In the music industry, they talk about the “difficult second album.” Fortunately that didn’t hold true when it came to Apple releasing its highly successful second-gen iPhone, which it unveiled for the first time on June 9, 2008.
Adding GPS, 3G data and a higher-quality build than its predecessor, the iPhone 3G was arguably just as revolutionary for what it did on the software side. iOS 2 arrived at the same time, and introduced push email, turn-by-turn navigation and, most significantly of all, an App Store — something Steve Jobs had previously been adamant Apple would’t allow.
Check out the debut of the iPhone 3G below.
Unfortunately, there was a sad side to the iPhone 3G launch at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in 2008. For many onlookers, this was the first time they noticed the extreme weight loss that was a byproduct of Steve Jobs’ terminal cancer. One Esquire profile from the period (one of my favorite pieces of writing about Steve, by the American writer Tom Junod) referred to Jobs as a “withered” figure at the event and as “gaunt as a pirate.”
At the time, Apple claimed Jobs’ changed appearance was the result of “a common bug,” and later revised this statement to argue that his health was a “private matter.” While Steve lived for another three years (much longer than many sufferers of pancreatic cancer), it’s sad to watch the iPhone 3G keynote and to realize that this marked the beginning of his physical decline.
Even coming, as it did, at the moment the iPhone truly took off on its meteoric sales ascent.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
4 responses to “Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs shows off iPhone 3G”
This is the only iPhone I didn’t have. Amazing how far it has come.
Wow, same here. I was a poor college freshman in 2007 when the iPhone 2G was released. I was lucky I had a friend who dropped and cracked its screen. He sold it to me for $100. Served me well until the 3GS came out – got that on launch day. And eventually about another year later, half of the screen (on the 2G) stopped accepting touch inputs. Ever since then, I’ve owned every iPhone apart from the + models and the 5c.
The iPhone 3Gs is still my favorite phone as far as form factor goes. I love the way it slide in and out of my trouser pocket. How if felt in my hand. Perfect.
Great keynote. I’m glad I watched that as I am sure that even with all their talent, the guys on Monday will not top Steve Jobs.