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7 Year Anniversary of the iPhone


Jeff Wexler

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-from MacRumors site:

 

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the introduction of the iPhone, a presentation that took place as part of the keynote of Macworld Expo 2007 in San Francisco. While the device would not launch until over six months later, that presentation offered the public the first glimpse of what Steve Jobs introduced as three devices in one: a touchscreen iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator.

 

"Today, we're introducing three revolutionary products. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device. So, three things: a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough Internet communications device. 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."

 

 

This was classic Steve Jobs presentation --- I truly miss him even today.

 

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While it was certainly revolutionary when introduced 7 years ago and helped move the cell phone industry in a new direction of the "Smart Phone",  It certainly hasn't kept up with the competition.   If you look at those pictures of the iPhone of 2007 and the current model, there isn't much difference.   Then look at the average  Google Motorola or Samsung smart phone from their beginning to the current models and there is a big difference.   Newer Android phones have bigger screens are much thinner and last a lot longer on a charge.  Of course they both have more apps available now than anyone could ever use so that race is about even..  

 

I think Apple needs to abandon the narrow small screen and join the competition with Wide 5" screens and better battery life. I also think they need to abandon the "Closed Garden" concept and open the OS File system to the outside world to make it more competitive with their rivals.

 

People use their phones for e-reading and shopping and viewing important documents (like call sheets and scripts) and a single connected device on your belt or in your pocket is better than carrying around a phone and a Laptop or Tablet.

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I also think they need to abandon the "Closed Garden" concept and open the OS File system to the outside world to make it more competitive with their rivals.

.

I like to believe (perhaps naively) that the "closed garden" concept is giving me a little bit extra security compared to completely open systems.
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Who cartes if it is a "closed garden" if that's the garden you want to be in? Millions and millions of people obviously appreciate what Apple has been able to do with this "closed garden" approach.

Not having direct access to my files and file management is the primary reason i chose android over ios, and also i believe to be a large factor in why android is the most used mobile os out there.

Apple has done wonderful things with the iphone over the years, and set the direction for mobile computing.

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I am the opposite. I never fell for Steve Jobs BS or the distortion field that still exists at Apple today...

 

I'm inbetween you and Jeff. I see Apple as a company that was a master of misdirection and propaganda, but also as a company that was sometimes capable of doing real innovation and changing the world for the better. Sometimes, they did both at the same time.

 

I like the idea of the iPhone, and in fact stood in line for three hours in order to get one at the Apple Store in June 2007. I think in many ways it was a brilliant move, and this was a breakthrough for me in that for the first time, I was able to easily text and send emails from a phone. No question, it was a paradigm shift for the telephone business.

 

The real story of how the original January 2007 iPhone demo was faked -- and how nervous Jobs and the other Apple execs were -- was only revealed in the last few months:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/and-then-steve-said-let-there-be-an-iphone.html?_r=0

 

If that demo had crashed and burned, I think it would have done irreparable harm to the Apple brand and the iPhone as a product. As it was, Jobs' bluff worked and the demo got a standing ovation. The story is a remarkable one of how carefully crafted the whole presentation was, and how the iPhone barely worked well enough to get through a 20-minute presentation. 

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I think Apple needs to abandon the narrow small screen and join the competition with Wide 5" screens and better battery life. I also think they need to abandon the "Closed Garden" concept and open the OS File system to the outside world to make it more competitive with their rivals.

 

The former's gonna happen, but not the latter. One issue Jobs said from day one was that there were real limitations on how big (or how small) they could make the iPhone and still have it fit an "average" pocket. This is covered in-depth in the best-selling Steve Jobs biography from a couple of years ago, which is a fascinating book; whether you hate Jobs, like him, or fear him, it's a terrific story of a very complicated, flawed human being who (as he liked to say) "put a dent in the universe."

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I truly miss him even today.

 

 

When i bought my first mac - a powerbook 17 in 2005, it had in intermittent headphone port. I was not happy, and wrote an email to various possible combinations for Steve's email address. One of them hit the bullseye. Within 8 hours, the next morning i had calls from Apple India's CTO to solve this issue. 

 

A LOT of things happened after this - calls for a story for another day/thread... 

 

-vin

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