11 hilarious naysayers who criticized the first iPhone 10 years ago

Behold, many wrong men

Tech journalists had their first look at the new Apple iPhone at San Francisco’s MacWorld Conference and Expo in January, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

A phone without buttons?! LOL, good one, Steve. Exactly what have you been sniffing?

The audience laughed nervously when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone’s multi-touch interface at Apple’s January 9, 2007 keynote in Cupertino, California. But little did they know.

Ten years later, we look back at the skeptical Sallys who scoffed at one of the most revolutionary devices in history

General hating

• “Five hundred dollars, fully subsidized, with a plan?! I said, ‘That is the most expensive phone in the world! And it doesn’t appeal to business customers because it doesn’t have a keyboard!’” — Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO

• “iPhone is nothing more than a luxury bauble that will appeal to a few gadget freaks.” — Matthew Lynn, Bloomberg
• “The iPhone will not substantially alter the fundamental structure and challenges of the mobile industry.” He said the iPhone was “late to the party” and predicted rivals like Nokia would “attack” the iPhone by offering deals to carriers. — Analyst Charles Golvin, Forrester
• “If it’s smart [Apple] will call the iPhone a ‘reference design’ and pass it to some suckers to build with someone else’s marketing budget. Then it can wash its hands of any marketplace failures… Otherwise I’d advise people to cover their eyes. You are not going to like what you’ll see.” —John C. Dvorak, tech columnist
• “There is a low demand for converged, all-in-one devices. Only 31% of Americans surveyed said they wanted a device with multiple capabilities, and that dropped to 27% in Japan, according to research by Universal McCann.” —The Guardian
• “Is there a toaster that also knows how to brew coffee? There is no such combined device, because it would not make anything better than an individual toaster or coffee machine. It works the same way with the iPod, the digital camera or mobile phone: it is important to have specialized devices.” —Jon Rubinstein, former iPod engineer
• “No stylus is provided.” —Edward Baig, USA Today

Actual reviews

• “There’s no memory-card slot, no chat program, no voice dialing. You can’t install new programs from anyone but Apple…The browser can’t handle Java or Flash, which deprives you of millions of Web videos.” —David Pogue, The New York Times
• “[The handset] can get warm with constant use, and you’ll need to wipe off smudges frequently with the included cloth. We’re still iffy about the software keyboard and predictive text entry: They work reasonably well, but overall text entry is still easier with a hardware keyboard, and the iPhone may not be the best choice for people who need to compose a lot of e-mail.” —PC World
• “Aside from Web speed issues, the iPhone has two serious flaws. First, it’s awkward to handle. At 4 1/2 by 2 3/8 inches, it’s half an inch wider than my regular cell phone — too wide to hold comfortably. And the iPhone is slippery — too easy to drop.” —Mike Himowitz, The Baltimore Sun
• “Although the phone contains a complete iPod, you can’t use your songs as ringtones. There aren’t any games…” —Walter Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal