Two years ago today Apple released the original, first-generation iPad Wi-Fi. Decried by critics as a "big iPhone" it turned out that was just exactly what the mainstream market wanted, and the iPad has gone on to pretty much create it's own product category. Rather than a complicated, desktop-style experience, Apple produced something remarkably focused.

No one really knew what to make of it back then, not even everyone at Apple. Their late co-founder, Steve Jobs, however, believed it was the next step towards the future -- post-PC before the coin was termed, a computing appliance when many felt the idea itself arrogant and oppressive. Something to once again democratize technology and make it even more accessible to the masses. (Something the iPad 2 would later run away with.

The line ups on launch day were geeky, filled more with people who already used Apple and iOS products and less with the mainstream crowds that would come just a year later. (Steve Jobs went to the one at Palo Alto) Apple managed to sell 300,000 original iPads that weekend, a tenth of the 3 million they sold on iPad 3 launch day this year, but an incredible amount by the standards of the day. (And unbelievable compared to the previous ten years of Tablet PC sales...)

There were a surprising amount of good, tablet-optimized apps available on launch day (I bought about $120 worth of them that morning!), and they just kept getting better and more numerous as developers figured out the strengths of the newer, bigger platform.

Now we have Retina display, LTE networking, everything iOS 5 has to offer, and the wonder of what iOS 6 might bring. But then we had the fresh and fervent memory of Steve Jobs putting sneaker to stage to introduce his last next big thing, something we'd seen for month but suddenly became real to us that morning when we finally got our hands on it and that big screen lit up bright.

The future.

So here's a slice of birthday cake and two candles burning just as bright. Happy birthday, original iPad, and here's to many more to come!

Here's my recollection of getting the original iPad, make sure you share yours!

Happy birthday original iPhone! You hit the world 4 years ago today in all your 2G, no App Store, aluminum-backed glory. And what a world it was, dominated by front-facing QWERTY in the Palm Treo and BlackBerry lines, and the beasts that were Windows Mobile. Palm didn't think Apple could walk into the phone market, BlackBerry didn't think anyone would want to type on glass, and Microsoft said they'd get no marketshare. Now, four years later, iPhone is one of the most dominant devices in the world, and the best selling smartphone on the market. And every one of their rivals (including Google who's Android looked like a BlackBerry before the iPhone hit) have retooled or rebooted since.

Sigh. Our little baby is all grown up. Sniffle.

Do you remember what you owned before the iPhone? Did you get an original iPhone? Did you wait in line, or get crazy angry after Apple dropped the initial, exorbitant price? Did you upgrade it to iOS 2 and marvel at the App Store? Do you still have one?

While we cut the cake and hand out the party hats let us know your memories of the original iPhone, and the smartphone market before and since.

[Hat tip to iPhoneDownloadBlog and 52 Tiger, get your own iPhone cake]

What do you get for the man who mainstreamed the command-line with the Apple II, the GUI with the Mac, multitouch with iPhone, the tablet with iPad, digital music with iTunes, MP3 players with iPod, 3D animation with Pixar, etc. etc. incredibly etc.?

Our thanks and best wishes on the occasion of his 56th birthday. He's wishing Steve Jobs peace, prosperity, health and happiness!

2 years ago today Apple launched the iTunes App Store and it's safe to say the mobile world hasn't been the same since.

1 year ago the iTunes App Store had 1+ billion downloads and 56,000+ apps, added turn-by-turn navigation, in-app purchases, and other new features.

Today there's 5+ billion downloads and 225,000+ apps (including over 8500+ ipad apps), along with $1 billion paid out to developers, iAds, and multitask, among other things.

And it shows no sign of slowing down.

There are still issues with the app approval process to be sure, and Apple has wedged HTML5 every so slightly into the app spotlight. Never mind every competing OS, manufacturer, and carrier is falling all over themselves (and each other) to launch and grow app stores of their own -- and some like Google's and Palm's are showing ever increasing and innovating results.

Overall, however, with the gateway device that is the iPod touch, the mobile mainstream converger that is the iPhone, and the bigger world that is the iPad, if anything it's getting faster.

What will we see next, iOS apps on a new Apple TV? Replacing Dashboard and Front Row on the Mac? And what will Apple bring next March is iOS 5?

Jeff Scott from 148apps thinks iOS could hit 35 billion downloads next year. That sounds crazy, but 5 billion sounded crazy just a couple years ago. (And if it's true, I think we're going to need a bigger cake.)

So happy birthday iTunes App Store, congratulations on 2 great years. We can't wait to see what you've got in store for us next.

Apple's iTunes App Store launched on July 11, 2008 alongside the iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0. Now, just a few days shy of its first birthday, iTunes is getting ready to celebrate by showcasing some of Apple's favorite iPhone (and iPod touch) apps [iTunes link].

Split into two categories of 30, apps [iTunes link] and games [iTunes link], Apple's picks are as diverse as they are interesting and seem to cover the gamut from major development studios to indies, premium priced to free, and as they put it are:

Part fun. Part function. Entirely amazing.

Did Apple include your favorite?

[via MacRumors]