My first iPhone review was an all-nighter. I got the phone in a secretive hand-off at the FAO Schwarz toy store on its launch date, June 29, 2007, at which point I took it right back to PC Labs for testing. I worked on it until I nearly collapsed, handed it off to our audio reviewer Tim Gideon, who worked through the night, and then I picked it up again in the morning.
Tim was heavily involved in the first few iPhone reviews because the device was basically considered an iPod with a phone. It was obvious that it was going to change the mobile industry, but I didn't quite appreciate how much, in part because it was expensive, locked to one carrier, and didn't support third-party apps. That's why I called it a "revolution for the few." When that changed, of course, everything changed.
The original iPhone review no longer exists on PCMag because in 2008, with iPhone OS 2.0, things changed massively. iPhone OS 2.0 brought the App Store, which completely changed the iPhone experience. At that point, we deemed the original review obsolete and misleading for consumers, and we updated it accordingly.
Thanks to the Internet Archive, though, nothing ever really dies. I found my original 2007 copy there, and here are the results. What do you think? Tell me in the comments.
Want more blasts from the iPhone past? See my original reporting notesoriginal reporting notes from the iPhone's January 2007 launch and my list of the top 5 iPhonestop 5 iPhones of all time.