The iPhone's storied journey from Steve's brain to your hand

Come, reader. Take a step into our very special Engadget Blog Archive 2000™ device, watch as we wave our fingers through the air and say, "Doo-do-dodo, doo-do-dodo," and think back to this time last year when industry conferences CES and MacWorld overlapped, overworked (and heavily caffeinated) tech writers tripped over themselves to cover both, and Apple introduced a little product called the iPhone. Wired's got a look at the development of the groundbreaking handset and, though most of this may be a rehash for our gadget-savvy readers, there are some interesting moments documented in the piece: The chronology of the failed Motorola ROKR; the porting of OS X to the iPhone (which didn't start until early 2006); and the year Apple engineers spent working on a tablet PC, whose tech was obviously rolled into the iPhone's multitouch display. It's worth a stroll down the tattered corridors of your memory before El-Jobso's Macworld keynote next week.
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[Flashpoint @ Jan 10th 2008 1:51PM]

I LOVE ENGADGET!

The reason I love Engadget so much is that I can trust that whenever I come to the home page, I am greeted with the latest Apple/ Macintosh news as well as the continued flourishing of the iPhone which is hands down, the best invention known to man.

Keep up the good work engadget. Perhaps someday I'll type in www.apple.com and be rerouted here !!!

[Zak @ Jan 10th 2008 1:57PM]

I bet you're one of the people who was shocked that Apple stories made up the top five "most read stories" on Engadget. If you stop reading Apple stories, they won't be in the top five. Crazy concept I know, but you should probably try it.

[Zak @ Jan 10th 2008 2:00PM]

Oh, and I love how Engadget can run 22 PAGES of CES stories, not a single one of them having to do with Apple, and as soon as *one* Apple story shows up, the bitching immediately begins. You people have problems, you should probably seek professional help.

[roro2210 @ Jan 10th 2008 2:38PM]

i knew soon as i saw this post someone has already written " o another apple story" stop clickin dip stick. its got to the point you see not another comment sayin "another apple story"

[Jevanzz @ Jan 10th 2008 2:18PM]

If you haven't noticed, Engadget is also a member Weblogs Inc Network, as is tuaw.com - The Unofficial Apple Weblog - so it's hardly surprising they have a lot of Apple news, seeing as the majority of news on Weblogs Inc is passed around all of it's sites, e.g Engadget, Joystiq, all the Fanboy sites, autoblog etc.

Besides, Apple makes GADGETS, WTF are you complaining about?

[fred @ Jan 10th 2008 8:37PM]

I have to agree with Zak.

even though this story is stupid, the CES coverage has more than balanced the usual Apple fluff nonsense.

I'm probably dreaming, but I hope that Engadget fashions this site in 2008 like it has been going during CES. I've been glued to this site for days.

Remember variety is the spice of life. Not everyone wants to eat apples.

[Ruben @ Jan 10th 2008 2:59PM]

@Zak:

CES is a little different. Its a short blurb regarding brand new gadgets to people that might have never seen them. I didnt know they were having a 150" Tv and CES and was interested in that when i saw it.

The iPhone hasnt received a revision. It hasnt gotten a new firmware update. It hasnt been hacked with new software. It hasnt received a new dock or a new way of using it. Yet, this article exists, just to talk about it.

We dont read any articles "How the RAZR came to be, How the Touch went from vision to reality." All we get is gadget possibly coming out, gadget is out, gadget is unboxed, gadget gets update, gadget has problems.

However, with the iPhone, i can probably tell you what kind of plastic its made out of, how many cm the wifi chip is away from the lower corner of the PCB, the exact manor you install a homebrew app on it, how to unlock it, and now, how the hell it went from Steves brain to your hand, and i dont own one. There isnt a gadget i know more about than the iPhone, and its primarily because of this site. TOO MUCH COVERAGE, just to cover it.

[Seattle Yonkers @ Jan 10th 2008 3:11PM]

Ruben--

Well, did Wired write a story on the history of the RAZR? or the HTC Touch? To my knowledge they have not. Engadget was simply relaying an interesting story about (arguably) the biggest gadget in recent memory. It's not as if they went out of their way to WRITE a history of the iPhone, something that most of engadget readers would probably be interested in, seeing as most of the top 20 read stories were Apple-centric.

If you don't like that, then you can, you know, choose not to read the story. And who knows, maybe 2008's biggest stories can be about something that interests you.

[Zak @ Jan 10th 2008 3:47PM]

Ruben - this is a gadget site. Like it or not, the iPhone is one of the most important gadgets ever made. And I think the thing you need to remember is that you don't have to read articles about Apple stuff. You can just skip over them. Since Apple stories were in the top 5 most read stories on Engadget, that would seem to suggest that the vast majority of the people who read stories on Engadget like reading Apple stories. Would you tell Engadget to stop running Apple stories despite the seemingly obvious fact that Apple stories are the most popular on the site? Seems to me like that would be shooting themselves in the foot.

Just remember, if you don't like it you can A) simply skip Apple stories, or B) go somewhere else to get your gadget news.

[NG @ Jan 10th 2008 4:52PM]

What? Is Apple's product not a gadget??
Why shouldn't they write about it?

[Mike @ Jan 10th 2008 1:53PM]

can anyone else envision Jobs staring at you in a board room and saying "your product is crap"?

do you think he has to ever wring out a black turtleneck from sweat after those meetings? more importantly, does Jobs even sweat?

[Phil @ Jan 10th 2008 2:00PM]

yes, he just uses DKNY 'Be Delicious' fragrance for men to cover up his sweat!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOK-rpVuvbw

[Iain @ Jan 10th 2008 1:54PM]

Was that a Wayne's World reference?

[snowglyder @ Jan 10th 2008 3:17PM]

I think so...

Was I the only one actually moving their fingers and trying to figure out how "doo-do-dodo, doo-do-dodo" from Wayne's World is suppose to sound? (I think it's missing a few dododo's)

[Rich @ Jan 10th 2008 2:06PM]

I love Wired's "world = US" mentality.

[Brad @ Jan 10th 2008 2:08PM]

Just when I had almost forgotten about the ROKR... thanks guys.

[Tom @ Jan 10th 2008 2:22PM]

*cough cough* TABLET ? *cough cough*

[lanejasper69 @ Jan 10th 2008 2:27PM]

I Love My iPhone, not a fn boy!!! well, kina....but I have a HP notebook and a homebrew PC too that kicks ass for gaming. so blllllttttththhhhhhh. Lve my iPhone, It got rid of my iPod touch and Treo (755p) Pieces of sh** by the way.....now all is wrapped up into one nice package, LOVE IT!!!!!!!!



Faslane

[L @ Jan 10th 2008 3:06PM]

You typed that on the iPhone, right?

[lanejasper69 @ Jan 10th 2008 3:29PM]

No, was on the phone....:-) Can't stay off it!!!! At least until I get my first bill!!! hahahahaa

Faslane

[Jujuba @ Jan 10th 2008 2:31PM]

That was a really interesting article if you ask me, Im not the biggest fanboy around but I find that Steve Jobs seems to be a real smart guy.

Really, really enjoyed the article. It was kinda like a one man struggle to get the perfect product. Steve seemed to be really persistent about making it the best he could and doing it right (I mean the carrier part) and I like people like that, who are emotionally involved.

( Please don't fanboy-gangbang me :( )

[Mike @ Jan 10th 2008 3:51PM]

Actually, as smart as Jobs is, his biggest asset is that he's not technical, at all. It's that perspective that allows Apple's products to be straight-forward, because it's not designed for geeks who like to pick and choose from thousands of options and troubleshoot something if it doesn't work.

Jobs is incredibly non-technical, and he uses that to his advantage. If Jobs can't sort it out or is annoyed by the steps it takes to get something done, he'll throw it back at his engineers and tell them to fix it.

Reading the article, I can't believe it took them less than a year to port OS X to the iPhone architecture.

[majortom @ Jan 10th 2008 8:37PM]

several years ago, before I bought my first Mac, (but was lusting for one) I saw an interview with SJ. He was in a mood of sorts, but said something that really got my attention. He stated that while Mac's were not dominate in the market, they did bring artistic beauty to the PC screen. One look at Apple's icons and one can see what he was talking about. Mac (Apple) is so pleasing to the eye. Look at the icons on the iphone. Look at the apps on the iphone. Eye candy in the greatest sense of the term.

[rav97 @ Jan 10th 2008 3:56PM]

From Steve's brain to your hand through AT&T's colon.

[Gumby @ Jan 10th 2008 4:24PM]

Awesome article! Thank you WIRED and Engadget.

Best line in the article:

"Jobs, a notorious control freak himself, wasn't about to let a group of suits — whom he would later call 'orifices' — tell him how to design his phone."

[Sirocco @ Jan 10th 2008 6:52PM]

I'm really fatigued by that shot of Macy Gray, not a good choice for the packaging. It's turning me off to the Touch. John Lennon is on some box covers, which is easier to appreciate.

[winston @ Jan 10th 2008 7:15PM]

I'm really fatigued by irrelevant comments, not a good choice for intelligent discourse. It's kind of turning me off to the whole 'comments' thing. Some comments actually refer to the posting and to the subject of the posting, which is easier to appreciate.

[Sirocco @ Jan 10th 2008 6:55PM]

I'm really fatigued by that shot of Macy Gray, not a good choice for packaging. It’s kind of turning me off to the whole Touch thing. John Lennon is on other boxes, which is easier to appreciate.

[roole @ Jan 10th 2008 8:05PM]

This should put to rest the rants about LG/Prada (pooper-)scooping Apple?

Prediction: It won't.

[trongod @ Jan 15th 2008 5:00PM]

I believe the doo-do-dodo is a Rocky reference.