Apple’s iPhone Turns 8! The Past, Present, and Future

Apple’s iPhone Turns 8! The Past, Present, and Future
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Eight years ago today, the technological world was introduced to a new device that was loved by some and criticized by many. Little did most people know that this device would change the way we think about technology and even the way we interact with it. Of course the device I am speaking of, is the iPhone.

Back then; the iPhone was revolutionary for many reasons. First off, it was beautiful! Jonny Ive, Apple’s lead designer, must’ve been hard at work creating the designs for the original iPhone, and in 2007, all of his hard work paid off.

It’s true the original iPhone leaves a lot to be desired in the aesthetics department according to 2015’s standards, but back then it was gorgeous.

Do you remember the first iPhone? What were your initial reactions?CC Apple Macworld

Secondly, the original iPhone was revolutionary in the regard that it featured multi-touch technology. Meaning that on iPhone, you could use two or more fingers to zoom in or out of photos, webpages, and more. The iPhone made pinching and swiping a natural motion, that we have been accustomed to using on iPhones ever since.

Third, it featured a nearly full-fledged web-browser. Typical phones of the time would feature a web browser, but they weren’t optimized to handle full webpages in the way a personal computer would. The iPhone set out to change all of this allowing you to access nearly any website, away from a laptop, efficiently. Slow-network speeds, at the time, caused frustration amongst many people using the AT&T network. AT&T had exclusive network rights to the iPhone leaving many people desiring more from their device.

Newer models of the iPhone were released subsequently to address the original iPhone’s lackluster details. These models were known as the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS, which included necessary features such as picture messaging and speed improvements, to users’ delight.

These aforementioned iPhone models were popular to an extent, however Apple’s rise to cellphone legendary status, didn’t begin until the release of the iPhone 4.

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The iPhone 4 debuted with a high-resolution screen, which was known as the Retina display. The Retina display was truly gorgeous and edged out most of the iPhone’s competition in terms of quality.

Even more revolutionary than the Retina display, was the iPhone 4’s FaceTime camera that was located above it. Never before had you been able to video-chat with friends and family from nearly anywhere, so easily. The iPhone made video-chatting a piece of cake, because there were no usernames to search, or apps to install. All you needed was your friends phone number and a Wi-Fi connection.

Do you remember your first FaceTime call? How did it make you feel?

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According to Time, iPhone 4 sales reached 1.7 million units in just four days. This became Apple’s biggest sale in history. Apple sold even more iPhones when the iPhone 4 eventually became available on the Verizon network, after four solid years of exclusivity to AT&T.

A year later we are introduced to the iPhone 4s. This is the first “s” phone, which became the signature for the slightly upgraded model available prior to the next incremental numerical iPhone release.cool-things-to-do-with-siri-iphone4

The iPhone 4s introduced us to Siri, which changed the way we interact with our phones. The live-in assistant could help us with a variety of tasks from sending text messages, reading the news, and scheduling appointments. All of this, of course, was achieved just by using your voice.

What do you think is Siri’s most useful function?

iPhone 5 included all the awesome features I spoke about before, however this model was different in a “big” way. The iPhone 5 was the first iPhone to house a larger screen and managed to squeeze it into an even thinner package. Even though the iPhone 5 packed many new features consumers wanted into the new device, some “enhancements” left people unhappy. snapshot-21012-1216-am-2

The iPhone 5 was the first iPhone to use the new Lightning connector, which sparked controversy among previous generation Apple users. Due to the fact their old accessories were compatible with the 30-pin connector of the iPhone 4s, meant that old accessories would no longer be compatible with the new iPhone 5. Apple has no plans to change the Lighting connector, as of yet, so any Lightning accessories should be safe for the future.

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Next came the iPhone 5s, which packed even more punch into the iPhone 5’s frame. The public went crazy when it was discovered that the iPhone 5s would be available in gold, which proves to be a widely popular color choice even today. Other improvements included a 64-bit architecture, dual-tone flash, and Touch ID for enhanced security.

As of today, the latest generation we have available is the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. These iPhones were highly anticipated as consumer demands began to shift. Consumers wanted increasingly larger phones, and as time went on, the iPhone 5s began to look smaller and smaller.

What we received with the iPhone 6 was a much larger screen size, in an even thinner aluminum body. The iPhone 6 became the thinnest iPhone ever released, even then, it still packs a decent battery life coupled with ample processing power. Everything has been improved including camera quality, battery life, and performance, making the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus fantastic devices.

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It’s safe to say the iPhone 6s will be released later this year with better camera quality, battery life, performance, and more, like every iPhone before it.

We can also expect to see great new features like Force Touch. While it might not sound like much, Force Touch might change the way we use our phones entirely; much like how multi-touch revolutionized the way we interact with our phones, exactly eight years ago today.

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