Welcome to our weekly installment of Picks of the Week at iSource where we provide our expanded coverage of Apple accessories and applications. Today the iPhone turns 5.  To celebrate the success the iPhone has experienced, and what it has meant to us individually, we decided to dedicate this week’s post to sharing some […]
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The iSource Pick of the Week: iPhone

Jun 29th 2012 by

 

Welcome to our weekly installment of Picks of the Week at iSource where we provide our expanded coverage of Apple accessories and applications. Today the iPhone turns 5.  To celebrate the success the iPhone has experienced, and what it has meant to us individually, we decided to dedicate this week’s post to sharing some of our own highlights and shining iPhone moments, and how the creation of such a “revolutionary” device has shaped the smart phone industry as we know it today.  Please feel free to comment on our selections, and add some of your experiences you would like to share as well

 

Happy Birthday iPhone!

 

Patrick

My two favorite iPhone moments are these:

— The January 2007 Macworld keynote event when Steve Jobs first unveiled the original iPhone. I know this may sound like the cheesy or obvious pick, but for me it’s absolutely true. I have been fascinated with mobile devices since the days of early PDAs – Palm Pilots and the like. I was a big fan of early Windows CE devices and have always loved the idea of a computer in your pocket. When we first started seeing what used to be called ‘converged devices’ (PDA + cellphone) I was thrilled and used a number of them heavily in my IT jobs and in all the ways you could put them to use.  So … when Steve Jobs stood up on stage and unveiled the iPhone it’s about as excited as I’d ever felt about any device up to that point. I especially loved this part of the buildup to the unveil:

“Well today, we’re introducing THREE revolutionary new products. The first one is a widescreen ipod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary new mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough internet communications device. 

An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator. An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator…. these are NOT three separate devices!”

I thought that day that the iPhone was lightyears ahead of any ‘converged device’ we’d seen. I thought it was THE mobile device that I’d always wanted. The perfect pocket computer and more.

— Which leads to my second or joint favorite moment. Of course it’s when I first got my hands on the iPhone. Even with the lofty expectations outlined above, it did not disappoint. It was a beautiful device and so smooth to use right from Minute 1. It was my dream device. I still like the design of the original iPhone best of all the models since released. Though it’s since been replaced by the iPad as my favorite device, there’s still an iPhone in my pocket every day, and another that’s goes with my wife everywhere, and a third one (with phone turned off) that my 9 year old daughter uses quite a lot.

 

Thomas

I used to carry around a PDA, an iPod Mini, a cellphone, and a camera…but I now have all of those things, and more, in the 4S. I love my Mac and iPad, but I end up using the iPhone the most out of all of my tech devices, because it’s always at hand.

I remember the day I decided to sign up for a data plan and how much of a difference it made in how I perceived my smartphone. I’d played with WAP on feature phones and tasted just a hint of the freedom that mobile Internet access affords you, but it wasn’t until the iPhone and apps like Maps and Safari that I really felt like I had the Internet in my pocket.

I also think the 4S sports the loveliest smartphone design out there, by a terrifically long shot. The glass finish, the steel band, the look of the metal buttons…every angle of this device just reeks of quality. It’s disgustingly gorgeous.

The iPhone can easily become a silly distraction with all of the shiny games and social networking apps I have installed, but when I use it to create an invoice while sitting on a park bench, to take a fantastic shot and share it with friends, or continue a conversation I had started on the iPad earlier on in the day…it makes me wax a little poetic about it. I like to think of my tech as an extension of myself – something to help me think and do things faster and better – and none of the mobile tech I’ve bought over the last ten years has served me half as well as the iPhone (particularly this one).

 

Alex Jordan

My pick this week is the iPhone 3G introduction. Nearly all of the iPhone introductions have been memorable, from the original introduction to the iPhone 4’s redesign, it’s been a blast. However, for me at least, the introduction I’m fondest of (besides the original), was that of the iPhone 3G. Several amazing things were done at this time- the price was slashed due to a subsidy from the carriers, 3G technology was introduced to the line for the first time, and of course there was the introduction of the App Store.

But most amazing to me was the fact that there was a second iPhone at all. Me being a little more naive than I am now, I thought, with the original iPhone being launched the year prior, there was no way a new iPhone would make its way to market the very next year. My line of thinking, was that customers who just purchased an expensive iPhone would not want to purchase the next one a year later. What I failed to realize at the time, was the fact that Apple was setting their sights higher- not after the same customers, but after more customers that hadn’t been sold on the idea of an iPhone yet.

It worked. The iPhone 3G went on to sell more units than the original iPhone, as each subsequent iPhone model has managed to outsell the last. It was the beginning of a trend, that at the time I did not foresee. To me, the iPhone 3G was the beginning of a paradigm shift, one I’m still having a lot of fun even now, four years later.

 

 

jhrogersii

March 5, 2008 was the real turning point for me. That was the first day I had truly considered getting an iPhone. I sat in my cubicle at work following along with the iOS 2 Roadmap Event, waiting for the moment that we would hear about Apple’s plans for 3rd party application support. As soon as I heard about the App Store, that was it. I was in.

My move towards the iPhone actually started back in January, when I picked up a 1st Gen iPod Touch. I had owned an iPod for a couple of years, but this was the first time I had really considered moving out of the Windows Mobile/CE ecosystem that I had been in since 1998. My nephews had picked up iPhones a couple of months after launch, and they both loved them. I, on the other hand, had purchased a Motorola Q9H running the non-touch version of Windows Mobile.

While it was actually as really solid phone with a great keyboard, that wasn’t enough. Windows Mobile wasn’t going anywhere, and I was bored to death. Considering that it ran a “lighter” version of WinMo, it didn’t really have everything I needed for work. If it wasn’t getting it done at the office, then there just wasn’t any reason to stick around. So, I figured that the iPod Touch would be a great, inexpensive way to dip my toe in the iOS pool.

I was already in the iTunes ecosystem, so the transition was easier than I expected. Despite the huge downgrade in memory, I found that I didn’t care, and that I rarely carried my iPod with me anymore. And things just progressed from there. I quickly found myself putting my phone down and hunting for WiFi so I could use the AMAZING Safari browser. For all of their limitations, the original iPhone and iPod Touch had a mobile browser that was just light years ahead of everything else. I had Opera on my Q9H, and while it was a lot better than the very tired version of IE in that OS, it couldn’t touch Safari. Between the media, the browser, and the buttery smooth touch interface, I was sold.

So, back to the Roadmap Event. The iPod Touch had gotten me primed, but that even was what pushed me over the edge. I picked up a refurbished 8GB iPhone from Apple that day. I only had my original iPhone for around four months before I sold it and picked up a 3G at launch, but in that short time, it changed the way I look at phones, and technology in general. Before that time, I had been a hard-core Windows Mobile user. The “Zen of Palm” and its simplicity and supposed elegance held no appeal for me. At that time, I had a lot more in common with Android fanboys of today. I hacked, unlocked, and loaded custom ROMs. I was a tweaker, who was interested in specs and power more than experience.

Well, that was until I finally saw a compelling mobile experience. The iPhone OS experience, even in its primitive early form, changed the way I used mobile devices. I learned to work around the limitations with web apps and cool services like Jott (RIP, sort of like Siri over the phone), and ended up being MORE productive than I was with supposedly more power. I learned that I actually MUCH preferred a clean, minimalist design that I didn’t have to micromanage all of the time. Even as iOS versions have gained features and power over the years, it is the consistency, seamless integration, ease of use and reliability that still have me hooked. And what I have learned from using Apple devices has carried over into the rest of my tech life. I have learned to prune and pair back and simplify, and because of that, I am a lot more productive today than I ever was before.

 

AliciaB

I have to confess that although I followed iPhone’s birth and early milestones, I did not officially join the camp of iPhone users till the 3rd generation, having stuck to my trusty Nokia whatever-the-number-was for a very very long time. I loved Nokia. The brand was smart, hip and fulfilled the need to phone and text people. I knew theoretically that more was possible – I did dabble in these Nokia music or Online game worlds – but never found the experience very compelling. And back in those days these extra WAP services were exepnsive and unnecessary extras.

Fast forward to Day One of iPhone. When I held it in my hands and played around with it for a bit I distinctly remember having the thought: “I will never be bored again!”. No more ho-hums while in long lines, or waiting room boredom, or airport lounge restlessness. The number of things you can do on an iPhone or big brother iPad still amaze me. So amazing that I often do not have the time to do it all. Like many others I use it for simply everything. It never leaves my side. Calculating, recording, reading, following the World Cup matches, composing music during band practice, storing lyric cheat sheets for gigs, rerminding, checking info, catching up with my Mummy via Words with Friends, or Facetiming with my sis. And that is not even all.

To me people do not give Apple enough credit for changing the game in so very many ways, way back when with iPod, iTunes and then iPhone. True, they did not invent the wheel but Apple gave the world a new way of being smart with technology, something that can enrich your life on a daily basis. In a simple yet engaging way. I know Nokia, Motorola, RIM and Palm deserve credit for their due, but I struggle to think of examples of their efforts to change our lives for the betterin a lasting fashion. At least for me and millions of other people, iPhone made our daily lives better and enabled enriching experiences and special moments with friends and family near or far far away.

 

There you have it! Hope you enjoyed this week’s installment of Picks of the week. Please let us know what you think, and share with us some of your favorites in the comments section below.

 

 

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