[Closed] Where did the iPhone come from?

The I pod touch came before the I phone and had alot of the same features but yoy couldnt make phone calls.

They watched Minority Report and had an idea...

helped along with a little bit of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moor e's_law

EDIT: Goddamn STW apparently isn't a subscriber to Moore's Law!

The I pod touch came before the I phone and had alot of the same features but yoy couldnt make phone calls.

I don't think it did, Iphone first, then phoneless touch.

It was fairly iterative after the palm, the iPAQ, the Sony erricson, even the newton. It didnt really come from nowhere. They seemed to come up with a package that worked well for a lot of users.

It was the usual Apple thing of taking a bunch of technologies that had been about for a while, tying them together in one nicely-designed package, and adding a very slick user interface.

That was really the big deal - I had phones before the iPhone that could do most of the stuff, web browsing, emails and the like, but it was the slick integration that made it clever - turning phone numbers on webpages into clickable links to call, stuff like that.

The key technology that enables this type of device is the user interface paradigm . It needed accurate multi touch high res tough glass screens to get rid of the "keyboard and mouse" paradigm apple took from Xerox in the 70's, and manipulate visual objects with your fingers. Even laptop are adopting this kind of UI now. So this supports a small screen computer like the Touch. Then they added a phone and 3G gives a decent data service for Internet access. Finally they built itunes and app store lock in. Voila!

Apple Newton + Moore's Law + other advances in flash memory and touchscreens.

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http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_(platform)

Keep it coming. Was hoping it was aliens though.

As others have said, the technology existed before the iPhone.

The spec sheet on the Nokia N95 blows the iPhone away (both released in 2007), it has a flash on the camera for a start which the original iPhone didnt, built in Sat-Nav (how late are Apple to the party with that one?), Wi-Fi, 3G, multi-media messaging (can you believe the original iPhone didnt have MMS?!)....and yet the iPhone sold by the bucket load, the general public will always choose style over substance....the iPhone looked cool and new, the N95 looked like a 90s relic.

The iPhone got good with the 3G model a year later and had the jump on it's competitors by at least 2 years, the HTC Desire came along in 2010 and was a genuine alternative to the iPhone....since then things have evened up across the board....iOS, Android, Windows 8 Mobile etc all essentially offer the same thing as far as operating systems go (havent tried the new Blackberry yet, i gather its very good, no buttons at all now, just touch screen gestures)....Apple have the lead with Apps but i'm starting to think that if a phone has a decent web browser then how many Apps do you really need?....pretty much anything you need to know or do can be done through the internet (obvious exceptions like Strava, games etc)....one thing i wish they'd all concentrate on is battery life.

Poor battery life is the bane of modern smartphones, used as intended its possible to go through the battery on any of the current flagship phones in about 6 hours....Motorola have got the right idea with the 3,000 MaH batteries they have started putting in their Razr range (but they arent available on my network), i would happily sacrifice some of the thinness on a device in exchange for a bigger battery.

I'm currently using a Galaxy S2 (new in 2011, ancient in IT terms) as my current phone because it gives better battery life than anything i have tried in the last few years....Apple and Android included.
If the next iPhone was a couple of millimetres thicker and had a battery almost twice as large then i'd happily switch but like i said, style over substance seems to win out yet again and we get stupidly thin and under powered devices.

It was the usual Apple thing of taking a bunch of technologies that had been about for a while, tying them together in one nicely-designed package, and adding a very slick user interface.

That was really the big deal - I had phones before the iPhone that could do most of the stuff, web browsing, emails and the like, but it was the slick integration that made it clever - turning phone numbers on webpages into clickable links to call, stuff like that.

This really, but as well as bolting the technology together they were thinking a bit longer term about where it was all going in terms of how people would use it- there's been a massive shift towards mobile computing, gaming, music, etc in the last few years and they saw it coming and set the standard in a really good package before everybody else (or helped to make it happen, depending on your point of view).

The iPad has been around for decades too. I had a compag concerto in 1993 which is essentially an iPad with a detachable keyboard - or a surface.

It's more that people have become ready for the technology than the other way around.

Have a read of Jobs biography, decent book and will give you an insight into the log of products/design etc.

Battery life is the main reason I didn't buy an iPhone. I carry a spare battery in my wallet and if needed I'm good to go in seconds.
I still can't believe you can't change the incoming text noise. The amount of people that reach for their phone when someone else gets a text is stupid.

The spec sheet on the Nokia N95 blows the iPhone away (both released in 2007)

I have run both and the N95 was a flimsy beast. I keep mobile phones for 2 years, the Nokia was missing colour from the edges in a year and would crash the OS regularly. The iPhone 3 didn't get battered looking and was a bit more stable, probably because it wasn't trying to do too much.

I still can't believe you can't change the incoming text noise.

Yes you can.

Inadvertently I've started a yay/nay iPhone debate.
My questions have been answered. But were apple in a position to go after samsung when we now know that the technology was already there?

Apple patented loads of stuff that is now being re-examined by the US patent office as there was obviously prior art (examples) of stuff Apple were granted patents for....its common sense really, when you think that Nokia, Ericsson etc have been building phones since the 80s and then Apple rock up in 2007 and tell everybody they actually own all the technology....its a bit rich.
Thankfully despite Apple's win in the US courts the rest of the world exercises a bit more sanity where Apple are concerned and the public still has the option of non Apple smartphones....in the US Apple regularly try to have rival phones banned from being imported.
Its this company attitude that puts me off their products.

Designed by a bloke from Stafford

I still can't believe you can't change the incoming text noise

You can 🙂

Settings > Sounds > Text tone

I think the real groundbreaking aspect of the iphone was the ease you could get apps.

Ps. I had an n95. Garbage.

When I mentioned the text tone I meant being able to have your favourite tune play. All my previous non smart phones had this facility. My iphone couldn't do it nor my windows phone. Ring tone yes, text no.
No doubt it can be done but I'm not really that clever at these things.
I do salute who ever did invent the smart phone. I can send emails and attach pictures on my phone but on the laptop? Not a chance.

The N95? You're having a laugh aren't you? I made the mistake of taking one for a year. A greater piece of shit phone I'd never used.

Try again.

See, I like a phone to ring, like a phone, and some sort of cheery chime for a text. Mine makes a different noise depending on what's happening: EBay alerts, Twitter etc. When I get paid on Paypal it sounds like a cash register, which I like. 🙂

If I get paid by PayPal gift if does a big loud Mwahahahahaha sound

😆

I had both an n95 and an n95 8gb. The 8gb was a far superior phone. Pleased i didn't get an n97, though!

As it's an Apple product the iPhone was probably ripped off from someone else.

epicsteve - Member
As it's an Apple product the iPhone was probably ripped off from someone else.

And they did it so well. You must lose sleep getting angry about it.

The spec sheet on the Nokia N95 blows the iPhone away (both released in 2007), it has a flash on the camera for a start which the original iPhone didnt, built in Sat-Nav (how late are Apple to the party with that one?), Wi-Fi, 3G, multi-media messaging (can you believe the original iPhone didnt have MMS?!)....and yet the iPhone sold by the bucket load, the general public will always choose style over substance....the iPhone looked cool and new, the N95 looked like a 90s relic.

The N95 was crap. Absolute garbage. Battery life measured in minutes, almost, if you wanted to actually [i]do[/i] something with it, like listen to music. I could run the battery out in two hours playing music, and about the same using the satnav. The camera was rubbish, totally incapable of focusing on anything at all; couldn't focus on a bright red mountain bike propped against a tree six feet away, or a 70ft sailing boat in the middle of Bristol Floating Harbour. I gave up trying to use it after a while. The OS sucked, it failed just about every test of being a usable 'smartphone'.

Battery life is the main reason I didn't buy an iPhone. I carry a spare battery in my wallet and if needed I'm good to go in seconds.

So do I. How does not having a replaceable battery stop you recharging the phone during the day, if necessary? Just buy a 5500MAh battery with dual USB ports, and carry a dock cable. Then you can charge an iPhone, or anything else that needs a USB port. Not that I need it that often, I've had my iPhone in use from early morning to fairly late at night, (9.00am to 11.20pm), using the Kindle app, camera, Google maps, AroundMe, UKMap, and in my daily regular use I've never had a battery die on me, so I fail to see why others struggle to get through a regular day's usage.

Just upgraded to iPhone 5 from iPhone 4 for me and MrAdamW.

The really clever marketing thing is the apps. I use a number of them so am used to them. I seriously considered android today while looking (phone shops annoy me greatly) but I kept thinking 'But what would replace X?'. In the end got a deal a little better than the crap one I was initially offered. Which goes to show that Apple/Android have got a good head-start at tie-in to their products. Unless everything becomes cloudy new members (including Microsoft, for once) will have a barrier to entry.

And since using Windows 8 for a few months I'd sooner have a £10 phone with pay&go than WinPho8.

I had a 95. Functionality good usability bad. Apple understand usability and that these are domestic personal appliance not mere computers in your pocket.

Original iPhone not having MMS capability not that ridiculous really. 3G wasn't such a big deal in the states then when it was released so if your biggest customer base can't use it why fit it? Secondly MMS is old hat. Why send a pic with a max file size of 300kb for 40p when you can send a full resolution image with 3/4mb file size for nothing attached as an email/photo stream picture, etc.

Similar to the experiences above, I had a windows phone that could do everything an iPhone could in 2007. It's just that the way you had to do it was a massive pita.

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Still waiting for the iPhasor....

If specialized can hold patents for a four bar linkage and the word "epic" I don't think the apple legal departments will be loosing sleep over the US patent office looking at their work.

Of course, the iPod was inspired by cigarettes.