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[Kadin]

I know there were other phones at the time like the Tilt, the palmOne Tungsten, Treo and various Blackberry phones, etc. Do you think if Apple completely passed on the phone idea, we'd be close to where we are today?

I'm trying to imagine what things would be like right now and whether Apple really shaped our current assortment of phones or if that path was already set and they just got in right when the big shift was starting to happen.

Second question, back around 2007, do you remember what you were using prior to the iPhone releasing? And have you ever owned one since?

As for me, I owned every model of the iPhone up through the 4 and then left for a bit over to Android and just recently came back to the 6+. This beast is so damn good.

 

[LostCaress]

Well when the iphone came I already had a HTC p3600 smartphone. I don't think things would be different, maybe they evolved faster, and since Apple had such a huge market share different companies adopted the same OS (android) to fight it? Maybe without Apple everyone would have different OS?

EDIT : this is the one I had:

touchscreen, a lot of good games, etc...

 

[jts]

 

[Wiktor]

Pretty much the same as the are now. Maybe some gestures would be different. But stuff was generally going into that direction. Apple just made it reach there faster. But since phones have stagnated in recent years at this point I doubt it would be much different.

 

[subrock]

I was using one of these before my iPhone 3g, but it was technically my work phone. I've only ever had a contract on an iPhone.

Not sure what the landscape would be like, but it couldn't be worse than this

 

[diggmcbadass]

Maybe without Apple everyone would have different OS?

I'm inclined to think this as well. Without the pressure of ios, maybe android didn't become what it is today, and I think everyone would be worse off.

Also, I think phone designs would be a lot more differentiated. You might have even been able to get a high end phone with physical keys.

 

[Symphonia]

This was my phone before I got the iPhone.

I honestly believe phones would still be like this. And you know what? I'd welcome it.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Palm, something.. that was my last phone before i sold my soul to iphone in 2009

 

[LyleLanley]

.

 

[dc89]

The last phone I had before I got the iPhone 3G was the Nokia N95. My dad liked it so much he went and got one too.

Nokia's N series had some crazy ideas, I think it was the N93 that was pretty much a camcorder with a phone strapped on. And the N97 was slick as hell.

 

[Phat Michael]

Without the i-Phone, phones would be fucking awesome right now. At that point, the masses spoke and made the incorrect choice to go with smart phones with a screen only.

Prior to this, we had the greatest phone ever released:

The Nokia N900. Nokia was dominating the market. The level of customisation in this thing was incredible and the full size keyboard was amazing.

Imagine this, with a slim screen, 5", full size keyboard.

I wish blackberry and Nokia dominated the market and the others followed suit. We would have technically better products now and there would be a market for full sized keyboard phones.

Now we have the I-phone. The largest selling phone of all time im sure and the textbook example of how something with inferior specs and a high price point can still win because of image, branding and marketing.

I wish that Nokia really became the dominant product...a phone like the N900 with today's specs would be incredible. Unfortunately, we will never see it.

 

[Madness]

Anyone who says phones would have been the same is wrong. We wouldn't have ended up here without Apple. Apple changed the game. Virtually within a year, people switched gears from physical based input to touch based input, even Blackberry brought out the Storm quickly as a means of competing.

I do think eventually the utility of touch screen would have done away with physical buttons, you could already see they were implementing different types of input. But the industry changed because of Apple. And it's why, even now, most phones resemble a variation of the iPhone and it's utility and how the app and OS work. I don't even like Apple and I admit it's because of them I have such a versatile smartphone.

 

[Bgamer90]

Phones would probably still have keyboards for texting.

This was the phone I had before getting an iPhone 3GS...

I currently have the iPhone 6 Plus.

 

[Wiktor]

The Nokia N900. Nokia was dominating the market. The level of customisation in this thing was incredible and the full size keyboard was amazing.

Imagine this, with a slim screen, 5", full size keyboard.

I will never understand how Nokia fucked up so badly.

N770 was out in fricking 2005. They had most of the tech and software back then. What in the world took them so long to do anything with them? Long enough that it was too late

 

[sarcastor]

Does the word WAP ring a bell?

 

[VeeP]

Without the i-Phone, phones would be fucking awesome right now. At that point, the masses spoke and made the incorrect choice to go with smart phones with a screen only.

Prior to this, we had the greatest phone ever released:

The Nokia N900. Nokia was dominating the market. The level of customisation in this thing was incredible and the full size keyboard was amazing.

Imagine this, with a slim screen, 5", full size keyboard.

I wish blackberry and Nokia dominated the market and the others followed suit. We would have technically better products now and there would be a market for full sized keyboard phones.

Now we have the I-phone. The largest selling phone of all time im sure and the textbook example of how something with inferior specs and a high price point can still win because of image, branding and marketing.

I wish that Nokia really became the dominant product...a phone like the N900 with today's specs would be incredible. Unfortunately, we will never see it.

What.

The iPhone is popular because of branding and marketing, yes, that's part of the reason. The other reasons? Great user experience. Plain and simple. Good battery life, super responsive, great camera, etc.

At the time and after iPhone launch, other phones were flat out sluggish. Apple delivered a great user experience and great customer support.

Nokia and Blackberry only have themselves to blame. They are huge around the world, they lost customers and mind share because they were too slow, plain and simple.

 

[FyreWulff]

phones would have usable buttons

 

[DOWN]

Android before iPhone was announced:

'This changes everything.' Right on, Apple.

 

[FlutterPuffs]

It would suck to be honest.

IPhone came at a time when phone specs are being dictated by phone companies like Verizon and At&t, not to mention mediocre touch controls.

What did IPhone managed to achieve, with that and a generation later with the app store is basically just ushering a new generation.

I much prefer the Android now but without Apple the whole Internet ecosystem would be much different. Worse maybe.

 

[Wiktor]

Phones would probably still have keyboards for texting.

.

Some would. But the move to big touchscreen-only slabs was happening with Apple or without them. iPhone's success has overshadowed other devices in people's memory, so most don't remember how big hit LG Prada was. They sold over 7 mln of those in a little over a year and those weren't exactly great phones. It was obvious people wanted this kind of experience badly.
Hardware-wise nothing would change. Software wise it might. We would still have apps propably, but there's no way they would be as big as they are now. Tablets would propably never take off the way they did either.

 

[LyleLanley]

phones would have usable buttons

The iPhone has usable buttons.

 

[Hasney]

Without the i-Phone, phones would be fucking awesome right now. At that point, the masses spoke and made the incorrect choice to go with smart phones with a screen only.

Prior to this, we had the greatest phone ever released:

The Nokia N900. Nokia was dominating the market. The level of customisation in this thing was incredible and the full size keyboard was amazing.

Imagine this, with a slim screen, 5", full size keyboard.

I wish blackberry and Nokia dominated the market and the others followed suit. We would have technically better products now and there would be a market for full sized keyboard phones.

Now we have the I-phone. The largest selling phone of all time im sure and the textbook example of how something with inferior specs and a high price point can still win because of image, branding and marketing.

I wish that Nokia really became the dominant product...a phone like the N900 with today's specs would be incredible. Unfortunately, we will never see it.

That was my dream phone and ended up having to get an iPhone because my carrier wouldn't support it. I wish we could still have physical keyboards.

 

[Dalek]

Does the word WAP ring a bell?

No it doesn't.

 

[Skux]

Just like iPhones, with a different brand. Someone would have filled the void.

 

[LesPaul]

I actually think that we would be at a rather similar point. If the iPone did not happen then sombody may have had the idea a little later. But we can´t be sure of course.

 

[aku:jiki]

They would've ended up the same anyway, since the ideal and dream was the handheld computers of various sizes they've had in scifi for like 100 years. iPhone hurried things along and created hype, but it far from invented the idea of a tiny touch-based computer.

 

[Dalek]

Just like iPhones, with a different brand. Someone would have filled the void.

This is such a cop out to not acknowledging Apple's role and influence. "It would have happened with someone else!"

No it wouldn't. It's crazy how people have revisionist history when it comes to stuff like this. Watch the original iPhone reveal. It was mind blowing at the time.

 

[lastplayed]

Touch screen or not, we'd still have the all mighty phone/camera/mp3 player device, so it probably wouldn't bother me if it didn't look like a black rectangle.

 

[LostCaress]

Come on there were already a lot of devices that didn't have full keyboards and relied on touchscreens, pocket pcs had been a thing for a while.

 

[Kabouter]

I would imagine the main difference to be in the OS.

 

[DOWN]

Come on there were already a lot of devices that didn't have full keyboards and relied on touchscreens, pocket pcs had been a thing for a while.

Pocket PC hell. It'd be like the messed up future in Back to the Future pt 2 if iPhone didn't happen.

 

[Phat Michael]

What.

The iPhone is popular because of branding and marketing, yes, that's part of the reason. The other reasons? Great user experience. Plain and simple. Good battery life, super responsive, great camera, etc.

At the time and after iPhone launch, other phones were flat out sluggish. Apple delivered a great user experience and great customer support.

Nokia and Blackberry only have themselves to blame. They are huge around the world, they lost customers and mind share because they were too slow, plain and simple.

i agree with you. the iphone is a good user experience, i just said it has inferior specs compared to modern android phones (and it does).

You are right, nokia and bberry had no one to blame but themselves. They didnt evolve, simple. I just wish that people chose the N900 or E72 type of phones so we would have high powered keyboard smart phones now rather than these portable screens with nothing else.

 

[Hasney]

This is such a cop out to not acknowledging Apple's role and influence. "It would have happened with someone else!"

No it wouldn't. It's crazy how people have revisionist history when it comes to stuff like this. Watch the original iPhone reveal. It was mind blowing at the time.

Nah, we would have. Touch screens were beginning to take off already, just that most were resistive to keep the costs down but we were already well aware that Google was looking towards capacitive and keyboardless/trackball less interfaces.

Apples main role was making manufacturers not be afraid to release a premium phone at a premium price as people will buy it if it's desirable enough. For that, I do thank them.

 

[Phat Michael]

That was my dream phone and ended up having to get an iPhone because my carrier wouldn't support it. I wish we could still have physical keyboards.

i still have mine. You know i could use PS3 media server and connect and watch tv through the phone on it? it was incredibly slow and was unrealiable...but it actually worked. This phone was so far in advance of everything...i just wish it had modern specs.

For me, N900 style

- 4GB Ram
- 5" Screen @ 1440
- 3600mA battery with oppo fast charge technology
- full sized keyboard
- i think windows phone would actually suit it
- 8 core processor.

i couldnt think of anything better. Now all we have are carbon copies of the same phone over and over.

 

[sometimes i game]

The Sidekick and Palm devices already had great appstores, so apps would have happened.

We would still probably see keyboard phones, quirky designs, and touchscreen phones that weren't purely touchscreens but also have a few buttons underneath.

World wouldn't be that different imo, maybe a bit better, Blackberry could survive.

 

[nubbe]

Had one
fucking piece of shit

 

[Goldrush]

It would suck to be honest.

IPhone came at a time when phone specs are being dictated by phone companies like Verizon and At&t, not to mention mediocre touch controls.

What did IPhone managed to achieve, with that and a generation later with the app store is basically just ushering a new generation.

I much prefer the Android now but without Apple the whole Internet ecosystem would be much different. Worse maybe.

Android fanboy here, but Apple is the only company I can think of that could wrestle away the revenue stream of the app store away from the carriers. Google is having a hard enough time trying to distribute its mobile payment method.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

The mobile phone giants loved having a lot of form factors and OSes before 2007. The market would look like this but with a different clunky OS on each.

Add in some other form factors as well.

We'd surely be behind in overall progression. Apple was a godsend picking one great design and upping the OS game tenfold.

 

[xxracerxx]

Smaller and smaller

 

[Sesuadra]

This is such a cop out to not acknowledging Apple's role and influence. "It would have happened with someone else!"

No it wouldn't. It's crazy how people have revisionist history when it comes to stuff like this. Watch the original iPhone reveal. It was mind blowing at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U that is actually what a lot of people in the business thought back then.

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Nah, we would have. Touch screens were beginning to take off already, just that most were resistive to keep the costs down but we were already well aware that Google was looking towards capacitive and keyboardless/trackball less interfaces.

Apples main role was making manufacturers not be afraid to release a premium phone at a premium price as people will buy it if it's desirable enough. For that, I do thank them.

The biggest revolution was making touch screen controls that work that even grandmothers can use.

Not to mention first adopting gorilla glass. That phone was so far ahead of others in usability that companies that didn't adapt, died.

 

[LyleLanley]

Honestly, I wonder if people would even still be using mobile phones today if it weren't for Apple.

 

[Android18a]

We'd still have cool Matrix-style flip phones. Flip phones were the shiz. I want them back.

Is there a thread archived where we can see GAF's original reaction to the iPhone? It was the year I joined I think (2007) but I can't find a thread for the original iPhone.

 

[xxracerxx]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U that is actually what a lot of people in the business thought back then.

Yup...it was basically unheard of.

 

[gimmmick]

I think the phone scene would be drastically different. There would be so many companies trying to figuring out what operating system could 1up everyone else with it's so own software. Before smart phones, I do remember many companies releasing their own operating systems on qwerty phones that with basic functionality.


Love or hate apple, I think 25 years from now we are going to be thanking the companies for pushing the envelope far back in 2007. I can't even imagine how my life would be different if I didn't have my iphone for 6 months.

 

[Fret]

I think they would be pretty much the same, phones were always going to end up as a pure touchscreen display anyway IMO

 

[Ollie Pooch]

Not sure what it'd be like now but given every phone I owned (and sold working in a phone store for 5 years) before the iPhone was slow and cumbersome, I doubt things would be so far advanced. Losing physical keyboards was the best thing that ever happened to phones. I can type faster on a touch screen than I ever could with my old keyboard phones. Good riddance

 

[Alx]

I think we would have went the "full touch" interface with or without Apple, but the above is in my opinion a good alternative and one I would have preferred. Physical keyboards are still a better solution for text input, and sliding design makes larger screens possible.

 

[Dalek]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U that is actually what a lot of people in the business thought back then.

Absolutely. Anyone who thinks otherwise either doesn't remember or is deluded.

 

[Fret]

I think we would have went the "full touch" interface with or without Apple, but the above is in my opinion a good alternative and one I would have preferred. Physical keyboards are still a better solution for text input, and sliding design makes larger screens possible.

Have you ever used swiping on a modern phone keyboard? Much faster than using a tiny cumbersome keyboard attached to the phone