Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Seven Years Ago Today, Steve Jobs Introduced the iPhone

And I still remember arguing with my brother about what made the iPhone so groundbreaking, while he was citing articles and comments from other "tech experts" who said it was just a gimmick because it didn't have a keyboard and wasn't a "real smartphone." Needless to say, he bought an iPhone a few months later. And well, we all know what the smartphone industry looks like now ;)

Isn't hindsight great?
 
iOS doesn't look too different, minus the bright colors of iOS 7. Of course the way it works internally is massively different.
 
Ah, what a beautiful interface. I miss it. A seven-year-old phone that looks great today still. Incredible.

I wanted this badly, but I could never justify the price vs. my needs. An ipod nano handled my music well enough and I did not need a mobile phone (yet). My first (and incidentally last Apple-branded) smartphone was the iPhone 4s. Great device (until iOS 7, at least). :p

Did anyone catch any "inventions" Steve claims in the keynote that were not really Apple's? I heard somewhere that another company was the one that actually developed multi-touch prior to the iPhone.

Still, to do it on a phone, back then...wow.
 
lincolntran said:
Now I can tell my children and grandchildren that I was there when they introduced the iPhone. :cool:
Click to expand...

Its not inconceivable that you children and grandchildren will not appreciate why such a device was so revolutionary.

I mean, if you were to ask a teenager today what he/she thinks of the original Macintosh introduced in 1984 - beige in color, antiquated looking keyboard and mouse, puny little CRT monitor, and rudimentary looking GUI, I doubt you would get a lot of appreciation of what that computer represented.
 
Am I the only one thinking progress has been really slow?

For 7 years not much has happened really. I still can make it barely through my day without recharging the phone
 
I owned the Motorola Rokr and once the iPhone rumors started getting into swing in late 2005 early 2006 I started saving up for one. I figured it would be more expensive than an iPod, so I saved up quite a bit and was ready.

As for the event, I remember it fondly. It was winter break in college and I was staying with my grandparents at their beach condo in Florida. They only had dial-up, and it was a pain trying to refresh Engadget to get updates on such a slow connection. I remember seeing words like "accelerometer" and "proximity sensor" coming across the feeds and wondered what the hell was going on. I was very confused. But it all sounded fancy and I wanted it!

I flew back home to KC and drove back to school in Springfield. An ice storm hit as I was driving south, and with all the cars sliding off the road I decided to stop and stay with some friends 45 minutes north of town. Ended up being without power for over a week. Even thorough all the ensuing chaos and freezing my rear off all I could think about was that iPhone.

First thing I did once I got back to my broadband was to watch the video and was blown away. Best presentation ever.

The wait time from January to June was agonizing. Slowest semester of my life. My roommate thought I was crazy for building a papercraft iPhone. When summer finally came I had to work a temp job at a bank and it took some convincing for them to let me off early so I could go stand in line. I want to say it was like 5 or 6pm for the launch, which was weird. In the line everyone was so excited. There were all kinds of fun people to talk to. I miss that about launch events—spending time with other Apple fans. On the way into the store there was a display and I got to play with it for a few minutes before moving on in the line. It was like magic, and for 2007 it may as well have been. I got the 8GB model for $599.

After I getting it I kind of became addicted for a short while. I was using it all the time and charging it multiple times per day. When I would go out in public people would always stare or ask me if that's the iPhone. It's quite strange to think about today, but people back then were genuinely fascinated, especially for the first couple months. It was a weird feeling.

Other memories that stand out to me from that first year:

The first software update. I was really excited but scared to death I was gonna brick it. I remember being super excited when they added the iTunes store. Then they added the double click home button shortcut and louder speaker volume. I remember being amazed when they added the ability to move icons around and add web clips. I had lots of mostly useless "web apps". They also added that WIFI location feature to maps that used the Skyhook data. That was really neat. But I think my favorite feature of all was when they added multitouch to the keyboard. It used to be that you could only press down one key at a time when typing, which slowed the process down quite a bit.

Another fond memory is first seeing the iPhone 3G in that spy advertisement. I remember thinking it looked so sleek and amazing.

I don't miss EDGE.

I still have my original iPhone in box with accessories. It still boots up (as of a month or two ago), running some version of iPhone OS 3. I wish it was possible to downgrade it to iPhone OS 1 (but with bug fixes) so that I can again see how it was on that first day. My only regret is that I didn't buy another one to keep wrapped up in pristine condition. Maybe have it mounted in a display case. But I have a lot more money today than I did back then.

Bring on the 4.7" iPhone 6!
 
just watched the whole keynote again from its original date. such an awesome presentation. i remember getting the first iphone and being amazed and not being able to put it down.
 
Dirtfarmer said:
The iPad is a configuration of the iPhone.

The iPhone was a game changer. Like the iMac. Like the Macintosh. Since 2007, though, crickets. Just riffs on existing products, feature adds, revisions, refinements.

They no longer change the game; they just compete into existing markets with an aging product matrix.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I don't know how you can type your replies with a straight face.
 
Dirtfarmer said:
The iPad is a configuration of the iPhone.

The iPhone was a game changer. Like the iMac. Like the Macintosh. Since 2007, though, crickets. Just riffs on existing products, feature adds, revisions, refinements.

They no longer change the game; they just compete into existing markets with an aging product matrix.
Click to expand...

Because introducing revolutionary devices every year is realistic even though no other company in the world does it. In fact, when was the last game changer you seen in any industry? Ok, did the company come up with multiple game changers in a decade like Apple? Probably not.

If you were busting Microsoft's balls I could understand, Apple on the other hand has a few more bullet's in the chamber. TV and watch to name a couple.
 
Last edited:
How much involvement did Fadell have in the iPhone once OSX was the chosen OS? And I always wondered why Jobs hired Papermaster instead of giving Fadell the mobile devices hardware job.
 
Dirtfarmer said:
The iPad is a configuration of the iPhone.

The iPhone was a game changer. Like the iMac. Like the Macintosh. Since 2007, though, crickets. Just riffs on existing products, feature adds, revisions, refinements.

They no longer change the game; they just compete into existing markets with an aging product matrix.
Click to expand...

I think you are half right but have it backwards. It's known that the iPad was in development first, but (wisely) released later.

The iPhone revolutionized the mobile landscape.

The iPad did that (and still is) for the computing landscape. So you could say Macintosh to iMac to iPad more than Macintosh to iMac to iPhone.

Perhaps you should say they haven't really innovated since 2010...although I disagree. The new Mac Pro for example, while not for everyone, is still innovative.
 
Dirtfarmer said:
The iPad is a configuration of the iPhone.

The iPhone was a game changer. Like the iMac. Like the Macintosh. Since 2007, though, crickets. Just riffs on existing products, feature adds, revisions, refinements.

They no longer change the game; they just compete into existing markets with an aging product matrix.
Click to expand...

Well, they're working on new product categories for 2014 so we'll see what happens.

And to say the iPad wasn't a game changer is completely wrong.
 
Last edited:
osaga said:
And our Grandfathers were there for...

The proliferation of the automobile, air planes, and electricity.
The invention of radio, movies, television.
The proliferation of penicillin, and vaccines.
The creation of our the rail and highway system.
The invention of space travel.
Atomic energy.
Computers, and the internet.

But yeah, at least we'll have the iPhone 1.
Click to expand...

iPod
iPhone
iPad

Genuinely trying to make a list of things that we can brag about. I'm sure there'll be more in the years to come, but so far, definitely the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. Not sure if iTunes should be included, it changed the way we consume music, but not completely world changing. What about Kindle (e-Ink)? 3D? Hmm, maybe those are not big enough either... Ideas?
 
Black Magic said:
Because introducing revolutionary devices every year is realistic even though no other company in the world does it. In fact, when was the last game changer you seen in any industry? Ok, did the company come up with multiple game changers in a decade like Apple? Probably not.

If you were busting Microsoft's balls I could understand, Apple on the other hand has a few more bullet's in the chamber. TV and watch to new a couple.
Click to expand...
1998-2007 products that revolutionized the segment that they were in:

iMac
OSX
iTunes
iPod
iPhone

2007-2014 products that revolutionized the segment that they were in:



See what I mean?
 
Interesting there was only a three-year gap between the iPhone and the iPad. It feels like the iPhone was around a LOT longer than the pad.
 
There was an article I read on newsweek or time a few years ago that went behind the scenes on creating the iPhone. From fake names to all kinds of juicy stuff....I can't remember which site it was on.

Perhaps someone on here can point me in the right direction.
 
pk7 said:
Still brings me the same excitement to watch it as it did seven years ago.

Whether people like to admit it or not, iPhone truly changed mobile phones forever.
Click to expand...

Yup..the best phone on the market back then AND it made everyone company followed the same path.

Still worth it @ $600 when it came out AND it still works as an ipod in my mom's car.
 
Wow, how time flies, I can't believe its been 7 years. So much has changed, thanks to apple
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back