TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
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15 years later. Still getting chills watching this video. Check it out 
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Today Marks 15 Years Since Steve Jobs Unveiled the Original iPhone
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And I’ve still have only seen the original iPhone in the wild, just once. Lol one of our friends had one in high school. My first was the 4, when apple opened it up to the rest of the public
Oh man, was it at least recorded?
When I was in high school (2004-2008) I got into smartphones (due to me looking for software to get music and HD games on my phone at the time) and even before the iPhone had landed I was telling my school mates that smartphones will one day be at least as powerful as your a average laptop one day, they didn’t believe me, now you have smartphones that can literally run a desktop UI and are the most crucial device in our lives. Lol.
To be honest people still don’t take smartphones seriously enough to this day.
Lucky you, I have never actually seen the OG iPhone in real life, it never was officially sold in South Africa, the first iPhone I ever saw and used was my Dad’s iPhone 3G he got it a few months after launch and I was pretty blown away by the web browsing experience compared to my then Nokia N81 and his second phone which was a Nokia E90.
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
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I remember day one my mother said she was going to get one and wait in line. I felt relief and said here's my card, get two. I worked at Best Buy and my hours wouldn't have allowed me to wait in line myself. I had a Blackberry Blackjack at the time... It was pretty nice having a full keyboard and being able to type without looking, but I was happy to replace it with the iPhone. Having a decent email, web browser, music, YouTube and Google Maps app was just too amazing to ignore.
When I brought it to work the next day, people thought I was crazy to pay $600 for a phone. Then a couple more people got one, then more, and eventually the entire store had an iPhone. It was funny seeing people that gave me a hard time and ask me what I could do with it end up with one.
When I brought it to work the next day, people thought I was crazy to pay $600 for a phone. Then a couple more people got one, then more, and eventually the entire store had an iPhone. It was funny seeing people that gave me a hard time and ask me what I could do with it end up with one.
That was a difficult time back in January 2007. There was so much uncertainty and sadness in my life after my father passed away a few months earlier. But technology was an escapism for me and the lead up to the unveiling of the iPhone helped with that a lot. I remember reading about the rumors for months; I believe the recognition that Apple was gonna make a phone started after the ROKR with iTunes integration. I even had the non-iTunes version of that phone and used it for many years. I remember following the live feed of the event through Engadget at the time using my brutally slow Motorola cellular using a GPRS connection 5 KBps. It was incredible.
But it was the ads and crescendo building towards the launch in June of 2007 that proved this was definitely gonna be a game changer; it was incredible! There were reports of sightings of the iPhone in Steve's pocket at his sons football game. David Letterman fooling the audience with a cardboard cut of the iPhone. Then there were those ads 'There has never been an iPod that could do this, or this, or this or for that matter...' 'This is how you turn it on, this is your music, this is your email, this is the web, and this is a call'. Classic nostalgia right there. I can even remember music of era: Amy Winehouse, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Rihanna, Sean Kingston, Fergie, Beyonce...
I think the ads were incredible and they have held up well 15 years later. I was never able to afford an iPhone for a long time though. Being a broke, student depending on my mom just to pay for data plans and other living expenses. I would always wonder, will I ever be able to afford to own stuff like this? Will ever even make enough money just to get by? Then I got my first writing job and started feeling like, yeah, this is something that is within my reach. And eventually getting a job as a system administrator at a local high school years later, the iPhone and Apple products were not only aspirational, but achievable.
It wasn't until 2015 when I got a another writing gig after leaving my sys admin job, the self actualization of buying not only an iPhone but a MacBook Pro became a reality. The irony at the time, I was attending a Microsoft conference in Redmond, WA. Owning my first two Apple products, the iPhone 6s and Early 2015 MacBook Pro in some ways added a sense of personal accomplishment. Not in the sense of a status symbol that I was finally becoming financially stable and being able to afford the things I want and like.
Since then, I was able to earn significantly enough that in 2018 I splurged on a maxed out iPhone X which I still use (haven't been motivated to upgrade), and a top of the line 2017 MacBook Pro for my sibling.
Overall, its the trajectory of parallel success I have seen in Apple speficially since 2007 and also in my own life that some how bonds me with this company. When I think about my monthly expenditures and where I am professionally in my life. I gotta say, we both came out pretty good.
But it was the ads and crescendo building towards the launch in June of 2007 that proved this was definitely gonna be a game changer; it was incredible! There were reports of sightings of the iPhone in Steve's pocket at his sons football game. David Letterman fooling the audience with a cardboard cut of the iPhone. Then there were those ads 'There has never been an iPod that could do this, or this, or this or for that matter...' 'This is how you turn it on, this is your music, this is your email, this is the web, and this is a call'. Classic nostalgia right there. I can even remember music of era: Amy Winehouse, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Rihanna, Sean Kingston, Fergie, Beyonce...
I think the ads were incredible and they have held up well 15 years later. I was never able to afford an iPhone for a long time though. Being a broke, student depending on my mom just to pay for data plans and other living expenses. I would always wonder, will I ever be able to afford to own stuff like this? Will ever even make enough money just to get by? Then I got my first writing job and started feeling like, yeah, this is something that is within my reach. And eventually getting a job as a system administrator at a local high school years later, the iPhone and Apple products were not only aspirational, but achievable.
It wasn't until 2015 when I got a another writing gig after leaving my sys admin job, the self actualization of buying not only an iPhone but a MacBook Pro became a reality. The irony at the time, I was attending a Microsoft conference in Redmond, WA. Owning my first two Apple products, the iPhone 6s and Early 2015 MacBook Pro in some ways added a sense of personal accomplishment. Not in the sense of a status symbol that I was finally becoming financially stable and being able to afford the things I want and like.
Since then, I was able to earn significantly enough that in 2018 I splurged on a maxed out iPhone X which I still use (haven't been motivated to upgrade), and a top of the line 2017 MacBook Pro for my sibling.
Overall, its the trajectory of parallel success I have seen in Apple speficially since 2007 and also in my own life that some how bonds me with this company. When I think about my monthly expenditures and where I am professionally in my life. I gotta say, we both came out pretty good.
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
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During that time it was a perfect size screen 😝Remember when Jobs said 3.5" iPhone is perfect and no bigger size like the Androids will be needed?
I feel the same way. I was 26 at the time and my friends thought I was nuts to switch from Verizon to AT&T so I could pay $700+ (including taxes) for the original iPhone. They didn’t think I was nuts when I showed them what it could do. That phone was clearly a game changer.
I don’t think anyone watched the original unveiling, Apple wasn’t streaming them then; everything we found out was by the tech reporters live blogging it for sites like Engadget and other sites. The video was released afterwards and viewed so many times as Steve Jobs was on top of his game that day.
A wonderful day, a wonderful time. 6 months later, myself and a few fellow MacRumors colleagues got up at the crack of God and waited at the Apple Store in Fashion Valley, San Diego to purchase. The excitement in line was palpable, even the news media came by. Everyone that got a phone at the store was cheered on by the staff on the way out, and they even made a special dedicated shopping bag for the device. I was the only one at my workplace that got one, and folks came over in droves to look at it. What we take for granted today....back then, it was truly magical. Good times.
Yep same here and just think, a huge chunk of the user base we’re either infants or not even born yet.
Add to that now the iPod shuffle and wired EarPods are being resurrected by tweens trying to be vintage on social media….
Yep….officially old now. And I’m not even 40!
Mine still powers on, but I can't get anyone to fix a minor problem. The power .button is jammed inside the case and I have never been able to get it open, so it powers on, powers off repeatedly.
Mine still powers on, but I can't get anyone to fix a minor problem. The power .button is jammed inside the case and I have never been able to get it open, so it powers on, powers off repeatedly.
I have repaired a lot of iPods but I never dared opening the original iPhone. It seems so easy to break. Not sure what would be worse ?
“An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator. An iPod, a phone…are you getting it? These are not three separate devices: This is one device, and we are calling it iPhone. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.” — Steve Jobs, January 09, 2007
I still get chills watching that.
It can be difficult to reflect back on the state of mobile phones and tech and Apple at that point in time… Getting harder to remember a time before iPhone. But there was. And it was weird. And kind of great - people still interacted in person. Had conversations where factors like body language and tone helped convey the message. Seems strange and distant now. Smart phones were still pretty new and typically reserved for business execs. The only real player was BlackBerry. And that was more or less PC-only. So if you weren’t a BB-carrying exec, you likely had a Nokia something or a Motorola Razr. The only smart phone that played nice with Mac was the Palm Treo 650 (I think that was the number). Back then, you had to commit to a 2-yr contract with your carrier and I had timed it perfectly: getting my Treo, on VZW, 2-yrs ahead of the iPhone launch. It was my hold over. No matter how long it took for the rumored Apple phone to arrive, this would be my last non-Apple branded phone. As a fairly broke young adult, I started putting a little cash aside specifically for whatever Apple had up their sleeve. Funny to think that was just $600. But you have to remember, phones were “free,” lumped into your 2-yr contract. So the concept of paying $600 for a phone then was the butt of all the jokes. Ironically, it was on par with paying $1,200 for a phone today. Anyway, all I knew is if Apple did release a phone, A) I would be ready both financially and contractually (free to move from VZW if needed) and B) their device would work better than any other device in my Apple ecosystem - and that was before there really was an Apple ecosystem. If you “used a Mac,” you had an Apple ecosystem. By the time the keynote landed, nerds from far and wide were falling over themselves for Apple’s take on the smart phone. And boy did Apple deliver. To this day, I’ve not seen another keynote that had as much pent up excitement nor delivered so fully, as that Jan. ‘07 keynote. Peak Apple. Peaks Steve. Easily the high water mark in my 30+ year journey with Apple. Was such an exciting time. And that launch day queue some six months later, remains my fav Apple memory. Aspen Grove Apple Store, Denver, CO. Miss those launch day lines... Feel fortunate to have experienced them. Here’s to other exciting keynotes.
I still get chills watching that.
It can be difficult to reflect back on the state of mobile phones and tech and Apple at that point in time… Getting harder to remember a time before iPhone. But there was. And it was weird. And kind of great - people still interacted in person. Had conversations where factors like body language and tone helped convey the message. Seems strange and distant now. Smart phones were still pretty new and typically reserved for business execs. The only real player was BlackBerry. And that was more or less PC-only. So if you weren’t a BB-carrying exec, you likely had a Nokia something or a Motorola Razr. The only smart phone that played nice with Mac was the Palm Treo 650 (I think that was the number). Back then, you had to commit to a 2-yr contract with your carrier and I had timed it perfectly: getting my Treo, on VZW, 2-yrs ahead of the iPhone launch. It was my hold over. No matter how long it took for the rumored Apple phone to arrive, this would be my last non-Apple branded phone. As a fairly broke young adult, I started putting a little cash aside specifically for whatever Apple had up their sleeve. Funny to think that was just $600. But you have to remember, phones were “free,” lumped into your 2-yr contract. So the concept of paying $600 for a phone then was the butt of all the jokes. Ironically, it was on par with paying $1,200 for a phone today. Anyway, all I knew is if Apple did release a phone, A) I would be ready both financially and contractually (free to move from VZW if needed) and B) their device would work better than any other device in my Apple ecosystem - and that was before there really was an Apple ecosystem. If you “used a Mac,” you had an Apple ecosystem. By the time the keynote landed, nerds from far and wide were falling over themselves for Apple’s take on the smart phone. And boy did Apple deliver. To this day, I’ve not seen another keynote that had as much pent up excitement nor delivered so fully, as that Jan. ‘07 keynote. Peak Apple. Peaks Steve. Easily the high water mark in my 30+ year journey with Apple. Was such an exciting time. And that launch day queue some six months later, remains my fav Apple memory. Aspen Grove Apple Store, Denver, CO. Miss those launch day lines... Feel fortunate to have experienced them. Here’s to other exciting keynotes.
I am a neuroscientist. Trust me on this - no, just no.What will the 30th-anniversary iPhone look like? Well, the "i" in iPhone actually means implanted. Ol'Steve was thinking ahead!
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Who!! Great find @TheYahAreaLiving! That MR post really takes me back. My how this community has changed.15 years ago, Steve Jobs changed the phone industry. Steve's job is one of the reasons why I love the iPhone.
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Update: 01/09/2022 at 07:42AM PST.
I finally found this original article MacRumors posted. Dated: Tuesday, January 9, 2007, 10:52 am PST.
Apple Announces The iPhone
In a lengthy speech that included an appearance by Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Yahoo chief Jerry Yang, Apple at long last announced the...www.macrumors.com
Time flies! Revolutionary, Game changer 🥲
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Thanks for posting this! Big grins over here. Cheers!
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
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Who'da thunk it? Take an iPod Touch (arguably, a reverse-engineered Palm TX), stuff a phone into it, and try and convince the world its significantly more than just a content delivery device for Apple services.
At least someone was able to talk Jobs off the ledge as far as his original plan of only allowing Apple apps on it. I mean, can you honestly envision getting around with the original Maps app?
At least someone was able to talk Jobs off the ledge as far as his original plan of only allowing Apple apps on it. I mean, can you honestly envision getting around with the original Maps app?
That’s powerful man, I think this sort of context is something that’s often forgotten when people debate tech on the web, it’s much deeper than just a gadget or company for some due to stories like this.
Well…. Considering the bezels were huge on the original iPhone, it makes the notch even more insignificant to even it compare it to anything else. But then again, bezels and the notch are only overly obsessed on sites like this.
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