The CultCast

CultCast #290 - Camaraderie, chaos, and the original iPhone launch stories you’ve never heard


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This week: you’d never know it from Steve Job’s effortless keynote introduction, but the original iPhone was plagued with huge design and production issues that almost made Apple call it quits, right up until the day it was released!  To commemorate the iPhone’s 10th anniversary, we’ll recount some of the incredible stories behind iPhone’s beleaguered early days, and celebrate how Apple pulled off one of the greatest device launches in history.   And stay tuned for an all-new What We're Into!   This episode supported by   You might know of Shutterstock as home to royalty-free photos. But, they offer much more.  Kickstart your next interactive project with video clips or music tracks from their collection, and save 20% for a limited time at shutterstock.com/cultcast   CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can use code CULTCAST to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.   Thanks to Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for the great music you hear on today's show.   On the show this week @erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney   Sign up to get a free copy of Unsung Apple Hero, an e-book detailing Bas Ording’s career at Apple. We’ll email you a copy when the e-book is released in July!    Trying to build a better iPod
  • iPod was ruling the world, it was 50% of Apple’s revenue.
  • Apple had the wherewithal to realize it was only a matter of time before phones would do it all, and they realized they needed to build one.
  • Well the iPod used a click wheel, so why not build a phone function into that?  It worked great, until they realized it wouldn’t work for dialing numbers.
  • Steve Jobs realized their multitouch technology, which existed as rough demo, could be the key to controlling the iPhone.  But they’d had to shrink it.  The technology at the time consisted of  a ping-pong table-sized display with a projector shooting down onto it.  They had found their solution.
  Birth of the iPhone: How Apple turned clunky prototypes into a truly magical device     Insider stories on how the iPhone was born     The pressure
  • Around 2005, Steve Jobs conveyed to Forstall and team that he hated the replacement iPhone proposals he was seeing, and that’s when he threatened to take the project away from them.  He gave the team two weeks to come up with a good design.
  • The team went into overdrive. Working tirelessly.  Non stop.  They had to come up with an entire multitouch design language, touch interactions, like pinch to zoom and the rubber banding scroll.
  • When the two weeks was up, they convened with Steve to show him their new work.
  • He watched silently, stoic.
  • And when the demo was over, Steve said, "let me see it again.”
  • So once more they dived into their vision of the iPhone.
  • And after they were through, Steve simply said: Good job guys.  He wa
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