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The Unsung Story of the iPhone


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The iPhone project was started way back in 2002, when the iPod was released. Steve knew that he needed to combine an iPod, a phone, and an "interwebs communication device." Back then, there was barely a data network, and the mobile chips that phones used were slow. Fast forward a few years, the project is a total secret. The hardware people used fake software, and the hardware people developed software in "wooden boxes with chipsets in them." Then Steve had to meet with the wireless companies. He told the president of Cingular(at the time) and told him that he had "a revolutionary device that is light years ahead of any other phone."(Steve's favorite words underlined for convenience). The wireless companies immediately saw what people saw the moment the iPhone came out. They feared that the iPhone would give the hardware companies too much power, and that they would become no more than "data pipes." But this is not exactly what happened, the iPhone has more than tripled data usage used by mobile phones in San Francisco and New York City. On MacWorld, there were only rumors going around, no confirmation. Right before he said "Revolutionary Mobile Phone," only 30 people had seen the device. It is estimated that Apple spend $150 million on research.

 

20080111-m1qthjgswwh6p9bsn4dnh8grin.jpg

Believe it or not, but this is actually similar to what the first iPhone looked like.

 

The Unsung Story

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I read this yesterday, and its an absolutely brilliant story. It also shows the dedication and commitment of Apple Engineers, who within a short span of six months managed to take a device which was on the level of Windows Mobile 2002 to Mac OSX iPhone level.

 

Now we have a device, Thanks to them, that is almost too good to be true. Sure it has a few shortcomings, but then again so does every single device.

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Nice article! :)

 

Doing some minor UI work myself, I can just image all the blood, sweat, and tears that have to go into making something like the iPhone. It's unexplored wilderness, and being the first to cut a path through the brush isn't easy. It's all worth it though. I've yet to see a phone with a screen even 20% as elegant.

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