For better or worse the iPhone hit the market today 16 years ago changing the world forever.
And not necessarily in good ways. Hardware keyboards, replaceable batteries, extensible memory, analog audio interface, function/multimedia keys, better battery lifespan (not traded away chasing always thinner designs), customizability and diversity in general were important as features and traits sacrificed for no good reason.
And it, thankfully, changed the trajectory of the entire industry. Phones were TERRIBLE before the competition picked up.
The industry was terrible but there were lots of good phones out there. The Samsung BlackJack was a pretty awesome device, and HTC was making some pretty compelling devices for Windows Mobile. Then the BlackBerry, of course, was a great device in a lot of ways too; very functional given the limitations of a hardware keyboard.
And I was the only person in the office that day because everybody else was standing in line to buy an iDoohickey.
Some of us remember one of the first smartphones, the VisorPhone introduced in late 2000. Consisted of a Visor (basically a Palm Pilot knockoff by Handspring) that had a Springboard slot that you could slide a phone attachment into. I have fond memories of using it to bid on an AOL auction while driving down the highway with my ex-wife yelling at me that we were going to be killed…
Truly a product ahead of its time.
The smartphone was a disaster. We shouldn’t be connected to the Internet constantly.
Written from my smartphone.
