Proud to Still Own the First iPhone bought in US on 29 June 2007
Proud to Still Own the First iPhone bought in US on 29 June 2007. iLiked it. iCraved for it. iWaited for it. Finally, iGot it — my brand new First 2G (upgraded to 3G later) Apple iPhone
Mangaluru: June 28, 2007, during an address to Apple employees, Steve Jobs announced that all full-time Apple employees and those part-time employees who had been with the company for at least one year would receive a free iPhone. Employees received their phones in July after the initial demand for iPhones subsided. The iPhone went on sale on June 29, 2007. While hundreds of customers lined up at stores nationwide, I was also one among them to grab one of the first iPhone.
It was during the wee hours of 29 June 2007, I along with two of my buddies stood in the queue at Best Buy Store ( an electronics store) in Oak-Brook, Illinois-USA. It was kind of chilly since the treacherous winter months just got over- and to keep ourselves warm we had dozens of hot coffee/donuts from Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks shacks located close by. Waiting on the line from 2 am till the store opened at 9 am, there were hundreds in the line wanting to get their much-wanted iPhone. Since there were quite a few people in front of us, by the time my turn came to enter the store, I was out of luck. The store ran out of all the iPhone in stock- and we were issued rain checks to come back that evening to collect the product without waiting in the line.
June 29, 2007, at 6:15 pm I got my iPhone! iLiked it. iCraved for it. iWaited for it. Finally, iGot it — my brand new First 2G Apple iPhone. And ten years later, 29 June 2017, I still have my First iPhone, and it is still in working condition, except that I had changed the battery few months ago- other than that iHad no problems, whatsoever. This iPhone — iLove it and iEnjoy every bit of it! I still remember the day, June 29th, 2007 — the day many gear heads marked on their calendars as iDay, when Apple delivered its newest prodigy, the iPhone — a slender fashion phone, a slick iPod and an Internet experience unlike any before it on a mobile handset. This expensive, glitzy wunderkind was indeed worth lusting for, and many Apple fans took the iPhone iPlunge on that day.
For starters like me then, iPhone was a breeze to set up and fun to use, evident from the moment you slide your finger across the screen to unlock it. It was a wonderful widescreen iPod and fabulous picture viewer. Once you get the hang of it’s “multi-touch” interface — give it a few days — you didn’t had to schlep a separate iPod and cellphone in your pocket. The iPhone is more than just a gadget. It’s a genuine handheld computer, the first device that really deserves the name. The iPhone is striking. The revelation is that it’s also comfortable to hold and touch. The scratch-resistant glass-top surface protects iPhone’s gorgeous touch-screen display, which I found visible even in direct sun. No stylus is provided. Your fingers control everything; you tap, flick and pinch. Though you’re frequently touching the display, I didn’t notice fingerprints when iPhone is on. Really amazing!
The iPhone is the closest thing to the real deal Internet that I’ve seen on a pocket-size device. You can view full Web pages, browse through your e-mails. You can access Google Maps to search for pizzerias, movie theatres, restaurants or whatever. One of the best features is visual voice mail. It lets you prioritize the messages you hear first — from your spouse or boss, for example — rather than making you listen in the order in which messages arrived. Just tap on caller names to hear their message; tap “call back” to return the call. iLove it!
I never had a cell phone till I started working. Nowadays, it’s tough to even find a kid without a phone. When the cell phone was introduced to my world, it was more for safety. Its purpose was in case something happened and help was needed. You were afraid to use too many minutes and the charge for overages was obscene. Now, if I leave the house without my phone, I am lost. It’s a lifeline. I mean, if I have to wait in line at the store, I can check my Facebook or get in a quick round of Angry Birds.
We are such a society of impatience and instant gratification. But are these really conveniences or nuisances? With helpful tools like GPS, calendars at the touch of a button and Apps for just about anything you can think of, it’s hard to imagine life any other way. But there were times we weren’t so dependent on that lifeline. I would leave the house on my bike early morning and not return until the street lights came on without a call on a cell phone. A simple drive-by on my bike, a quick wave to my grandma, was good enough that I was OK.
My point is: I love technology. I love my iPhone. I love the fact the Internet allows me to research any information at the touch of a key or go shopping while still in my pajamas. I love it! However, I hate the fact I love it and am so dependent on it! Yes, there has been a lot of hype written about the iPhone, and a lot of guff too. But all I can say is that Apple’s iPhone is still the best thing ever invented. iPhone is pretty; it is touch-feely; it will someday make other phones better. And in the years to come iPhone will have a new look. It’ll be very cool. And it’ll be even cheaper.
Compared to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, the original iPhone is a useless, archaic emblem of a time before selfies, Angry Birds, and iMessage. And yet, when you go on eBay, you’ll see that not only is a “new” first-generation iPhone 2G still in demand, it’s the most expensive iPhone on the market. According to sources on Internet that the original iPhone is selling for between $1,000 and $8,500. At its lowest, the original iPhone is still $231 more than the iPhone 7 Plus.
If you can’t remember the first-generation iPhone — or didn’t have one — here’s a quick refresher: The two-megapixel camera had zero low-light functionality, and could only capture blurry, discolored photos at best. (It definitely can’t hold a candle to today’s 12-megapixel iPhone 7 camera.) It could access the Internet, but only across a 2G network (companies such as AT&T don’t even support 2G networks anymore). And no operating system newer than iOS 3.1 will work on it. This means that it can’t run any major apps, including Facebook, Google Maps, and Spotify, since they all require at least iOS 7 to work properly.
So, why are people shelling out thousands of dollars for a phone that is not even a fraction as good as Apple’s latest model? It’s bizarre to think of a product that launched in 2007 as a relic, but that’s what the first-generation iPhone has become. Think about it: The iPhone was the first real touchscreen smartphone. Years from now, historians will likely look at it as something that marked a cultural turning point from a time when our cell phones were useful, but not essential, to a time when they became things that rarely left our hands. Where would Instagram and Snapchat be without the iPhone? Our ways of communicating have shifted almost entirely from what they were like in a pre-smartphone world.
In the future, the iPhone 2G could sell for prices rivaling those of a Monet or van Gogh. If you’re regretting upgrading yours instead of hanging on to it, know that you’re not alone. I am still happy with my First IPhone 2 G- and I will keep it till it stops working. It’s like owning an Ambassador car for the rest of your life?
