4 ms·

It still represented a huge leap over everything else that was on the market at the time, such that Mobile Safari quickly came to account for around 80% or so o

It still represented a huge leap over everything else that was on the market at the time, such that Mobile Safari quickly came to account for around 80% or so of mobile data use.

rkangel 8y ago
Absolutely. It showed that browsing the proper Web on a phone was something feasible to do. It was a great step forward, as these folding phones are.
- 2muchcoffeeman 8y ago
  Assuming the screen tech holds up. It’ll be a few iterations and several years before we can even determine if this is here to last. Even more before the price comes down to something kinda affordable. Also worth noting that flagship phones have only gotten more expensive since the first iPhone. Remember when we all thought the first iPhone was too expensive? This is 2k for what is essentially a prototype.
  - Digit-Al 8y ago
    Actually, it's "nearly" $2.5k ;-)
- headShrinker 8y ago
  I think you are vastly over simplifying what the iPhone was to the industry. The iPhone wasn’t just a native browser, it was also the iPod, Messaging with a full keyboard, and an intuitive integrated phone with visual voicemail. Also Apple through the iPhone freed us from being under the thumbs of our carriers and they’re terrible adware software. At the time I hated my phones so seeing the iPhone wasn’t just an easy and natural progression, it’s something I needed. A folding screen seems like engineers creating something that has no need. I don’t want it. It seems like 3-D TV “let’s do it because we can” not because it’s a good idea.
- rchaud 8y ago
  > Absolutely. It showed that browsing the proper Web on a phone was something feasible to do. In 2007, the proper web involved tons of Flash. Flash video players, Flash games, Flash-based interactive websites. None of those worked on the iPhone. Its web browsing ability wasn't much better than what you could already get on keyboard-based phones like Nokia, Blackberry and Samsung. On the iPhone you did pinch to zoom, and on the other smartphones, you were served the WAP version of the page, or you could browse the full page with the scrollwheel.
  - kristianc 8y ago
    > ts web browsing ability wasn't much better than what you could already get on keyboard-based phones like Nokia, Blackberry and Samsung. On the iPhone you did pinch to zoom, and on the other smartphones, you were served the WAP version of the page, or you could browse the full page with the scrollwheel. That's a very revisionist version of events. Much of the initial disillusionment around the web on featurephones came from WAP being (mis)sold as the Internet on a phone. If you go back and watch the original iPhone demo you can see that people were genuinely wowed by being able to browse the Internet ('the real internet') on a mobile. In fact, 'it's not a watered down version of the internet' was one of the tag lines of one of the first iPhone commercials https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZMr-ZfoE4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZMr-ZfoE4

It still represented a huge leap over everything else that was on the market at the time, such that Mobile Safari quickly came to account for around 80% or so of mobile data use.

rkangel 8y ago

Absolutely. It showed that browsing the proper Web on a phone was something feasible to do. It was a great step forward, as these folding phones are.

2muchcoffeeman 8y ago
Assuming the screen tech holds up. It’ll be a few iterations and several years before we can even determine if this is here to last. Even more before the price comes down to something kinda affordable. Also worth noting that flagship phones have only gotten more expensive since the first iPhone. Remember when we all thought the first iPhone was too expensive? This is 2k for what is essentially a prototype.
- Digit-Al 8y ago
  Actually, it's "nearly" $2.5k ;-)
headShrinker 8y ago
I think you are vastly over simplifying what the iPhone was to the industry. The iPhone wasn’t just a native browser, it was also the iPod, Messaging with a full keyboard, and an intuitive integrated phone with visual voicemail. Also Apple through the iPhone freed us from being under the thumbs of our carriers and they’re terrible adware software. At the time I hated my phones so seeing the iPhone wasn’t just an easy and natural progression, it’s something I needed. A folding screen seems like engineers creating something that has no need. I don’t want it. It seems like 3-D TV “let’s do it because we can” not because it’s a good idea.
rchaud 8y ago
> Absolutely. It showed that browsing the proper Web on a phone was something feasible to do. In 2007, the proper web involved tons of Flash. Flash video players, Flash games, Flash-based interactive websites. None of those worked on the iPhone. Its web browsing ability wasn't much better than what you could already get on keyboard-based phones like Nokia, Blackberry and Samsung. On the iPhone you did pinch to zoom, and on the other smartphones, you were served the WAP version of the page, or you could browse the full page with the scrollwheel.
- kristianc 8y ago
  > ts web browsing ability wasn't much better than what you could already get on keyboard-based phones like Nokia, Blackberry and Samsung. On the iPhone you did pinch to zoom, and on the other smartphones, you were served the WAP version of the page, or you could browse the full page with the scrollwheel. That's a very revisionist version of events. Much of the initial disillusionment around the web on featurephones came from WAP being (mis)sold as the Internet on a phone. If you go back and watch the original iPhone demo you can see that people were genuinely wowed by being able to browse the Internet ('the real internet') on a mobile. In fact, 'it's not a watered down version of the internet' was one of the tag lines of one of the first iPhone commercials https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZMr-ZfoE4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZMr-ZfoE4