4 ms·

No tu quoque intended, but I find the history behind the original iPhone introduction fascinating: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/and-then-steve-sa

by dictum 8y ago

No tu quoque intended, but I find the history behind the original iPhone introduction fascinating: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/and-then-steve-said-let-there-be-an-iphone.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/and-then-steve-s... (spoiler: it required some fakery and even a violation of FCC frequency rules)

lbenes 8y ago
Great article, thanks for sharing. spoiler: FCC part was clever, but what fakery? Are you talking about the "golden path" or something else I missed after a quick read?
- ddoolin 8y ago
  They faked the phone's signal bars to always show five bars, since it was expected that the radio software would crash somewhere in the 90-minute presentation.
  - mcphage 8y ago
    Was it a presentation about their novel new signal bars?
- zaat 8y ago
  >The solution, he says, was to tweak the AirPort software so that it seemed to be operating in Japan instead of the United States. Japanese Wi-Fi uses some frequencies that are not permitted in the U.S.
radley 8y ago
Apple also faked their "entire internet" iPhone demo in their 2008 keynote. At the time, if you visited the National Geographic website without Flash installed, you'd be shown a hero banner stating "this presentation requires Flash" with a large download button. Jobs' demo had the banner, but the Flash message was edited out.
rdm_blackhole 8y ago
What I am getting out of this is that even though it was mostly fake, it still managed to do what it was supposed to which was change the smartphone landscape and turn it on its head. So probably the calls were faked, but so what? It is a glimpse into the future, it shows what this tech can do maybe not now but a couple of years in the future. Is it dishonest? Yes, but then again Google is not the first company to put vaporware out. Microsoft did it first and that did not stop them to become a leader in the industry.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

by dictum 8y ago

lbenes 8y ago

Great article, thanks for sharing. spoiler: FCC part was clever, but what fakery? Are you talking about the "golden path" or something else I missed after a quick read?

ddoolin 8y ago
They faked the phone's signal bars to always show five bars, since it was expected that the radio software would crash somewhere in the 90-minute presentation.
- mcphage 8y ago
  Was it a presentation about their novel new signal bars?
zaat 8y ago
>The solution, he says, was to tweak the AirPort software so that it seemed to be operating in Japan instead of the United States. Japanese Wi-Fi uses some frequencies that are not permitted in the U.S.

radley 8y ago

Apple also faked their "entire internet" iPhone demo in their 2008 keynote. At the time, if you visited the National Geographic website without Flash installed, you'd be shown a hero banner stating "this presentation requires Flash" with a large download button. Jobs' demo had the banner, but the Flash message was edited out.

rdm_blackhole 8y ago

What I am getting out of this is that even though it was mostly fake, it still managed to do what it was supposed to which was change the smartphone landscape and turn it on its head. So probably the calls were faked, but so what? It is a glimpse into the future, it shows what this tech can do maybe not now but a couple of years in the future. Is it dishonest? Yes, but then again Google is not the first company to put vaporware out. Microsoft did it first and that did not stop them to become a leader in the industry.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]