As of 2017
the Apple iPhone has been around for 10 years.
That is a decade of apple delivering quality touch screen products to
consumers around the world. The first Apple
iPhone is much different than what we see today but it was what paved the road
to release what we now consider one of the best phones in the world.
Apple’s
first music product was the iPod, a device that you could play music on and store
a large number. Far more than you could
have on a CD. In June 2007, Apple
released a combination of its iPod and a phone with a touch screen. Users also enjoyed the benefit of having
internet access on the device. This was
a major step forward in technology.
Many people
heralded Steve Job’s keynote speech on the
Apple iPhone as one of his biggest release presentations of all
time. Little did Jobs know when he gave
the presentation that it would change the electronics world. It spurred development of many devices and
inspired tech developers around the world.
At first,
users didn’t have much access to apps.
The device shipped with all of the apps pre-installed on the
device. Then later the app store was
released. Releasing a store for users to
buy or download apps changed the world further.
Now there was a new industry, one that worked around the idea of
developing phone programs. Something
that had only existed on a miniscule scale until then.
Now the app
developing industry is a multi-million-dollar business sector.
While it is
obvious that most of the software that went into the first Apple iPhone, not so
obviously a lot of hardware was designed specifically for the iPhone. For example, the glass that was used for the
screen was developed but had not had a purpose yet. It was quickly picked up by Apple as they
realized the importance it could play in being protective for screens.
What
appealed to a lot of users was the fact that it could use the same charger that
their iPods did. This cable could charge
their battery but more importantly, it could connect to your computer to
download music to the phone.
At the point
that the first Apple iPhone there were several other “smartphones” on the
market but these were traditional Blackberry style devices with mechanical
keys. Some devices had styluses but they
were not easily receptive to touch. They
also had smaller screens.
The iPhone
really made changes in the smartphone industry, redefining the whole term.
In the modern
world, you know of two major competitors in the smartphone industry, the
Apple iPhone and Google’s Android OS.
Not everyone was aware that Google was actually a partner when the first
iPhone was launched. Google was working
with Apple to develop the device but more than that, the Google CEO was on the
Apple Board of Directors.
Google’s
goal on working with Apple was to prevent Microsoft from dominating the mobile
device industry. Looking back now, that
is somewhat comical because Apple quickly became the lead company in the
industry. However, this was noticed by
Google and they backed out quickly.
Google went to focus on Android which became a close runner for a leader
in the industry.
Google
attempted to even stop producing their apps for Apple devices such as the Apple
iPhone. However, when they tried this
they found that they lost support from a large number of Apple users. Google reinstated support for Google Maps on
Apple devices.
Apple iPhone
is an amazing device that really fueled an industry and broke the boundary
between science fiction and reality. Since
then Apple has not let its customers down.
Each device that is released (about 1 per year) has continued to offer
marked improvements. With the current
device being an iPhone 7 they are still leading the industry. It won’t take long for the newest addition to
the Apple iPhone line to come out with the iPhone 8.
Don’t take
our word for it though. Take a look at
some of the hands on, in-depth reviews that we have of the iPhone.