Let us start with the history of the iPhone by reminding the general public that if it were not for the iPhone then Apple would now be consigned the history on the same shelve as puffy pants. The creation of the iPhone has helped Apple maintain a monopoly on the mobile phone market for a long time, where only now is its titanic foundation starting to take on water.
Part of that is thanks to Google, and the rest is thanks to the mothers of the guys who created Google because if they had taught their kids how to talk to women then the iPhone would now be crushing Windows and Blackberry without a lick of competition.
The first Apple iPhone
By today’s standards this is nothing more than a brick sized Nokia, but in the day it was a device that had a touch screen and could do more than play cheesy ringtones and give off the sexy sound of clicky buttons when typing out SMS texts. It was the start of the Smartphone revolution and the Smartphone you have right now (that is probably washing your dishes and putting your kids to bed) is in existence because Apple designed the iPhone version one.
At the time it was well received but badly reviewed by quite a few, with only a few suggesting that it may be the start of something big. And the first thing to appear in the “big” category was unit sales, which quickly started to go through the roof, revive Apple and allow them to pump millions into Smartphone development for version two.
The Smartphone version two
The most annoying thing about this unit is the fact that they called it the iPhone 3G. Technically the header for this section should be called iPhone 3G, but anybody in their right mind who reads that is going to think it is the third iteration of the device–it is not!
It was called the 3G because Apple had 3G Internet on it and using the net on your iPhone became one of those done things. Sadly, at the time the 3G coverage around the country was not perfect, the battery lasted hardly a day and we were still dealing with really crappy cameras.
However, the reviewers for the phone went bat poop crazy over it, with most of them jumping on the bandwagon saying that the iPhone with 3G Internet is the future and how we will soon have devices similar to those on Star Trek (Voyager let’s hope).
The iPhone 3GS
This is an extension of the iPhone 3G in order to offer the public a better version of the iPhone. However, it was counted as the third iteration of the iPhone (for those of you keeping count). They had improved the connectivity, processor speed and various other elements.
Was it a perfect device? By today’s standards it is a rock you hurl at cars, but by the standard of the day it was a perfect but pricey upgrade to previous versions. The reviewers were yet again pulling out their feathers as they frustrated squawked about how fantastic it was.
The iPhone 4
This is when people started to suspect that Apple were going to start losing their strangle hold on the market. They were wrong. Not only was it reviewed as being the best Smartphone ever, but sales were through the roof and people were lining up to buy it. In fact, the only problem that people had was a signal loss problem, but it did nothing to slow sales.
The iPhone 4S
This was not considered the next iteration up and was simply called a more advanced iPhone 4. This was again classed as the best Smartphone on the market, and many were thrilled at how it plugged many of the weaknesses of the iPhone 4. It was faster, had Siri and up to 64GB of memory. It yet again showed the world that the iPhone was king.
The iPhone 5
In September 2012 we saw the iPhone 5, and even though it sold fantastically well, it was the first time that another company (namely Samsung) had come close to matching its sales figures. We now hit the age where the Apple stranglehold has been loosened and another company started to wrap its fingers around the consumer neck.
Still, the widely updated iPhone 5 jumped far closer to the modern Smartphone version than any other. It had its faults, with many of them revolving around the poor battery, but it still sold fantastically and showed that even though the Apple domination was over–that this pony still had a few laps to run.
The iPhone 5S and 5C
The iPhone 5S and 5C were only released in September 2013 and are currently very well reviewed (the 5S better then the 5C). Apple no longer dominates as Samsung are neck and neck with them, plus other phones such as HTC phones are also taking up a healthy share of the market, along with a few others. However, as of at the moment Windows and BlackBerry devices are still trailing behind.
