Original iPhone Prototype With iPod Click Wheel Surfaces Online

[kdarling]

What they gave up was control over the phone. Before Apple the carriers always had the final say as to the phone look, feel, branding, and applications. With the iPhone that all changed. The carrier name wasn't even on the phone, which was completely unheard of in the mobile space. They didn't have a carrier splash screen. Plus Apple could push updates whenever, assuming that the carriers gave it the OK.

All true, but all making it easier for Cingular, not harder. I think that's why, when Jobs claimed to have gotten around the carrier, Cingular rebutted him:

The comments from Jobs triggered a surprisingly sharp rebuttal from Cingular national distribution president Glenn Lurie, who flatly denied that any concessions were made and implied that Jobs' assertions were little more than posturing. "I'm not sure we gave anything," Lurie stated. "I think they bent a lot."

That's what Apple learned from the ****ed-up ROKR experience: carriers suck.

The whole thing where Jobs bragged about being against carriers was hypocritical in the end. He decried the fact that you were supposed to buy apps and music from the carrier walled gardens, and then turned right around and created an even higher walled garden where Apple got all the money instead.

As for the ROKR, carriers had nothing to do with it. Apple's meddling was a big reason it failed. Jobs was so afraid that smartphones would kill the iPod, that he forced a hundred song limit on the poor thing.

I think the real lesson Apple learned from the ROKR, was to do the UI themselves.

Is there a reason none of these photos show the actual unit, just the screen from a dark room? Why would you not photograph that for people who give less of damn about the software and are more curious about the hardware?

In this case, the software was obviously what was being demoed. The hardware, at least with phone capability, would likely not even exist in a form yet that would fit into the desired case. So you work with prototype systems instead.

The same thing happened during actual iPhone development. For secrecy purposes, most software developers never got to see the target device, but only interacted with a circuit box and touchscreen. Likewise, the hardware engineers were given a bogus UI to test with.

Such Apple developer segregation for secrecy is one reason why I grimace every time someone talks about Apple having highly integrated hardware and software. That's pretty hard to do when almost nobody from each side gets to see the entire device working as a whole.

 

[usarioclave]

What's amazing about capacitive screens is that before the iPhone they basically didn't exist. IPS screens were expensive, and getting small IPS screens with capacitive capability was, well, impossible. Kudos to Apple for pulling all that together.

 

[hagemahal]

I wish everyone would stop talking smack about Cook. This video is total BS. a 10-year old could make an app with a split screen and a click wheel that looks exactly like that and run it on iPhone 7 for flip's sake. This is totally fake.
[doublepost=1483735345][/doublepost]

I miss Steve

Oh yeah? Did you know him personally?

 

[kdarling]

What's amazing about capacitive screens is that before the iPhone they basically didn't exist.

I was programming on capacitive screens back in 1992.

If you meant on mass consumer smartphones, then yes the iPhone was first to implement one, although by 2006 it was widely known in the industry that capacitive was the coming thing.

Please go read this post to see references:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-apple-statement.2019978/page-6#post-24030369

IPS screens were expensive, and getting small IPS screens with capacitive capability was, well, impossible.

The iPhone didn't use IPS displays until the iPhone 4. Before that, it used TN. Also, the original touchscreen was totally separate from the display.

As for sourcing it, Apple lucked out because Balda, a German company that was previously only known for making plastic phone shells, had recently bought into TPK, a Taiwanese company which had the ability to mass produce small glass capacitive touch panels. Balda agreed to produce the panels for Apple in time.

Please see:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-apple-statement.2019978/page-6#post-24030234

Kudos to Apple for pulling all that together.

Yep, kudos to Apple for pushing it out into the mainstream.

A primary reason they were able to do so, was because they had no legacy phones to stay compatible with. Other makers still had to support non-touch phones as well.

 

[Altis]

Probably has less input blocking than iOS 10.

 

[aaronvan]

"Apple is a company in which there is a specific job role in relation to the destruction of prototypes."

Why? I'd think they'd squirrel them away in a vault so they can open a museum when they finally kill the Mac and MacOS.

 

[routine_analyst]

If Tim Cook had been in charge back then, we would be on aCorn OS 9.1 by now.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This comment is EVERYTHING. 100% spot on.

 

[morphineseason]

Wish Forstall still worked at Apple.

Me too. Honestly thought he was in the running for CEO of the company as an original member of the NeXT team with Steve. Maybe that's what Tim was afraid of too. Sure the skeuomorphic design of his team's versions of iOS are dated by today's standards, but I'm sure he had some ideas on how to evolve it, and at the time the designs were playful and fun in a way that Apple just doesn't do anymore.

On one hand, we probably wouldn't have half the features we have today if he had stayed with the company, but on the other hand, we would have gotten them eventually and it would have been polished.

 

[SonnyDickson]

Hi Everyone, What would you like to know? Here to answer your questions.

 

[44267547]

This looks like something Tim Cook would have released

This looks like a comment to disparage against Cook to misdirect something else You appear bitter about, when in fact, This concept was long implemented before Cook was even on the radar before he was hired at Apple.

 

[kdarling]

Hi Everyone, What would you like to know? Here to answer your questions.

Hello! Apparently you have a pretty good collection of Apple prototypes. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

In your blog, which is the source for this thread, you comment:

"Much like the first production iPhone, the prototype features many of the same features including an aluminium chassis, multi-touch compatible screen, 2G connectivity and WiFi radios. "

A lot of people here are wondering if you have one, or any photos of one of those prototypes.

Also, can you say anything about the source for that video? Was it made recently from a surviving prototype, or does it date back ten years?

Basically, I'm sure everyone would love any more info tidbits. Thanks again!

 

[Sevendaymelee]

I still think Scott Forstall's presence is missed. Once we went to ios 7, the os lost any and all professionalism it had going for it and turned into a tween-fest visually.

 

[MacSince1985]

Still not sure whether it's real or not, but it case it is, my theory is that it's a touchscreen simulation of physical buttons.

When the iPhone was developed, touch screens were not as prevalent and affordable as today. So this phone would essentially look like the old iPod. Why not test it on iPod hardware? The "screen" size is different, the button row does not exist (although the same buttons are on the click wheel), and the iPod emulation software already existed.

The title bar also says iPod. So it was definitely an attempt to add functionality to the click wheel iPod. I'm glad the touch screen version prevailed, but would not dismiss this as an absurd idea at the time.

 

[magicschoolbus]

I dont know - I think it looks kind of cool and you could probably sell this to a much older audience thats looking for a device. (think grandparents with candy bar phones in case of emergencies)

 

[Suckfest 9001]

The whole thing where Jobs bragged about being against carriers was hypocritical in the end. He decried the fact that you were supposed to buy apps and music from the carrier walled gardens, and then turned right around and created an even higher walled garden where Apple got all the money instead.

Yeah, you don't get it at all. The problem with carrier walled gardens is exclusivity. Sprint would have a different App Store than Verizon, etc. It's not hypocrisy; having an international App Store is a much better approach.

 

[kdarling]

Yeah, you don't get it at all. The problem with carrier walled gardens is exclusivity. Sprint would have a different App Store than Verizon, etc. It's not hypocrisy; having an international App Store is a much better approach.

The Apple App Store is still an exclusive walled garden. And that's not how things worked back then for smartphones.

Only dumb phones, like your typical flip phone, were (and still are) locked to a particular carrier app store.

With smartphones, you were not restricted to your carrier's app store. In fact, you probably rarely used it, but instead went to one of the global independent app stores like Handango, which carried apps for every smartphone OS.

Or you bought directly from a company, like getting the video Slingplayer app for a Slingbox so you could control and watch your TV from anywhere in the world. Or buying a Navigation app from say, TomTom. Or you downloaded for free, like getting Google Maps from Google.

Or you went to GetJar, which is a repository for Java mobile apps. (I loved writing for J2ME, because I could do one app that worked on everything from a cursor-driven Blackberry, to a touchscreen based Windows Mobile phone. Virusally every smartphone OS had some kind of J2ME support available, native or third party.)

Apple was the first smartphone maker to create an app store with their phone locked to it and it alone, with the smartphone maker being the censor. (If Microsoft had tried that, people would've screamed bloody murder.)

 

[usarioclave]

The Apple App Store is still an exclusive walled garden. And that's not how things worked back then for smartphones.

App distribution was crap. I know, I tried to collect all kinds of stuff back then. GetJar was pretty much it, with Java MIDP running on junk phones. It was so hard to do that nobody bothered except for the ultra-geeks, which isn't a big enough market to sustain anything.
[doublepost=1483822460][/doublepost]Well crap, you learn something every day; the iPhone 1 was TFT. I just looked at mine and I'd swear it was IPS.

 

[lincolntran]

I wish everyone would stop talking smack about Cook. This video is total BS. a 10-year old could make an app with a split screen and a click wheel that looks exactly like that and run it on iPhone 7 for flip's sake. This is totally fake.
[doublepost=1483735345][/doublepost]
Oh yeah? Did you know him personally?

One doesn't need to know Steve personally to miss him. I miss his boldness and his passion.

I'm not looking down on Cook. I think he's a good person as well. However, I just miss Steve's fire

 

[I7guy]

The Apple App Store is still an exclusive walled garden. And that's not how things worked back then for smartphones.

Only dumb phones, like your typical flip phone, were (and still are) locked to a particular carrier app store.

With smartphones, you were not restricted to your carrier's app store. In fact, you probably rarely used it, but instead went to one of the global independent app stores like Handango, which carried apps for every smartphone OS.

Or you bought directly from a company, like getting the video Slingplayer app for a Slingbox so you could control and watch your TV from anywhere in the world. Or buying a Navigation app from say, TomTom. Or you downloaded for free, like getting Google Maps from Google.

Or you went to GetJar, which is a repository for Java mobile apps. (I loved writing for J2ME, because I could do one app that worked on everything from a cursor-driven Blackberry, to a touchscreen based Windows Mobile phone. Virusally every smartphone OS had some kind of J2ME support available, native or third party.)

Apple was the first smartphone maker to create an app store with their phone locked to it and it alone, with the smartphone maker being the censor. (If Microsoft had tried that, people would've screamed bloody murder.)

Imagine if apple allowed any app at all to be installed. The malware that would flow through would sink apple. I'll bet even Microsoft regrets having such an open platform, the amount of time and money defending windows against intrusion must be staggering.

 

[Radon87000]

Imagine if apple allowed any app at all to be installed. The malware that would flow through would sink apple. I'll bet even Microsoft regrets having such an open platform, the amount of time and money defending windows against intrusion must be staggering.

It must be nauseating stuck inside though because you literally have to agree with what Apple agrees.The apps outside both the Mac and Windows stores are so much better than the ones in them.Even on Android most of the useful apps are outside the store as Google doesn't allow them in as it undermines their policies.Ex ad blockers

 

[kdarling]

App distribution was crap. I know, I tried to collect all kinds of stuff back then. GetJar was pretty much it, with Java MIDP running on junk phones. ...

Handango was great, and some phones even came with its mobile store app installed. Too hard to fully discuss your comment from my iPad mini, so will address later, but my primary point was that:

It's a common misconception amongst smartphone newbies that smartphones were locked into carrier app stores like dumb phones still are. They were not. Locking down smartphones began with Apple, not the carriers.

Imagine if apple allowed any app at all to be installed. The malware that would flow through would sink apple.

Yet Mac OS users have survived for decades, downloading any app they want from hundreds of individual app websites.

Oh the horror

 

[I7guy]

Handango was great, and some phones even came with its mobile store app installed. Too hard to fully discuss your comment from my iPad mini, so will address later, but my primary point was that:

It's a common misconception amongst smartphone newbies that smartphones were locked into carrier app stores like dumb phones still are. They were not. Locking down smartphones began with Apple, not the carriers.



Yet Mac OS users have survived for decades, downloading any app they want from hundreds of individual app websites.

Oh the horror

Mac is not a walled garden operating system.

 

[chimes]

Wish Forstall still worked at Apple.

He'll be back.

 

[kdarling]

Mac is not a walled garden operating system.

Since iOS is a port of Mac OS, why do you feel that iOS could not operate the same way?

You see, when you say something like this:

Imagine if apple allowed any app at all to be installed. The malware that would flow through would sink apple.

What you're really saying, is that you think iOS is so incredibly insecure, that without app vetting, malware on it would sink iOS and Apple.

(Not that the non-source-code vetting that Apple gives can possibly find all malware anyway. Even vetted iOS apps often send a lot of personal info to third party servers.)

 

[I7guy]

Since iOS is a port of Mac OS, why do you feel that iOS could not operate the same way?

You see, when you say something like this:



What you're really saying, is that you think iOS is so incredibly insecure, that without app vetting, malware on it would sink iOS and Apple.

(Not that the non-source-code vetting that Apple gives can possibly find all malware anyway. Even vetted iOS apps often send a lot of personal info to third party servers.)

Actually IOS compared to the other operating systems in the same space, seems to be very secure.

But you make a good point, an operating system without a walled garden, such as windows is constantly under attack from every vector. While the entirety of windows is a bigger, more complex system than IOS, Microsoft issues security patch, after security patch, after security patch. By being a walled garden, such as IOS, apple can minimize the programmatic attack vector and ensure the best experience for IOS users.

That's quite a bit different than making the assumption and reading between the lines that IOS is incredibly insecure. Besides I could say what I want(as people often do anyway), doesn't make it right or close to the truth.

Apple will never stop it's apps from being sneaky. In fact, no vendor will ever stop apps that run on their platform from being "sneaky". The only thing vendors can do is limit access through permissions to system resources, which apple already does.