People seem to be making the point more and more frequently on HN, but it borders on revisionist history. TONS of people saw the utility of the iPhone almost i

People seem to be making the point more and more frequently on HN, but it borders on revisionist history. TONS of people saw the utility of the iPhone almost immediately. Camera phones we getter more and more popular, some phones were getting basic web browsing capabilities. When the iPhone was released everyone I knew was immediately interested. The only ridicule from that era was about the price, Ballmer thought it was too high. Making the analogy of the iPhone to a car is a huge stretch.