The Rise of the iPhone - Erich Stauffer

It’s easy to forget how far technology has come in the last 20 years. From the rise of the World Wide Web in 1994 to web-based email in 1996 to blogging in 2003 to Facebook in 2004 to text-messaging in 2005 to the rise of the smartphone in 2007. The smartphone is, in some ways, the pinnacle of this technological arc, allowing us to access all of the previous technological innovations in one device. Although I’ve owned a HTC Hero (1,2) and other smartphones, the most popular smartphone is the iPhone, I thought I’d reminisce about my personal history of the iPhone.

CRT monitors and Samsung Flip Phones Can Be Fun

Back in October 7 of 2007 I had the idea to link a trucker’s CB radio to their laptop to allow them to see and talk to other truckers in similar area via Internet location, rather than CB channel. I would also (through Skype I assume) allow them to call their family/friends from that same CB radio interface.

This has all since been supplanted by the iPhone, which came out 3 months earlier on June 29, 2007. I guess I didn’t know the power it would have to supplant and replace so many different hardware and software elements of our lives – and I didn’t anticipate how widespread [smartphone’s] use would be.

———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Sun, Oct 7, 2007 at 10:21 PM
Subject: Telablue Ideas

Hydermill Ideas

Trucker’s Skype. Enables use of CB Radio over laptop
Location by IP
Half-Duplex
Clear, Static Free Sound
CB uses USB
Buddy List For talking to specific trucker friends on the road
Family Land Line Access – Call Family at anytime over the road using CB Radio
Trucker Band and Police Band Access – Enables normal use of CB Radio, with clear sound.

The following is the first message I ever got from a person with the email signature “Sent from my iPhone”. It was from sent on October 24, 2007 from one of my friend’s iPhone. He didn’t even tell me he got a new iPhone, he just started sending out messages that said “Sent from my iPhone.” Brady.

———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Wed, Oct 24, 2007 at 4:12 PM
Subject:
To: Erich Stauffer

Sent from my iPhone

This is the first message I ever sent from my first iPhone. It was October 30, 2007 and I had just started working at AllThingsIT for the first time. I recently recycled it to get my current iPhone. Sprint gave me $35 credit for it if I remember correctly.

Yahoo! Mail added it’s own email signature underneath the iPhone’s email signature. This is partly why I don’t use Yahoo! Mail anymore. I was using Yahoo! Mail instead of Gmail on my iPhone was because Gmail only worked via POP or IMAP, but eventually Google came out with a Gmail app.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Erich Stauffer
Date: Tue, Oct 30, 2007 at 12:52 PM
Subject: Router problem
To: Erich Stauffer

Sent from my iPhone
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