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The iPhone 3G was introduced in July 2008 along with the App Store, and official support for 3rd party apps. I was lucky enough to get a job programming an app

by m12k 4y ago

The iPhone 3G was introduced in July 2008 along with the App Store, and official support for 3rd party apps. I was lucky enough to get a job programming an app for it a couple months later. It was rough at first, with so much undocumented behavior, no playbook of best practices and very little help to find on the web. But it also taught me a lot of self-reliance. I didn't get to be part of the gold rushes in the 80's and 90's when personal computers and the web exploded onto the scene, so I feel grateful to have been part of another "new world" in tech, full of uncertainty, opportunity and excitement. It still blows my mind that it's already been 14 years - smartphones still feel like "the new thing" to me - maybe just because no huge new platforms have emerged since then to take the "new thing" crown?

giuliomagnifico 4y ago
The “boom/growth” of smartphones was very fast but in the last 2/3 years there aren’t big “new things” (features I mean), there isn’t a new App Store, or a Retina display, or a lightning connector, or 3G (5G is not as breakthrough as it was from 2 to 3G) and so on… the “next big thing” I think will be on the battery that’s still the same technology as it was in the beginning.
- causi 4y ago
  Lots of phones have really cool features but they're not widely adopted. Solid-state accelerometers were invented and then instantly adopted universally. Same for compasses and GPS receivers. Many features I imagined would become universal simply haven't. Periscope zoom cameras, for example, or HDMI-out desktop modes. Other great features were created and then fell out of favor, like rear-mounted fingerprint readers and notification LEDs.
- grishka 4y ago
  > the “next big thing” I think will be on the battery You'll get the same mediocre battery life but the phone would be so thin you could slice bread with it.
- bombcar 4y ago
  For something to be a "big thing" it really has to enable new uses that actually matter - once we hit day+ battery life, longer no longer matters (especially with wireless charging); and 3G to 5G hasn't really been noticeable to anyone beyond 3G being slowed beyond belief. A new connector, a new display, these just are minor changes and though they may cause some howling, they don't really change the use of the device. What's the next big new thing? No idea, if I knew I'd make it. But I suspect that it's already been done somewhere, but it won't be big until Apple or someone picks it up.
  - failTide 4y ago
    > What's the next big new thing? No idea, if I knew I'd make it If only it were that simple...
chunkyguy 4y ago
> smartphones still feel like "the new thing" to me Also maybe because they (Apple and Google) keep on adding things and revising how to make apps. Question is can you make an app today with the tech of 2008? Maybe yes, but will you?
afavour 4y ago
I think it was the iPhone 3GS that first introduced the compass sensor. I think that's the last time I had a true "wow" moment, since then the improvements (e.g. retina screen) have been great but not really very exciting. Unfortunately for me I missed the boat on the App Store explosion and I agree that we've not really had anything comparable since. If anything it feels like we've stagnated... not in a bad way exactly, the tech we have at our fingertips is incredible, but nothing there's nothing truly game changing. Not that people haven't tried with wearables, VR and so on. But... meh.
- skunkworker 4y ago
  I remember how much "snappier" the iPhone 3GS felt compared to the 3G, and then a few years later I went back and couldn't believe I waited 5 to 10 seconds for an app to load, it's incredible how fast the SSD has become on smartphones.
incanus77 4y ago
I feel the same way — fortunate. I started out on my own (the first time) in ‘06, finally taking a step towards trying to write Mac software for a living, but mostly paying the bills using what I had done prior, “sysadmin” (today: devops) in LAMP stack systems. The iPhone app ecosystem hit in ‘08 and right away, demand for devs far outstripped supply. Through my professional connections, I landed a contract job, and the first app I worked on was Starbucks 1.0. Many other opportunities came afterwards, for which I am also grateful, including eventually founding the mobile systems at Mapbox, which allowed me to work alongside incredibly brilliant people, travel the world, make a much bigger name for myself in the community and in open source, and much more. I’ve since grown pretty negative about the app store economics and incentive systems. I always thought a) it wouldn’t ever get this big and b) somehow, it would at least allow for a more open alternative alongside. The icing on the cake is the app review system, and I just can’t be bothered. As cool as any of the hardware and software technologies are, I am not attracted to the ecosystem for fun, which is honestly, the main motivator my whole career — what did I enjoy doing? The arbitrariness of version reviews, established apps getting pulled, the code signing hoop-jumping, and the ridiculous 30% cut just rule it right out for me.

by m12k 4y ago

giuliomagnifico 4y ago

The “boom/growth” of smartphones was very fast but in the last 2/3 years there aren’t big “new things” (features I mean), there isn’t a new App Store, or a Retina display, or a lightning connector, or 3G (5G is not as breakthrough as it was from 2 to 3G) and so on… the “next big thing” I think will be on the battery that’s still the same technology as it was in the beginning.

causi 4y ago
Lots of phones have really cool features but they're not widely adopted. Solid-state accelerometers were invented and then instantly adopted universally. Same for compasses and GPS receivers. Many features I imagined would become universal simply haven't. Periscope zoom cameras, for example, or HDMI-out desktop modes. Other great features were created and then fell out of favor, like rear-mounted fingerprint readers and notification LEDs.
grishka 4y ago
> the “next big thing” I think will be on the battery You'll get the same mediocre battery life but the phone would be so thin you could slice bread with it.
bombcar 4y ago
For something to be a "big thing" it really has to enable new uses that actually matter - once we hit day+ battery life, longer no longer matters (especially with wireless charging); and 3G to 5G hasn't really been noticeable to anyone beyond 3G being slowed beyond belief. A new connector, a new display, these just are minor changes and though they may cause some howling, they don't really change the use of the device. What's the next big new thing? No idea, if I knew I'd make it. But I suspect that it's already been done somewhere, but it won't be big until Apple or someone picks it up.
- failTide 4y ago
  > What's the next big new thing? No idea, if I knew I'd make it If only it were that simple...

chunkyguy 4y ago

> smartphones still feel like "the new thing" to me Also maybe because they (Apple and Google) keep on adding things and revising how to make apps. Question is can you make an app today with the tech of 2008? Maybe yes, but will you?

afavour 4y ago

I think it was the iPhone 3GS that first introduced the compass sensor. I think that's the last time I had a true "wow" moment, since then the improvements (e.g. retina screen) have been great but not really very exciting. Unfortunately for me I missed the boat on the App Store explosion and I agree that we've not really had anything comparable since. If anything it feels like we've stagnated... not in a bad way exactly, the tech we have at our fingertips is incredible, but nothing there's nothing truly game changing. Not that people haven't tried with wearables, VR and so on. But... meh.

skunkworker 4y ago
I remember how much "snappier" the iPhone 3GS felt compared to the 3G, and then a few years later I went back and couldn't believe I waited 5 to 10 seconds for an app to load, it's incredible how fast the SSD has become on smartphones.

incanus77 4y ago

I feel the same way — fortunate. I started out on my own (the first time) in ‘06, finally taking a step towards trying to write Mac software for a living, but mostly paying the bills using what I had done prior, “sysadmin” (today: devops) in LAMP stack systems. The iPhone app ecosystem hit in ‘08 and right away, demand for devs far outstripped supply. Through my professional connections, I landed a contract job, and the first app I worked on was Starbucks 1.0. Many other opportunities came afterwards, for which I am also grateful, including eventually founding the mobile systems at Mapbox, which allowed me to work alongside incredibly brilliant people, travel the world, make a much bigger name for myself in the community and in open source, and much more. I’ve since grown pretty negative about the app store economics and incentive systems. I always thought a) it wouldn’t ever get this big and b) somehow, it would at least allow for a more open alternative alongside. The icing on the cake is the app review system, and I just can’t be bothered. As cool as any of the hardware and software technologies are, I am not attracted to the ecosystem for fun, which is honestly, the main motivator my whole career — what did I enjoy doing? The arbitrariness of version reviews, established apps getting pulled, the code signing hoop-jumping, and the ridiculous 30% cut just rule it right out for me.