Today Marks 15 Years Since Steve Jobs Unveiled the Original iPhone

[doolar]

Wow 15 years, it’s seems not that long ago. It was such a big thing. I watch it every now and then. And here in Sweden we had to wait until the 3G.

It was the first thing I ever queued for in the middle of the night with around 50 other nerds.

My friends thought I was stupid, queueing in the middle of the night for a really expensive phone. Until they unlocked my iPhone with the swipe and tried multi touch for the first time.

 

[mi7chy]

Glad people got over the 'we don't need more than 3.5 inch'.

15 years is relatively new though. Apple II is coming up on 43 years.

 

[stiligFox]

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?

Well, the iPhone came out before the iPod touch did though...

 

[anthogag]

The original iPhone was small. The current iPhone "mini" is not mini enough. iPhone mini should be the how-small-can-we-make-it iPhone.

 

[ignatius345]

I used an iPod Touch for quite a while instead of plunging into the iPhone. It was pretty damn useful if you were on wifi. I was holding back from getting an iPhone because I thought it would totally suck me in and I'd be staring at it all the time. Turns out I was 100% correct.

 

[Tagbert]

The original iPhone was small. The current iPhone "mini" is not mini enough. iPhone mini should be the how-small-can-we-make-it iPhone.

I know. I’ve seen people post that the “Mini” was too small to be usable. They would have a hard time with the OG iPhone.

 

[ignatius345]

“a phone, an iPod and a breakthrough internet communications device”

He forgot one other minor detail:
“the most invasive personal tracking device the world has ever known”

Eh. You could really argue that the cellphone itself opened this door. Even if you have a basic-ass flip phone, your whereabouts can very easily be obtained and tracked because the carrier knows what towers you're connected to. And these days they won't even activate a phone that doesn't have a GPS chip in it -- ostensibly because of the need for location-based 911 calling.

 

[mannyvel]

I got the 4GB version on AT&T's unlimited plan. On EDGE you couldn't use voice + data at the same time, which was a pain but better than before. I also remember tooling around the Hamptons with it, and at lunch I handed it to my daughter who was like 1. Even then it was a great way to keep your kids busy.

 

[MBAir2010]

Riding a Motorcycle was a lot safer back then!
i know we are not supposed to be on them, and every news station will let us know!

 

[R3k]

Bought the first model for my GF for Xmas. The internet was slow as hell compared to a PC, but it was a crazy device. You could tell you were holding the future in your hand.

 

[madzo2010]

Think it was November before the first iPhone arrived in the UK and it was only available on O2 and all their stores closed earlier that afternoon before opening at 6.02pm for the launch. I always remember seeing queues of people outside the O2 stores trying to get their hands on one as Belfast didn't have an Apple Store then.

The 3GS was my first iPhone as I was still liking my Nokias back then especially the N-Series, then moved on to the LG Viewty as my first touchscreen phone.

 

[webkit]

"Five hundred dollars? Fully subsidized with a plan?"

Ballmer turned out to be right about that.

If Apple/AT&T hadn't dropped prices a few months after launch, and further dropped prices in the coming years, it may have been a different story for the iPhone.

 

[mashdots]

15 years ago, Steve Jobs changed the phone industry. Steve's job is one of the reasons why I love the iPhone.

View attachment 1941510

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 🥲
View attachment 1941588

wow, looking through the announcement post you linked and then going down the rabbit hole of post #500 where they talk about the iPod . . . lots of excitement but a ton of skepticism too.

 

[TimB21]

An amazing, revolutionary product in its time, however can we keep the nostalgia under control, today's phones are MUCH better.

 

[webkit]

I got the 4GB version on AT&T's unlimited plan.

That's an aspect that changed over time. Back then, data was the unlimited part of the plan and the pricing variable was tied to voice minutes and texts. Then voice and texts started to largely become the unlimited part and pricing variables were tied to data levels.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

The day smart goggles replace the iPhone is the day I abandon tech entirely and go live in the woods…

 

[sos47]

This epic form factor and design would be nice for a modern (retro) iPhone

 

[3xBoom]

Glad to have been around then to see history in the making. Thank you, Steve and Co!

 

[tridley68]

I remember my first I phone 3g man we have come a long way since that little travel soap dish looking thing.

 

[dominiongamma]

I remember how people thought MMS would go away then, but anyways so happy to start my journey at the 3GS stage and I miss the exclusive feeling of how not everyone had it but the journey through the years how the iPhone evolved especially around the iPhone 4 era

 

[RedGT]

Didn’t the podcasts/music app work better back then?? ?

 

[stiligFox]

Didn’t the podcasts/music app work better back then?? ?

They really really did! I was lamenting yesterday how I miss how easy it was to navigate my music and podcasts on the original iPods and iPhones

 

[headlessmike]

The original iPhone was small. The current iPhone "mini" is not mini enough. iPhone mini should be the how-small-can-we-make-it iPhone.

I know. I’ve seen people post that the “Mini” was too small to be usable. They would have a hard time with the OG iPhone.

In 2007 people were complaining that the iPhone was too big compared to other phones of the era.

 

[Miha_v]

This epic form factor and design would be nice for a modern (retro) iPhone

Cool idea

15 years ago... from the time phones were designed around actual average human hands ?
I miss the feeling of complete control iPhone 5 gave me (compared to phones nowadays). You really felt safe holding the device in hands, even while swiping with a thumb all over the place. And I even read whole books on that little screen, so it was most definitely usable.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

there isn't one every year, i don't think. last one was for the 10 year anniversary. also, do you pay per article or something?..

This guy…..