RETRO
Remembering the tech of yesteryear iPHONE (FIRST GENERATION)
IMAGE SOURCE: APPLE
IPHONE (FIRST GENERATION)
What do you picture when you imagine a smartphone? Chances are it’s a black rectangular slab taken up almost entirely by a display. You have Apple’s original iPhone to thank for that, as it changed the phone industry in profound, far-reaching ways that are still felt today. Launched in 2007, the iPhone totally undermined the idea that ‘serious’ smartphones needed a physical keyboard. Instead, Apple used an all-screen, multi-touch design that allowed the device to adapt to its content, imbuing it with an unmatched versatility that gave it a significant advantage over the competition. The effect on Apple’s rivals was such that Google – which had been building a phone in secret – had to radically reorient its own project at short notice. The iPhone had redefined the entire concept of a mobile phone, and everyone knew it.