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iPhone 12 or just another 5G phone?

Let us get straight to the point here; the latest and greatest iPhone from Apple, is not as great as it used to be. Well, let us look at why this year’s iPhone is lacking in innovation and why many think it is a step back while Apple still feeds us the same fodder of being on the bleeding edge. There are three major questions that we need to ask in order to assess the current situation of the iPhone and what it means for the future of the product.

iPhone 12 features an all new Camera system.

The 5G question:

If you recap the whole runtime of Apple’s event, you will realise that the main focus this year was on the 5G spectrum of network and how fast it will be. In fact, the event itself was named ‘Hi Speed’, a hint at what they have in store for their customers. When compared to last year and a year before that, Apple’s main focus was on cameras, and they actually spent more than 40 percent of their time speaking about the camera system on the iPhone 11 Pro. This year it was on speed which I think is good, but not immediately and not for all. Let me explain these two points in more detail.

The new A14 Bionic CPU enables faster speeds for 5G networks.

The first is that 5G is basically in its infancy stage and will take at least one or two years to reach its peak in the most developed countries. This estimate is taking into consideration that the progress is stable throughout the country and many other manufacturers start putting out their phones on the 5G network. The second is regarding the countries where 5G is currently in operation. It is currently, in smaller segments, present in Europe, in a few countries in the American continent and the Middle East and Asia. it currently accounts for only 5 percent of the worldwide network and is majorly present in US, China, South Korea and Switzerland. So, Apple aiming the new iPhone at the 5G market seems reasonable as a company but for the consumers, it is a long shot to get 5G now. If in case we get 5G in the future, the price we are paying right now for the iPhone, only to not use 5G until two years from now, is too high. 

The innovation question:

There are now three segments of the iPhone market; the affordable iPhone SE, the middle range iPhone 12 mini, and the Pro models. Although all the models unveiled this month have 5G, they have some differences and some of them are a step backwards. Now, I am not saying that taking a step back is a bad option, and given the company in question is Apple, it seems to be a reasonable decision. The sides of the phone have been made flat like the iPhone 5 and 5s which were well received by the consumers. Furthermore, the size of the iPhone mini is similar to the iPhone 6 which, according to Apple, ‘fits in your hand’. I am actually excited to see smaller iPhones but you lose the home button, get a notch, bigger display, and almost the same thickness as the iPhone 6. The colours are new this year but that’s all we get and that’s where the innovation stops.

The iPhone 12 Pro with latest camera features and a LiDAR Scanner.

Don’t take me wrong, but when I mean this, I mean that most people who buy these phones usually take the mid-range phones which does not include the cutting edge technology such as the Pro display, Deep Fusion for cameras, better OIS, Sensor shift, Apple ProRAW, HDR video recording with Dolby vision recording in 4K-60fps, a LiDAR scanner and many more which are only available on the Pro models. So, you see, this is unsettling for people who buy these mid-range iPhones as there are phones that can do much better, if not the same, for the same price range as the mid-range iPhones. In short, the iPhone 12 and the mini are like the economy class tickets which lets you get on the plane but not in the first class. If we stray further to the iPhone SE that was introduced a few months earlier, we basically see an older hardware with a new chip and a camera, you get the point? 

The environment question:

The new iPhones will come in a compact box which will be devoid of a charger brick and the earpods and it is for the environment, according to Apple. Let us take another perspective here; what about new iPhone users and how will they get the accessories? What about existing iPhone users who still have the lightning to USB-A cable and brick. The new customers should, of course, buy the accessories separately which adds to the cost of the phone. The existing iPhone cables are usually broken, wriggled, torn, or in pieces. So the existing consumers cannot use the old cables that work with their USB-A wall adapter. They also cannot use the new cable that comes with the phone because, you guessed it right, it has a USB-C! So, you buy the new adapter again. In any of these cases, I do not see a win for the environment but just another clever sales strategy of Apple similar to what they did with the headphone jack in 2017.

Smaller package with lightning to USB-C cable.

The only logical explanation of ‘saving the environment’ was when they explained how the smaller boxes would mean that more boxes could be shipped per vehicle thereby reducing carbon footprint, but I doubt it will make any major strides. All in all, this seems like Apple shooting for more revenue at the same time convincing themselves that they are saving the world. 

Finally, I do not understand why some people would buy this utter nonsense from Apple but then I realise that they did have had great innovations in the previous years. But this year, it is not Apple’s time although they tried really hard on stage to make it that way.

iOS 15 – Quality over Quantity?

Now that the public beta for the new iOS 15 has been out for more than a week now, and that I have been using it since then, I feel like there is something new to this OS everyday. Let me not tell you what its features are, but rather, why this might be an incredibly valuable release for Apple in the previous few years.

iOS 15 with its top three features. Courtesy of Apple.

First up, there are these incremental changes, and YouTube is filled with all these crazy videos detailing more than 300 minute changes between iOS 14.6 and iOS 15, so you can check them out if you wish. But more importantly, this release, although in beta, I guess says more about the effort that was needed to make this release. 

Apple had to get a ton of things right to make sure that this new release was amazing, and I am not just saying it for the sake of saying, I do really believe that Apple usually does not release a feature/update to the public unless it is tested extensively before. Take the image-to-text feature, that can be used from the Camera app or from the Photos app. It seems incredible to see it and I know some might call it being available on Android first, but I doubt if the same people would agree it to be so good on any other device that does not run iOS 15. 

The text recognition feature on iOS 15. Courtesy of Apple.

This is one of the things that keeps the customers of Apple hooked, the detailed, well-thought execution of even the existing features. I would also like to mention a similar feature that was introduced last year with iOS 14, the widgets, which worked better than what they did on Android. Even some speculations I read point towards Android widgets getting a revamp because of iOS widgets, talk about leading with an example. 

I also feel like the range of devices that support this new iOS release has been the greatest in the history of Apple, with even the iPhone 6s from way back 2014 being supported. Do you also feel like by providing FaceTime for non-Apple devices, Apple is trying to reel in more users? I think Apple is sending a strong message out there in the tech world and showing its consumers that they care about them and by doing so, I think they have nailed both quality and quantity this time. 

Cloudready: The best alternative to ChromeOS

Before I begin to talk about this new operating system that I have stumbled upon, I would like to make it clear that no part of this article is intended to promote or endorse the Operating System. Also, please know that this is my take on the OS and so, it maybe subjective. 

What is Cloudready?

Chromebooks have gotten very well known among a particular demographic for being lightweight, compact, useful yet powerful. They have become the best laptops for people who prefer cloud storage rather than native storage. The operating system(OS) that runs on these Chromebooks is called Chrome OS. This OS is a version of the original Chromium OS which is an open-source project. Google modified it and included it as proprietary software in their Chromebooks.

Chromium forms the base for both the operating systems.

That same thing has been tried by other companies as well. Neverware is one such company that has made its version of the Chromium OS called Cloudready. In short, it is an alternative operating system to Chrome OS. Chrome OS works only on designated laptops but Cloudready or other variants of the Chromium OS, including the Chromium OS, work on pretty much any laptop with minimal requirements. 

Is Cloudready relevant to you?

Yes, if you are a light user. Cloudready is just an OS built around the Chromium browser(which also forms the base of the Chrome browser) and it can do many things with apps, extensions and plugins etc. So, if all you do with your laptop is to browse the web, watch something online/offline, light photo/video editing, and work on docs then Cloudready is a good choice for you. Now, this ‘good choice’ that I say is based on the assumption that you do not want to spend money on buying a Chromebook but wish to use an operating system which is just the same. Another reason to use Cloudready can be to revive your old laptop. I am using this OS on a Dell Latitude which is from 2015 and it works flawlessly. I mostly use web-based applications for my work and seldomly watch offline media content. My laptop runs an Intel i5 dual-core processor, four gigabytes of RAM and 500 gigabytes of mechanical hard-drive. When compared to my previous Windows OS, this one performs way better in terms of speed and battery performance. I get around five hours of battery life as compared to two to two-and-half hours on Windows. Google’s web apps work awesomely on the device without any glitches and the Google Drive, linked to my Google account, is accessible directly from the files app. The design and functionality of the OS are sleek and it works well with minimum hardware. In fact, you can run this OS on a PC’s as old as ten years. In short, if your old laptop is tired of running Windows and wants a reboot, this may be the best option possible. 

A laptop running Cloudready operating system.

The Windows/Linux switch

There are great alternatives to Windows which are free such as Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora etc, but what makes Cloudready stand out is how it is designed for new users. Although it is also a Linux based operating system, the download, installation, and other things are carried out very neatly. Previously, I have used Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8 and 10. I have also used many variants of Linux such as Ubuntu, Debian, Elementary OS, Linuxmint and even a modified version of the Chromium OS(Chromixium), however, none of these OS’s has provided such a simplified installation as Cloudready. It has a Windows/Mac USB creator and a 20-minute installation timeline. It’s light in terms of drive space and uses less CPU when compared to other Linux operating systems. I am comparing it with other Linux variants because Linux, unlike Windows, is generally regarded to run on minimum hardware. In fact, Linux is so varied that there are multiple ways to install it which furthers the complications. Ubuntu has been providing a streamlined installation, but it consumes more disk space as compared to Cloudready. 

Google’s Chromebook or Cloudready?

This is a very straightforward question. Do you have money to spend on laptop hardware? If yes, then you can gladly get the latest Chromebook. Trust me, they are great computing devices. If you do not, then use the free installer of Neverware and install an OS that is almost similar and does everything that the Chromebooks do. There is, however, some differences between the two. For instance, the Chrome OS is more polished and works better because it is optimized to work on the hardware. Think of it like the iPhone, where the hardware and the software are both designed by the same company. The case of Cloudready is a bit different though as it has been optimized to work on some laptops but there are always some minor things that creep in. Here, Neverware has done a great job of testing the OS on many models and has compiled a list of models on which Cloudready can be installed and they call these ‘certified models’.

This means that if your laptop is on that list, you can easily switch to Cloudready without any issues. Furthermore, Neverware also has a provision to install the OS on uncertified devices but it does not guarantee 100% working of the OS. In my opinion, this is a fair bet taking into consideration that there are literally hundreds of models that are certified by Neverware for installation. Another major difference comes in the segment of apps. Google’s Chromebook can run Android apps, but Cloudready cannot. It is simple, according to the knowledge base of Neverware, there are ‘multiple legal and technical constraints’ for running Android apps on Cloudready. One reason is the varied hardware that the OS can function on. This makes it difficult to support Android apps as they have to be optimized for all the certified models. Apart from the above, there are some minor differences like longer boot times, missing Google-level support, and personalization in terms of apps.

Is Cloudready still the best?

It is a resounding yes for me. I understand that there were some issues initially when I switched to Cloudready, but with community support and proper Googling skills, I have been able to make this OS work for me in the most amazing way possible. Of course, it still lacks some mainstream full-fledged apps, but overall, I have been pretty satisfied with the experience it has provided. There is a native audio/video player, pre-included flash support(which is missing in some other Linux OS’s), great battery life for my 5-year old laptop, and finally, the feeling of getting away from Windows. It seems a bit over-exaggerated but, I think this one of the best Linux distros I have used which does not feel like a Linux operating system. 

iOS 14: Genius or Deal Breaker?

Apple recently announced an update to their iOS and it is, at first look, fresh. However, it also brings back a lot of memories of the days when I used Android 4. The Widgets, the App Drawer, the hiding and rearranging of multiple home-screens all are an indication of the glorious days of Android. But there are some features in the current version of the iOS which are amazing. Let’s look at three things that I believe are major to this update and how Apple has handled, or rather how it has crafted them with their touch of detailing that was absent in Android. 

First on the list are the new Widgets on the Home Screen that iOS 14 brings to the table. Widgets are great as they provide relevant information at a glance. Android has had widgets since the initial days and they have been the default for some things such as checking the weather and quickly skipping songs. Apple, however, has taken a step back and approached widgets with a special touch. There are two kinds of widgets in iOS 14: A Smart Stack widget which consists of a set of informational widgets that according to Apple ‘will show up automatically at the right time in your day.’ The second kind is the usual widget that we have already seen in android which is somewhat interactive. For instance, the battery indicator widget shows battery levels of the iPhone and other connected devices.

Different battery statuses are shown separately in Widgets

It is amazing, and this is where Apple’s intuitive sense comes in to play, to observe that the battery widget’s information changes when using AirPods. When one of them is being used and the other sits in the charging pod, individual battery levels are shown in the battery indicator widget. Different colour indicators are used to show various battery levels. Other widgets include Photos, Screen Time, Weather, Siri Suggestions. We can expect to see more widgets from developers in the near future. 

The second feature that is new in iOS 14 is the App Library. We have all seen, used and have gotten well versed with the app drawer in Android. But Apple has taken its time to bring the app drawer(or in the Apple fashion, App Library) to iOS and has reimagined the way it works. Unlike Android, where you either swipe up or touch to open the app drawer, in iOS 14, you swipe left from the last page of your apps list to get to the App Library. Again, Apple has used its ingenuity in designing this feature. It uses AI to automatically sort all the apps on the phone into separate folders. They are all shown in the Library with two other folders namely Suggestions and Recently Added.

An App Library that is reminiscent of Android.

Apart from this, there is the ‘swipe down to search’ feature from the older versions where you can search for installed apps as well as the internet. Moreover, there is now an option to hide pages of apps that are not frequently used. These apps are only hidden from the Home Screen and are available in the App Library. One small update that I wish Apple would have made for phones which utilize 3D touch is the ability to left swipe at any point by applying pressure to reveal the App Library. From iPhone 6s models to iPhone 8 models still utilize the 3D touch and this would be a good use of it.

The third feature is that there are great improvements to Maps. Apple has been really going after Google in terms of Maps and their hard work has produced decent results. I say decent because Google Maps has more advanced options and provides much accurate information regarding businesses and other points of interests than Apple’s Maps. The 3D view and the Street View are features that users of Google Maps have gotten used to. Furthermore, these features seem more like basic with Google whereas they are difficult to non-existent in Apple.

Two new improvements to Apple Maps.

On the whole, Maps in iOS 14 has gotten a lot better with cycling directions, traffic updates, and more specifically Electric Vehicle routing which enables an electric vehicle to choose a route that has charging stations. This last feature is what Google should be eyeing on and include it in their next update. 

Finally, there are some other minor improvements which are, however, notable. Siri has now more information(20 times than three years ago) and takes only a small space of your screen to show results, calls do not take up the whole screen and are only shown as banners giving users more space to interact with whatever they are doing, Safari can now translate from seven different languages and helps users with password security, automation and new visuals to the Home app, car keys can also be stored along with other things in the Wallet app, improved privacy features that allow a user to see if any app is actively using the mic or the camera, and much more. 

At the end of the day, it is still a version of iOS that users have gotten used to over the years and as Apple points out in its intro to the OS, it “Feels like home”.

Will the iPhone SE be received the same way everywhere?

Apple recently announced the new iPhone SE(some call it the SE 2020/ SE2). In a nutshell, it is an iPhone 8(with the all glass back, the much loved home button, and moderate to huge bezels on the top and the bottom). The Apple logo has been moved to the center of the device to conform to 2020’s norms, and the markings at the bottom have been totally removed(except for the Product Red version), but it has much better internals. 

What’s new and old in the iPhone SE?

Apple’s website boasts the processor as the same as the iPhone 11, the A13 Bionic. It has a faster GPU to go alongside the new processor and the same battery, but, with better fast charging capabilities(18 watt). The cameras, both front and the back are the same as the iPhone 8, with slight improvements in the video section with  HDR, OIS, stereo sound rec. A detailed comparison(I think I have covered enough here, but for my friends who obsess over meticulous details) you can check out the gsmarena’s website. Let’s now address the baby elephant in the room; will most parts of the world welcome this new SE version of the iPhone the same way as the USA?

The new iPhone SE sports an A13 Bionic chip and other features from the previous iPhone 8

Higher costs outside the US.

For comparison, I will take two market perspectives aside from the US; the European and the Asian and we will be looking at the base model iPhone. In the UK, the base model comes in at 419 Pounds which equals to roughly $511. If we go to Europe, the same base model costs 489 Euros which roughly estimates to $527. Now, there is little doubt that there are other phones in the market which can match this price point with all the features that the SE provides. There is competition from OnePlus, Google, and of course Samsung. 

What’s good about the SE?

Furthermore this is where things get a bit favourable for the SE; one is that it provides all the basic features that are needed in a $400 phone and it does everything perfectly. It has a more than average camera, good battery, an IP certification, iOS security, it is compact and light. These are not just the things that it offers, rather, it excels at these things. Besides, an iPhone user can be assured of at least four years of updates. 

On the other hand, Android phones such as OnePlus and Samsung struggle with updates and  unless the phone is from Google, they can hardly get one or two huge updates. Another area where the Android struggles is performance. These phones slow down when used over a longer duration unlike iPhones. That’s not the case with the iPhone SE. Case in point; I have been using an iPhone 6s from 2016 and it has been performing the same way, except for the battery life, as it did on the first day. Not many Androids can do that. 

iPhone users wil feel at home with the design and form factor. Home button fans have got a reason to switch to SE.

Asia and Europe costs; are they too high?

Lets focus on the $400 cost. It is without a doubt cheaper when compared to the $800 and above phones but is it cheap in all parts of the world? This is where things get interesting. As mentioned above, it costs roughly $500-$530 and that is just for the base model. If we check the cost of the cheapest iPhone other than the SE in the USA we see that the iPhone XR comes close at $599. But, in terms of specs and performance it would beat the SE flat. Things get a lot worse when we look at the Asian market. In China, the SE costs RMB 3299 which equals $463 and in India it costs 42,500 rupees which roughly costs $562. Now, I do understand that there are additional taxes and other things that get added when the phone is sold outside the US, but $562(or $460) for a phone and a design from 2017 is pushing boundaries. Looking at the Asian, and specifically the Indian market, this is an overkill in terms of cost. This phone would, however, be an awesome deal if it is bought in the US to be used in Asia and Europe. 

Here are the pros and cons of the iPhone SE:

Pros:

  • Tried and tested design.
  • Smaller form factor and features already known to all.
  • Best value for money.
  • Latest processor.
  • Phone of choice for people who love the home button. 

Cons:

  • Battery not on par with the new processor making it drain easier. 
  • Glass construction making it vulnerable to drops.
  • Costly in markets other than the USA.

What should you do?

If you are in the US and wish to have a primary or a secondary device which is reliable and does everything and is within the budget, go for the iPhone SE. It excels at all the basic tasks and provides features that are unbeatable at the cost. It is an excellent choice for people who have been waiting for an upgrade for a long time. On the flipsie, it is costly in some parts of Europe and Asia which makes it less likely to be a favourite. Consumers who are willing to spend above $500 in these markets would go for an Android, or at the same price point, get an iPhone XR. There are other options for these demographics as well such as buying an Apple refurbished device for roughly $500-$600. We have to wait and see if this wild card from Apple works the same charm all around the world as it does in the US.

A beginners guide to major operating systems.

Today, we will be comparing the three major operating systems(OS) and their uses along with my interpretation regarding their current statuses. I will be addressing these OS at both the individual as well as corporate level. Before we begin, I would like to clarify that most of the statistics that you find in this essay are taken from the internet, however, the ideas of comparison and opinions expressed will be my sole responsibility. 

Windows, in India and most of the world, and macOS(Or the Mac), for the US, is a household name. These OS’s came into existence during the early 1980s and have been trying to go head-on against each other since then. macOS was developed by Apple Inc, California and it runs on the Macintosh Computer. It was an OS based on the UNIX operating system which was developed during 1969 in Bell Laboratories. It is interesting to know that both Mac OS and the Linux share the same roots- both are based on the UNIX kernel. (A kernel is the basic lines of codes which are necessary for an operating system to work. You could think of it as the columns in a modern building.) On top of the UNIX kernel, the Apple computers have something called a ‘Desktop Environment’. A desktop environment is used by computer manufacturers to enable the user to interact with the computer. It can be used to perform tasks such as opening the file manager, surfing the web and others. We shall come back to Desktop Environments when we are discussing Linux.

Although Xerox PARC was the first computer to have the Graphical User Interface(GUI), it was the Mac OS that introduced this technology to the public. It was always Steve Jobs’s aim to bring the latest technology to the masses. A GUI lets a user use a pointing device(such as a mouse) to interact with the programs and use the computer. Before GUI, most computers used keyboards as input devices. The GUI and Desktop Environment work hand in hand to enable the user to use the computer. While the Desktop Environment is used to allocate particular space on the screen for particular programs and commands, the GUI uses references from the pointing device to interact with them. 

Windows was in its development stages during the 1980s and Bill Gates had a good acquaintance with Steve Jobs. It was during this time that Microsoft had various deals with Apple regarding software collaborations and had access to the latest Macintosh computers. Microsoft was able to adopt this GUI into their Windows OS, although it was not as polished as the Apple’s Mac OS at the time. The move secured IBM as a permanent customer to Microsoft. (Microsoft was struggling with continuing their DOS operating system on IBM PC’s and needed a breakthrough to keep the momentum when they hit the GUI). Once Windows integrated the GUI in Windows 1.0, IBM dropped their work on a custom OS and adopted Windows in their PC line. 

Linus Torvalds was a man who believed that software must be free of cost and he was the one who developed Linux in the year 1991. It began as a small project with Linus posting the source code(the lines of code that make up the software) on the internet and asking for suggestions to improve it. It was a code for the Kernel that Linus developed that eventually became the Linux operating system. Two things are basic when it comes to free software: it should be free of cost for anyone to install on any(compatible) computer and the source code should be free for anyone to modify according to their convenience and use/share it with others. Linus wanted his operating system to be free of cost(he was opposed to the commercial viewpoint of Apple and Microsoft) and free for anyone to modify. 

What started as a mere 10,000 lines of code has now become a 15 million in the latest version. There are millions of active contributors to the source code, who upload them to a common server, and these get evaluated by senior contributors. It is Linus who eventually gets to decide which features(lines of codes) get implemented in the final version of the kernel. A majority of the contributors are software companies that use Linux and wish to develop it. According to the 2017 Linux Kernel Report, the top ten organizations supporting Linux kernel developments are Intel, Red Hat, Linaro, IBM, Samsung, SUSE, Google, AMD, Renesas, and Mellanox. Linux is dominantly used on the servers with almost 99% of them running a customized version. The main reason is the stability that Linux provides, it hardly crashes, needs little to no maintenance and can run for longer periods without rebooting. Typically Linux systems can run for years together without a need for a reboot. 

Linux comes in many versions(also called Flavours). Notable versions of Linux include Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat, OpenSUSE, Debian, Linux Mint. These are operating systems with the same kernel but with different desktop environments. For instance, Fedora comes with a default Desktop Environment that resembles the Windows XP style and has similar themes. Ubuntu comes with a dash on the left side of the screen which houses all the apps. Since the kernels of all these OS’s are the same, the apps that run on these machines are also interchangeable with little to no modification. 

Windows has been the most dominant OS since its inception. This was partly because of the strategy implemented by Bill Gates. Gates negotiated a deal with IBM which allowed him to get a profit margin on every PC that was shipped with Windows. This was crucial when compared to Apple; they had to design the hardware, and the software whereas Microsoft needed to only develop and support Windows. This success was two-sided since Microsoft was able to license the same software to any company that could manufacture the hardware. Windows is currently the most used OS in the world with roughly 49% desktops and laptops running one or the other versions. 

While Windows is predominantly used for office works, it is Mac OS that is the choice of OS for artists and other content creators. Take Final Cut Pro, for instance, a video editing software currently developed by Apple. It is the most widely used software for editing videos. Most of the Youtuber’s and similar others use this software to edit their videos. The features that this software provides are not found in any other and hence it attracts so many users. This software has been one of the major reasons for the Mac OS is popular in the content creators community. Other reasons include the portability of Mac machines, the battery life and the overall stability that these machines provide. Programmers also use Mac OS, mostly on desktops to develop programs. All iOS developers use Mac OS for the development of apps for the iPhone. 

When using an operating system, one of the key parameters includes security. Windows has the most number of malware registered. This is partly because it is used widely and is lucrative for hackers to hack them and partly because at any given point in time, there are hardly two versions of Windows available. This makes it easy for hackers to develop malware to attack these machines. Other reasons include the lack of proper security while installing applications from unknown sources. Unlike Windows, Mac OS and Linux have better security. The reason being that these OS’s are built on the UNIX like kernel which has security built in it. Apart from this, the UNIX kernel and the Linux kernel needs an administrative password, unlike Windows, to install/update new software. This step makes sure that only the owner of the machine can install and update the systems and has full control over it. 

We discussed the origin of three operating systems and how they have been developed and used for various purposes. We also looked at their target demographic and their revenue models. We discussed dominant OS’s and argued regarding their use for certain purposes. We have concluded this essay by discussing the security and the quoted various reasons regarding security on these Operating Systems.

The Original iPhone: A revolution

When it debuted in June of 2007, the iPhone was termed as ‘a revolutionary product’ by many speculators and critics. Of course there were many other devices during those times, such as the Blackberry- RIM’s brainchild- which was the goto device for business owners to send/receive emails, Nokia- with its Symbian OS, Palm, with its PDA’s and others. Then, the iPhone was launched in 2007 and the rest is history.

Jobs unveiling the original iPhone in 2007

The iPhone took the market by storm with its all glass display, compact design, on-screen Qwerty keyboard, and a multi-touch glass screen. Its introduction, by Jobs, as a phone, an iPod, and an internet browser brought a new wave of revolution in the way we all used and consumed media, messages, calls on the mobile device. The all glass, multi-touch display is quoted to be one of the pivotal reasons for the iPhone’s success, while others quote the abandoning of the physical keyboard, others just loved the form-factor that the phone provided. 

The multi-touch capacitive screen of the iPhone was first of its kind and was hailed by many as a breakaway from the traditional, then-existing resistive single-touch displays of the Blackberry’s and the PDA’s. It was in secret development in the R&D department of Apple for almost six years. In 2003, an industrial designer from Apple, Duncan Kerr, introduced the multi-touch panel to the design team at Apple. Furthermore, the team had never heard of this technology until this point and were amazed at how two or three fingers on a display could be used to zoom, rotate or navigate the screen. This innovation, from Apple, would provide users with a cutting edge operating system experience which the then prevalent single button press would not. 

Along with the multi-touch technology, Apple’s decision to rid off the physical keyboard paved a broader way for the revolution in mobile phone introduction to the common people. It is to be noted that until that point, mobiles were often used by only business people for internet usage and emails and were vaguely known to the commoners. The full screen display along with the on-screen keyboard, which would only come up when needed, allowed for more experimentation both in terms of design of apps as well as the way in which users would interact with them. The iPhone was no longer limited to only standard inputs from keyboards but could include any combination that an app developer could think of. 

All in all, these two remarkable design changes, introduced in the original iPhone, made it special and revolutionised the way smartphones are gauged and used.

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