The world is going nostalgic about the iPhone completing 10 years of its existence. The internet is getting full of tribute articles for the original iPhone and its creator. The device that changed the course of the smartphone industry is getting all sorts of attention this week and will continue to do that until the next iPhone from Apple comes out.
Why shouldn’t it? It’s the ‘iPhone’, the guidebook for the past 10 years for all other smartphone manufacturers. Apple brings every new trend to the table which gets copied or acts as an inspiration to the slew of major players from Google’s Android universe. Every manufacturer either tries to imitate the iPhone or surpass the iPhone, but cannot make anything like an iPhone. As Apple once said – If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone.
The first iPhone with a radical change of design (Photo: Wikipedia)
If you have been a part of technology debates or discussions, you must have noticed that an iPhone user will always claim that an iPhone is superior to any other Android smartphone, period. When asked for the reason behind their claim, they say that an iPhone simply works, which is true. The apps work, the OS works, the hardware works and any other parameter that you can think about the iPhone works. The whole point of the iPhone is that it just works. That is something that other smartphone manufacturers cannot do.
The iPhone 4 that introduced Siri to the world. (Photo: Wikipedia)
Consider the superb Samsung Galaxy S8. Many will agree that it is a great smartphone with a desirable build, smart software and great camera. However, compare it to the iPhone 7 and it feels overdone. The S8’s Infinity Display is a sight to behold, but the iPhone’s simple LCD display feels ideal. The camera on the iPhone is on par with the Samsung phone. Even though the Galaxy S8 runs a smartly dressed version of the latest Android, it cannot match iPhone’s smooth and efficient iOS. As for the design, the Samsung S8 is surely a showpiece but the iPhone’s simple yet functional 10-year-old design manages to draw eyeballs in a crowd of glass-clad fancy smartphones.
No other phone matches the iPhone's simplicity (Photo: Wikipedia)
And that is the point of the iPhone – its simplicity. Over the last 10 years, every iPhone that has existed on the face of this planet has managed to stay simple without being obsolete. They have focussed on providing the essentials that a smartphone user should need while on the move, nothing that they don’t. Consider the list below:
iPhone – brought the touch screen interface and internet browsing capability to the masses.
iPhone 3G – brought faster Internet and a proper App Store to the smartphone platform.
iPhone 3GS – brought an improved camera and a faster processor.
iPhone 4 – introduced a super clear ‘Retina Display’ with a higher DPI
iPhone 4S – introduced dual core processor and the first mobile voice assistant, Siri.
iPhone 5 – brought LTE along with a bigger display
iPhone 5S – brought the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and a metal body
iPhone 6S – introduced a pressure-sensitive touch screen display
iPhone 7 Plus – introduced the dual camera sensor with a telephoto lens, force touch home button and no headphone jack.
*We didn’t mention the iPhone 5C, iPhone 6/6 Plus, iPhone SE and iPhone 7 as they were simply upgrades to the previous versions.
In all the iPhones that were mentioned above, the idea has been simple – bring new technology that makes life simpler. All the phones look simple, work like a charm and are easy to live with. The Android ecosystem surely offers a plethora of choices in terms of products, designs and features, making it a suitable platform for those looking for additional features. If you want a powerful handheld computer, an Android is your best bet.
However, the iPhone has always stood for the essentials that a user needs. It might not have the versatility of Google’s platform but will be efficient at all the things it has been designed to do – no lags and simplified user experience. The iPhone has become synonymous with simplicity and that is what has been making it relevant for the past 10 years. There have been phones that were superior to the iPhone for a particular year and yet the iPhone has always overshadowed them. The previous ones have been doing that, the current has been doing that as well and the upcoming ones will continue to revolutionise the tech industry in a very simple way.
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