iPhone: An Internet Age’s PHenomenONE
Tracing back to the roots
“Well, today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products of this class. The first one is a wide-screen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough internet-communications device.”
The entire audience in Moscone Center applauded as the guy in his trademark black turtleneck sweater said these words. Yes, it was Steve Jobs, the visionary American business magnate and the co-founder of Apple. No, it wasn’t three different products. It was the iPhone1, which had the power of three devices, as Mr. Jobs stated. Since the announcement of the iPhone 1, the world of mobile phones has changed tremendously, and here are a few reasons WHY.
You can find the video of the presentation in the later part of this article.
The idea of launching a touch-screen device spawned in 2005. The idea was to eliminate most of the physical buttons and replace them with virtual buttons that can appear on the screen as and when the Operating System wants them to. Mr. Jobs asked a group of Apple engineers to work on the project in complete secrecy. When presented with the prototype, he saw the potential in developing the system into a mobile phone. This project was named Project Purple 2. A few months before release, the plastic screen was changed to a glass screen, owing to a scratch on the plastic screen from his car keys. Noteworthy to mention that the phone’s form factor is credited to Apple’s Chief Design Officer, Jonathan Ive.
Reach to the general public
The iPhone laid the foundation for modern smartphones, forever changing the way we use mobile phones and the internet. It may come as a surprise, but the iPhone was not the first mobile phone to support the internet. Other phones from Blackberry, Nokia, and Motorola also allowed internet connection. iPhone made sure the internet connection and the browser (Safari) provided a non-laggy experience to its user. Boom!! Suddenly, developers were working on responsive website designs. Its 3.5-inch screen with 320 x 480-pixel resolution provided unparalleled display quality at that time. iPhone was not the first smartphone in history. But it was much affordable than other smartphones sharing the same timeline. The price for the 4GB model was 499 USD and 599 USD for the 8GB model. Imagine getting a camera (~ 650 USD), an iPod(~ 300 USD), and a small device to browse the internet at 499 USD in 2007 — a Win-Win situation for users. Suddenly photography was not limited to people with good cameras. With Facebook and other social media websites, one can upload photos clicked on his iPhone and show them to his friends.
The App Store
The introduction of the App Store was a historic decision that made a dramatic change in the existing system. The App store was not included in the iPhone during its launch. It was added after a year in July 2008 with nearly 500 applications. It is safe to assume that this addition took the mobile industry to a whole new level. Suddenly mobile phones were not functionally rigid. It provided an easy way to explore, find, buy, and install applications, thus adding more mobile phone functionality. The AppStore removed all friction from software distribution from phones, making apps easily available for the general public. There were scary times when you had to download a third-party application on your PC and sync it to your mobile phone following a painful process. The app store created a robust two-sided market, encouraging developers to produce smartphone software and services. Earlier developers did not prefer making mobile phone applications because of clumsy development tools, complex application distribution schemes, and lack of popularity. But with the App Store, there was a new career for developers.
It has been nearly 13 years since the launch of this revolutionary product. The camera and processor of the iPhone have been a trademark in their respective industries. Many smartphone makers started to follow the suite of Apple and build their own mobile phones along with custom software, such as App Store, maps, news, community, and so on. Apple’s spark has motivated other mobile companies to build their own products better at a much lower price. Even though many alternatives exist today, Apple’s ecosystem of products and software still commands respect from users worldwide for its innovations and many world’s firsts.
Editorial Note
This article was written in collaboration with srihari s of the Probe content team.
