Back when the very first iPhone was announced in 2007, it took many of us by surprise, including Google. What Steve Jobs held in his hand on stage that day was unlike any smartphone we'd seen to that date, and it set the precedent for what we see today not only from Apple. In yet another excerpt for Fred Vogelstein's Dogfight, the The Atlantic, says what happened next:
By January 2007, they’d all worked sixty-to-eighty-hour weeks for fifteen months—some for more than two years—writing and testing code, negotiating software licenses, and flying all over the world to find the right parts, suppliers, and manufacturers. They had been working with prototypes for six months and had planned a launch by the end of the year . . . until Jobs took the stage to unveil the iPhone.
Chris De-Salvo was an engineer working on Google's early Android project:
Chris DeSalvo’s reaction to the iPhone was immediate and visceral. “As a consumer I was blown away. I wanted one immediately. But as a Google engineer, I thought ‘We’re going to have to start over.’”
And perhaps best of all, Andy Rubin, then director of the Android team at Google:
“Holy crap,” he said to one of his colleagues in the car. “I guess we’re not going to ship that phone.”
The first iPhone was a revolutionary product, that much is certain. But it's intriguing to see such candid disclosure about how it affected another company from one of its very own. Ultimately, the consumers won out because in the iPhone and Android, we're blessed with two amazing mobile operating systems.
The question that continues to float around in my head is; what would the smartphone world look like had the iPhone not been what it was? Check out the rest of the story via the link below, or if the topic interests you, pick up Dogfight from Amazon or iBooks.
- $10.65 - Kindle - Download now
- $10.99 - iBooks - Download now
Source: The Atlantic via The Loop
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

This stylish leather iPhone case from Native Union is as unique as you are
It's not enough just to protect your iPhone from life's little bumps, you want to give it some panache as well. The Native Union Clic Marquetry iPhone Case will be right up your alley.

Never take an out of focus photo on iPhone again with these tips and tricks
Tired of taking photos that appear out of focus? Here are some tips on getting the sharpest and clearest photos possible on your iPhone.

Study: phone-related head injuries increased following iPhone's release
A new study published in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery notes that patients with head injuries related to phones become more common after the release of iPhone in 2007.

iPhone doesn't have an SD card slot, but you can use a flash drive instead!
Having a flash drive that works with your iPhone is a great little piece accessory to have in your back pocket!