10 years since Apple released the first iPhone
A decade ago today, Apple took the world by storm, officially launching the iPhone, a ‘revolutionary mobile phone’ and a ‘break through Internet communications device’ which Apple promised would revolutionise the mobile phone market the same way the Macintosh changed the personal computing field in 1984, and the music industry with the launch of the original iPod in 2001.
Debuting as one of the slimmest smart mobiles on the market at the time, the iPhone featured a 3.5-inch touchscreen, two mega-pixel camera and a battery life which allowed for five hours of talk time, video and browsing, and 16 hours of audio playback. – The iPhone, commonly referred to as the ‘iPhone 2G’ used OS X, rather than iOS which ships with all iPhone models today, which allowed users to watch movies, download songs and store photos, as well as offering email, calendar and contacts.
Steve Jobs claimed that the software capability of the iPhone put it five years ahead of any other product in the mobile market, describing rivals’ mobile technology as “baby software”.
The presentation which revealed one of the boldest products in consumer electronic’s history was held at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco as part of MacWorld Expo. Kicking off the Keynote, Steve told the crowd that they were going to ‘make some history together today’ and he certainly wasn’t wrong; more than one billion iPhone units have been sold to date, with the handset in the hands of customers around the world.