Today the iPhone Becomes a Teenager
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For over a decade, the iPhone has challenged the market in several ways. Back in 2007, it offered an innovative approach to technology and revolutionized the mobile market. And as of today, June 29, the iPhone has become 13 years old, making it an official teenager.
The first rumors of the iPhone arrived earlier in 2006 when Steve Jobs told an outlet that they were going to introduce three unique devices that would change the technology market in enormous ways.
According to Jobs, Apple was making a “widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary new phone and a breakthrough internet communicator.” With intention, Jobs phrased it all wrong; all three of those functions would be contained singularly in the iPhone.
The device was then announced in January 2007, when Jobs revealed the iPhone to the world. Jobs declared the iPhone to be a reinvention of the phone itself, and it certainly was at the time.
The iPhone’s original operating system, iPhone OS 1, only offered basic options to consumers. It lacked much customization (you couldn’t change the wallpaper) and also lacked an App Store. However, it came with a number of now-expected features, including Safari, Contacts, Calendar, Photos, Stocks, Weather, Clock, Calculator, and Notes. It also had multi-touch gestures, an HTML-based email app, an iPod app, and YouTube/Google Maps were provided as well.
The original iPhone went on sale on June 29, 2007, almost six months after the device was announced. The device came in two versions. You could pay either $499 for the 4Â GB model or $599 for the 8Â GB model, which many scoffed at for being highly-priced.
The iPhone was announced alongside the iPod touch, which offered similar functionality to the iPhone but without a cellular connection. This came in 8 GB and 16 GB versions but was released later on, around September 2007.
The iPhone as a whole sold surprisingly well, reaching 1 million devices within 74 days of its release. That’s a significant number, but consider that the iPhone has now sold more than 2 billion models since it was released.
But it can’t be understated how influential this device was. The iPhone not only changed technology, but it changed life as a whole. It made us more connected, more productive, and recently, even more active.
