We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›
10 years ago today, Steve Jobs dazzled the world with the very first iPhone. Despite the fact that the presentation could have gone very wrong, it went off without a hitch. How did the world react to that historic day? Let’s take a look back in time, when tweets looked like old-school Facebook statuses and Apple keynotes went online as Quicktime presentations:
Of course, many people were excited for the new device—
—even if they knew it meant ending some longterm phone relationships.
Some folks got a little aggressive:
But not everyone was impressed.
And lest we forget, the iPhone was initially only available to Cingular users. Remember Cingular? Plenty of folks on other mobile plans were none too pleased.
And for some, the price seemed astronomical. These days, the latest iPhone model will run you around $650 out of pocket.
(Over six million units were sold by the time Apple discontinued the original model, so the joke’s on us.)
Related: Popular Science editors try to get iPhones on the very first launch day
Many believed the phone was simply too big. Imagine if they could know how much bigger the iPhone would become, both figuratively and literally…
For reference, that monstrous original iPhone had a 3.5-inch screen. The iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch display, and the iPhone 7 Plus packs in 5.5 inches of screen.
Some Internet soothsayers made prescient predictions, such as:
- Apple putting U2 on every iPhone
- The iPad and Apple’s IoT-connected devices
- The Apple Watch
- The rise of cracked iPhone screens (and the eventual creation of Gorilla glass)
- The rise of livestreaming and citizen journalism through smartphones
- And then this guy, who didn’t even know how right he was…
Happy 10th anniversary, iPhone. We can’t wait to see what your next model has in store for us.
