Lost in the endless coverage of iPhone 8 leaks and speculation is the fact that the 10-year anniversary of the original iPhone is just days away. On June 29, 2007, Apple launched the first iPhone, changing the course of the industry and making the company more relevant than it had ever been.
Ten years later, “CBS Sunday Morning” is celebrating the iPhone’s anniversary by gathering the four tech critics who were given the opportunity to review the OG iPhone before it launched in 2007.
“We had two days between the time our review came out and the thing went on sale,” said USA Today’s Ed Baig. “I’ve never been more popular in my life. I wish I had this thing back in high school.”
As revolutionary as the iPhone was and as excited as people were to buy it, it’s easy to forget just how much it lacked in comparison to modern smartphones, Yahoo’s David Pogue remembers. It wasn’t able to record video, it didn’t have a flash for the camera and you couldn’t send a picture as a text message.
“After three days I was ready to throw this thing out of the window for trying to type on glass, which is so hard,” says Walt Mossberg, most recently of Recode and The Verge. We take typing on a touchscreen for granted in 2017, but in 2007, on a 3.5-inch display, no less, it took some getting used to.
Following the roundtable discussion, Pogue sits down with one of the engineers of the original iPhone to discuss its origins. The whole thing is worth watching if you’re a fan of the iPhone: