So what was it that the iPhone done that was so revolutionary? Touchscreen phones

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXq9NTjEdTo

Gregor Samsa

The Golden Miller wrote: »

Apple have pioneered pretty much nothing in their history. They were going bankrupt until the success of the iPod.

This is not the case. Here's Apple's financial results for the quarter just before the iPod was announced in October 2001. $66 million in profit for that quarter alone. Apple was indeed nearly bankrupt in the mid '90s, but by 1998 they were back in the black - long before their iPhones, iPods, iPads and subscription services. Remember how popular the original iMacs were?

Homelander

I resisted switching to touch screen phones for a long time. Absolutely loved the Nokia Symbian phones, had most of them right from the original 7650, last one I had was the N96. Amazing phones, and the OS was way ahead of its time compared to other phones of the era. Infinite third party apps and games, emulators, ports of stuff like Doom/Quake, etc.

I paid an extortionate amount of money for the 7650 but it had a VGA camera, video recording, and could run games including a cut down version of Doom 2 and emulators, back when a lot of people were still using black and white phones. That phone blew my mind, ended up buying a mountain of successive Symbian devices, think I had the N96 until about 2010 when I begrudgingly made the switch to touchscreen.

Anytime I try to use an Apple product I'm just baffled at how it's designed. But then I realise that if I didn't already know about computers then the Apple way would actually make sense.
Specifically on phone OSes I had a friend's old Nokia Lumia a few years ago to tide me over. Windows phone was so fast, silky smooth, great battery life and logical that if it could have gained a foothold I think it could have been the most popular OS, it was so much better than I'd expected and it was on an old, outdated handset.

The Golden Miller

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Have you got a link to the aforementioned Sony device? Specifically, did it have a whole-device touchscreen or one of those annoying plastic keyboards, and did it support multiple touches? Because anyone who used touch screen devices prior to the iPhone will remember that the idea of using them day to day for anything complicated like typing or texting would have put most people off - they tended to be slow and glitchy, and as Jobs mentions in his presentation, requiring the use of a stylus. Texting at the kind of light-speed you can do on an iPhone would have been totally impractical.

Of course, it's possible that Sony solved all of these issues before Apple, but I've googled a bit and can't find any specific products that Sony put out there with this functionality, just articles about how Apple may have stolen Sony's ideas.

The Xperia x1 I think. As someone else said, had the option of keyboard if you didn't like the touchscreen. I suppose Sony always accommodated people when they moved technology forward, not forced them to move like removing headphone jack, keyboard etc.

You say it sarcastically like Sony couldn't have done it first. Sony have always done it first, across the board. They were marker leader for 40 odd years, and pioneered from the front. Most of what they've done has been outright copied. I'd say if you got an iPhone today, much of the hardware like cameras is Sony too

iMage.

The Golden Miller

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

This is not the case. Here's Apple's financial results for the quarter just before the iPod was announced in October 2001. $66 million in profit for that quarter alone. Apple was indeed nearly bankrupt in the mid '90s, but by 1998 they were back in the black - long before their iPhones, iPods, iPads and subscription services. Remember how popular the original iMacs were?

Fair enough, I don't have the ins and outs of financial quarters. They simply weren't the giant they are now, or even close. The smartphone market and development of the iPhone directly stems from the iPods success which changed the company. And their success stems directly from Sony pushing the wrong technology, even though they had invented the mp3 player.

It was a costly mistake on Sonys part to ignore their mp3 walkman for the mini disc player and Apple got in. Sony also compounded matters with buggy software when they did push their mp3, whereas Apples iTunes was seemless. That was the end of Sony as market leader. No one could have enviosionged how important that market was to come. Sony had one of the biggest falls from graces we've ever seen since. People forget, Sony were what Apple are now, but they actually invented.

Tech market will be a far worse off place if Sony ever go under. As I said, your Samsung's and Apples still go to them for hardware advances. Quality wise, their hardware is still the best at what they do

hatrickpatrick

The Golden Miller wrote: »

The Xperia x1 I think. As someone else said, had the option of keyboard if you didn't like the touchscreen. I suppose Sony always accommodated people when they moved technology forward, not forced them to move like removing headphone jack, keyboard etc.

You say it sarcastically that Sony couldn't have done it first. Sony have always done it first, across the board. They were marker leader for 40 odd years, and pioneered from the front. Most of what they've done has been outright copied. I'd say if you got an iPhone today, much of the hardware like cameras is Sony too

Wasn't being sarcastic at all, genuinely went digging around and couldn't find anything on it. The Xperia x1 was announced in 2008 by the way, whereas the iPhone was unveiled in early-2007.

The closest thing to an iPhone-era smartphone I can find before the iPhone was announced is the LG Prada, which was announced about a month before the iPhone. As for why this didn't become the dominant smartphone instead of the iPhone, one could point to Apple's branding and marketing, or as others have mentioned, the iphone's advancements in touchscreen technology. A few articles comparing the two note that the LG Prada's touchscreen operated like a classic stylus-based touchscreen without a stylus, so no multi-touch, few swipe gestures, etc. Based on the keynote announcing the iPhone, apple were really relying on the advanced touchscreen technology from the iPhone as the primary selling point apart from the integration of iPod and phone.

The Golden Miller

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Wasn't being sarcastic at all, genuinely went digging around and couldn't find anything on it. The Xperia x1 was announced in 2008 by the way, whereas the iPhone was unveiled in early-2007.

The closest thing to an iPhone-era smartphone I can find before the iPhone was announced is the LG Prada, which was announced about a month before the iPhone. As for why this didn't become the dominant smartphone instead of the iPhone, one could point to Apple's branding and marketing, or as others have mentioned, the iphone's advancements in touchscreen technology. A few articles comparing the two note that the LG Prada's touchscreen operated like a classic stylus-based touchscreen without a stylus, so no multi-touch, few swipe gestures, etc. Based on the keynote announcing the iPhone, apple were really relying on the advanced touchscreen technology from the iPhone as the primary selling point apart from the integration of iPod and phone.

Fair enough, I'm just recalling from memory how I remembered things changing at the time. So I looked it up just now, Sony had a touchscreen phone as far back as 04, the p910. It wasn't a touchscreen only phone as you say, but a precursor I suppose. They had the technology but the difference between both companies is perspective I suppose.

Sony like to incorporate old and new technology in one, like the combined VCR/DVD players. Apple want an in-house eco system of Apple only products. They ditch previous technology and force you to adapt, whereas Sony incorporate old and new and then phase out technology. But if you think Apple "got there first" in this market, then I really don't think so. Similarly, having the idea to amalgamate the music player to phone, Sony did it first. As with most home entertainment.

Apple's opportunistic success, has aligned with Sony's downfall which is a shame. The latter brings much more to the table, in forward thinking and quality

Schindlers Pissed

I always liked Nokia phones up until iPhone was launched, that last one I had was the N95 which I liked. A buddy of mine liked to jailbreak his iPhone so he could install third party apps and free stuff, it never bothered me. I just like things that work, and are easy to use. I think they really brought touchscreen to a new level, before that you were stabbing a screen to try activate a function.....also, internet on WAP or whatever was a disaster....remember trying to download a ringtone??

My first iPhone was the iPhone 3G and I've been with apple ever since.

I'll tell you what apple are good at: entrapment! I'm now in the apple fly trap....I use iPhone, my photos are in iCloud, I have an Apple Watch since they were launched, and I use a MacBook at home and I have Apple TV. Oh, and I use an iPad Mini with my drone.....but I don't really mind, because everything talks to each other and I don't mind paying for ease of use. I suppose if I was a true Techie I'd like Android more, but I have a Android as my work phone and I don't like it at all.....

Junkyard Tom

Always thought iPhones were a bit camp.

Leftwaffe

Up to 18 months ago I was completely anti-Apple. I owned a budget Chinese phone. I resisted Apple because of the sandboxing of iOS. I wanted to pirate apps on android, download my own music etc. I felt the prices were extortionate for what you’re getting.

Today I own a iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPad Pro, Apple Watch, Airpods, an M1 MacBook Pro and 2 HomePod minis. What changed? Well I started using iOS for work and realised how good it was. I also found that I can do almost everything on iOS that I could on Android and more. The build quality is absolutely amazing and everything just works. Syncing of all apps and files. My former budget phone feels like a plastic kids toy compared to my current one.

I still feel the prices are too high but if you’re in to tech, Apple is where it’s at IMO.

Grab All Association

What really saved Apple were a number of things. The USA v Microsoft antitrust lawsuit. Despite the marketing Gates and Jobs had worked together in the past and propping up Apple made Microsoft look less like a monopoly. Don’t forget the very successful iMac G3 and iBook g3 released 1998/9. Manufacturing of PCBs had shifted from the USA and Ireland to Asia around that period. Apple were back on their feet when the iPod launched

Last of their notebooks made in Ireland was the PowerBook G3 (Wall Street) in 1997. I bought one second hand a decade ago, it’s still running great, a testament to the build quality here in Ireland.