a touch screen ipod.....a phone.....an internet communicator.....an ipod....a phone.....are you getting it??

That was epic. I didn't follow apple like I do now, but accidentally stumbled on the keynote. I got no work done that afternoon and was completely blown away. Then I found out it wasn't coming to Canada, which really sucked.

 

[daveathall]

As a person who owned the HTC Touchpro, which is basically the same phone, it was damn horrible, and if I could go back in time, I would choose the iPhone all day every day.

Really?

No I am not a huge fan of the 3GS either, but it was designed 2008, and certainly was a cut above other phones released at the time. Would I ever buy a 3G or 3GS, nope.

 

[boss.king]

Let's not lie, the original iPhone wasn't a good smartphone. It was basically a dumbphone. It had an amazing input system and a great keyboard for the time, but aside from that it didn't have anything my 2005 Sony Ericsson phone couldn't do better. Like others have said, it was the ecosystem that made the iPhone strong, and that only came later.

In my mind the 3GS was the first iPhone that was actually thoroughly good.

 

[mono1980]

Let's not lie, the original iPhone wasn't a good smartphone. It was basically a dumbphone. It had an amazing input system and a great keyboard for the time, but aside from that it didn't have anything my 2005 Sony Ericsson phone couldn't do better. Like others have said, it was the ecosystem that made the iPhone strong, and that only came later.

In my mind the 3GS was the first iPhone that was actually thoroughly good.

Are you serious? Mobile Safari ALONE was reason enough. It beat the crap out of any other mobile browser at the time. By far.

 

[faroZ06]

No I'm talking about the people that claim the original iPhone wasn't revolutionary and unlike anything at the time. I had a razr and I did like it, but I wouldn't say that it had more features than an iPhone. Not even close, are you high?

The Razr had more features than the iPhone, but a lot of them weren't as good. There was an app store I believe, and the camera was better and could do video. You could sync it with your Mac and play music on it.

 

[CSpackler]

I initially poo-pooed the first iPhone without trying it; later I had the opportunity to use a friends during a long road trip. I was impressed.

Bottom line is that it works like an appliance, something computers hadn't figured out how to do yet. The interface is simple with pleasing animations, it's easy to figure out how to do things, and it never crashes during normal use.

Load the dishes, pour in detergent, push a button and return an hour later to sparkling glasses. No leakage, no explosions, and the dishwasher doesn't just stop for no reason.

Like an appliance.