iPhone, 5 years old today...

[pixar]

I know a lot of people with iPhones today. Interesting to read what others were predicting back in 2007.

http://www.businessinsider.com/iphon...07-2012-6?op=1

BLOOMBERG: The iPhone's impact will be minimal. It will only appeal to "a few gadget freaks." Nokia and Motorola haven't a care in the world.

PC MAGAZINE: The iPhone is deeply flawed. Apple will sell lots at first and then sales will plummet.

MARKETWATCH: The "one phone fits all" concept is ridiculous. Apple needs to roll out many variations, or the iPhone will immediately become passe.

CAPITAL GROUP: The Motorola RAZR is a great phone at a great price (free). There's no way the overpriced iPhone can compete with it.

BUSINESSWEEK: The iPhone will never be a threat to the BlackBerry.

MICROSOFT CEO STEVE BALLMER: There's 'no chance' the iPhone will get a significant share of the market. 'No chance.'

MICROSOFT'S SENIOR MARKETING DIRECTOR: Mark my words, Apple will not sell 10 million iPhones in 2008.

Technically Microsoft's senior marketing director was correct. Apple didn't sell 10 million iPhones in 2008. They sold many more.

[Toocherie]

I finally retired my Blackberry and got an iPhone this year.

[stan4d_steph]

It's pretty amazing how much I've come to rely on my iPhone as a source of information. It's invaluable when I'm traveling.

[houseofmouse]

My oldest son, 18 has the iPhone 4 and loves it. Will come in handy for international travel while in the AF.
My hubby cannot wait to get his iPhone later this summer. I mean seriously cannot wait, no joke.

[Tinkermommy]

I was in no way a gadget freak -- until I got an iPhone a few months ago. I can't believe how helpful it is on so many levels. I LOVE this phone so much that we're getting one for the Tinkerteen.

[codewoman]

Because I have an iPad, I recently downgraded to a talk and text phone. This weekend DS16 upgraded to an iPhone. While we were there, I almos upgraded when they started showing him the features. Seriously cool.

[GusMan]

To be honest... While I dont have one, I like the iPhone. However, I do not like the monthly costs associated with them. Yes, I am a rare find of a techno-geek in the IT world who does not have a data plan associated with his phone.

Sure, Virgin Mobile is now offering the iPhone with seriously good monthly plan options, but the phone is very expensive in of itself. Though, if you were going to buy an iPod touch, the incremental costs is not all that bad for a pay as you go phone.

[scoobydooby]

We pay for three i phones on contract every month for me, DH and my 13 year old DS. My 10 year old DD has my old i phone with a new sim on pay as you go. I am not a gadget person but I love my i phone. It's just so intuitive. I have another very expensive web based work cell that I don't pay for. It just makes me cross!

[MidwayManiac]

DW and I have been iPhone owners for a year. We love them. Amazing how easy it is to text, get email in real time, get directions, take notes, pictures, look up info, weather reports, breaking news, games for the kids, and on and on. Oh, and once in a while it's used as a telephone.

This is very much figurative and every bit rhetorical, but I have to say about the iPhone (or maybe more specifically about data plans): How'd we ever get by without it?

Through some closet cleaning yesterday DW and I came across our old Blackberries - actually the little Blackberries two phones ago, not the Curves we most recently owned - and our reaction was one part laughter part disbelief. O. M. G. We couldn't go back to using that.

[mco65]

I dont' have one my self.. my wife does.. she always claimed that she didn't need/want one yadda yadda yadda... but the very day that the iPhone became available with Sprint, she rushed to the store and got one.. of course I got her old HTC which is fine for me!

[codewoman]

I don't need an iPhone, either. But I bought one yesterday. I love it!

[3Princesses1Prince]

We've had ours for almost 4 years. I didn't "need" or even "want" one, but DH got one so I had to get one too. Now I can't live without it. Using it to post this comment....

[rph13]

DH has one. The rest of us don't. But an article in yesterday's paper was talking about families that are getting iPhones for their five year olds.

[codewoman]

5year olds? Uh, no. My 12 year old wants one really bad. And he is free to get one. When he pays for it himself. Including the increase in monthly bill.

[rph13]

My 18 year old also wants one and when she comes home for winter break she might look into getting one but at that point she will have to pay for the increase. The article did not go into who would pay for the phones or if it was a good idea or not but at five my kids had trouble keeping track of their shoes never mind a $200 (or more) phone!

[iceman559]

DW and I have been iPhone owners for a year. We love them. Amazing how easy it is to text, get email in real time, get directions, take notes, pictures, look up info, weather reports, breaking news, games for the kids, and on and on. Oh, and once in a while it's used as a telephone.

Boy this sure sounds like an Apple-sponsored message.

Through some closet cleaning yesterday DW and I came across our old Blackberries - actually the little Blackberries two phones ago, not the Curves we most recently owned - and our reaction was one part laughter part disbelief. O. M. G. We couldn't go back to using that.

Just remember though...those Blackberries that you laugh at helped pave the way for your iPhones. Without those old gigantic brick phones, there'd be no fits-in-your-hand cell phones. Without fits-in-your-hand cell phones and small PDAs that couldn't do much other than take notes and contact information, there'd be no Blackberry. Without the Blackberry, there'd be no iPhone or other smart phones. The iPhone is just one device in a long line of devices. At each step in the chain, people laugh at the previous device. I know I laugh when I think back to my old flip phones. And when I got a flip phone with built-in antenna, I laughed at the phones before where you actually had a separate antenna that you had to pull out whenever you wanted to make or receive a call. And now people will laugh when something that advances the iPhone comes out. Just think about 20 years from now. People won't still be looking back at the iPhone thinking "holy hell that's amazing!". They'll look back at it an laugh. Heck, we could go all the way back to the very first computers that took up an entire ROOM leading to the iPhone along with every other electronic device, console, television, etc. Just saying

[Drince88]

But an article in yesterday's paper was talking about families that are getting iPhones for their five year olds.

My 3 year old nephew and his 5 year old brother were using mine last week. But they were just using the games, and you can bet neither of them has one of their own!

I really don't see a need for a child to have a phone of their own until at LEAST they're old enough to be left on their own for a period of time. (One exception being some dual-custody situations, but then not an iphone!)

[3Princesses1Prince]

My 3 year old nephew and his 5 year old brother were using mine last week. But they were just using the games, and you can bet neither of them has one of their own!

I really don't see a need for a child to have a phone of their own until at LEAST they're old enough to be left on their own for a period of time. (One exception being some dual-custody situations, but then not an iphone!)

Yep. My almost 11 yr old wants a phone. She won't get one until she needs one. Which will be sooner than I'd like, but she will need one when I start school which could be as early as August.

And it won't be an iPhone.

[BlkPearlCptn]

I know I'm lost without my iPhone now. But when I was in Jr. High and High School my friends and I (and sometimes just myself) would go horseback riding and be gone all day. No way to get in touch if something ever happened. Now i would be terrified to go on a long ride without my phone.