For better or worse the iPhone hit the market today 16 years ago changing the world forever.

  • NomadJones@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Some of us remember one of the first smartphones, the VisorPhone introduced in late 2000. Consisted of a Visor (basically a Palm Pilot knockoff by Handspring) that had a Springboard slot that you could slide a phone attachment into. I have fond memories of using it to bid on an AOL auction while driving down the highway with my ex-wife yelling at me that we were going to be killed…

    Truly a product ahead of its time.

  • sznio@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    The smartphone was a disaster. We shouldn’t be connected to the Internet constantly.

    Written from my smartphone.

  • u_tamtam@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    And not necessarily in good ways. Hardware keyboards, replaceable batteries, extensible memory, analog audio interface, function/multimedia keys, better battery lifespan (not traded away chasing always thinner designs), customizability and diversity in general were important as features and traits sacrificed for no good reason.

  • Veedems@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    And it, thankfully, changed the trajectory of the entire industry. Phones were TERRIBLE before the competition picked up.

    • zombiepete@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      The industry was terrible but there were lots of good phones out there. The Samsung BlackJack was a pretty awesome device, and HTC was making some pretty compelling devices for Windows Mobile. Then the BlackBerry, of course, was a great device in a lot of ways too; very functional given the limitations of a hardware keyboard.

  • jay@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Anybody remember the really awful phones that existed right before this? I had a “Verizon” brand phone that had the worst precursor to modern GPS on it. Made being a delivery driver very challenging as it would die and the maps were not accurate.

    Would not recommend

    • zombiepete@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      I still look back fondly on my Samsung BlackJack; that phone was fantastic. I still have my HTC Tilt 2 (that was the ATT branded name for it; I can’t remember what HTC called it) and it still works.

      There were lots of good/cool phones before the iPhone.