10 Years of iPhone

/ June 29, 2017/ In Between

“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything… and we’re calling it iPhone!” – Steve Jobs

Ten years ago…

Who would have thought that after ten years Steve Jobs was right after all? Apple launched the iPhone back in 29 June 2007. A few months before that, in January, Jobs showed up on stage at the Macworld Conference and demonstrated to the world that he could download music, videos, and maps from the Internet onto a little glass phone in his hand.

At that time, Blackberry’s executives wondered how could a phone do that, but they were not impressed. Instead, they saw iPhone’s flaws and said, “We’ll be fine.” They were leading the pack, after all.

When iPhone first came out, it received mixed reactions. Some hated it, others loved it. It was expensive. It didn’t work with 3G networks. It was then exclusive to AT&T. It didn’t have the type pad. The battery life was terrible. Others don’t want to use the touch screen. Many thought it was going to be a flop.

10 years ago, the predominant companies were energy companies and financial institutions — the businesses Blackberry catered to. With the advent of the iPhone, the predominant companies are the technology companies — Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. Then came Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, etc. — all of these, plus the idea of an AppStore — were apps we use more often with our phones.

The iPhone has reached a significant milestone.

The iPhone became the inspiration for the cultural change. The touch screen became the prevailing feature of what a smartphone should be. It paved the way for Android, Samsung, and other programmers to create more apps. Mobile became the trend.

It changed the way we wake up in the morning because the iPhone became our alarm clocks and workout buddies. It changed the way we listen to music because it gave us iTunes. It changed the way we communicate because of the apps and social media. It also changed the way we take pictures and videos. The list goes on…

And it goes back to the root of it all: Apple’s design. The screen was the size of the phone but the iPhone’s window interface was endless. Touch, tap, or swipe, the apps open a world without borders. The intuitive design made users stop focusing on the “how” of things and shifted to “What I can do with the iPhone?” This is the testament to Apple’s enduring design that the current model holds up ten years later.

Ten years is a long time, especially in technology. The original iPhone 2G may not work as it used to today. It’s sad to think that what was once considered the cutting edge smartphone is now an antique on display. But we’re very thankful.