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The moment Steve Jobs showed swiping to unlock an iPhone for the first time is absolutely iconic

Home> Apple> iPhone

Published 13:21 2 Feb 2024 GMT

The moment Steve Jobs showed swiping to unlock an iPhone for the first time is absolutely iconic

The moment Steve Jobs debuted the first iPhone back in 2007 is the stuff of legends.

Prudence Wade

Prudence Wade

The iPhone is one of the most iconic bits of technology ever created - a little smartphone that sent shockwaves through the world.

Its touchscreen and interface were revolutionary when it was unveiled back in 2007, cementing Apple's place as a market leader, along with its then-CEO, Steve Jobs.

The press conference where Apple first showed off the iPhone is now the stuff of legends and the subject of more than one movie - and watching it feels like going back in a time machine.

One moment from the presentation has repeatedly gone viral for its simple demonstration of how amazing the iPhone was, particularly compared to its competitors at the time.

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Steve Jobs shows how to get into the phone with one simple action: sliding your finger across the screen.

The idea behind it is genius, with Jobs explaining: "We wanted something that you couldn't do by accident in your pocket."

At the time, most people hadn't used a touchscreen phone - so accidentally unlocking the device and sending pocket calls or garbled texts was a big worry.

David Paul Morris / Stringer / Getty

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Back then, almost all of us were used to clicky buttons or even the mini-keyboards of Blackberry phones, meaning the iPhone's touch-sensitive display was like something from another world.

It helped that it also looked fantastic, with a shape that Apple has never really had to leave behind, even if it's been refined and become larger over time, as bigger displays have come into fashion.

Jobs' trademark attention to detail is also obvious even in that small clip, as is his expertise at running a presentation - the way he immediately clocked how impressed the audience was, and offered to do the gesture a second time.

South China Morning Post / Contributor / Getty

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It all reinforces the sense that the iPhone's launch was a bit of a visionary moment both from Jobs, who has taken on a slightly messianic reputation since his death, and from Apple, which read the tea leaves and saw that smartphones were the future.

Now Apple makes more than half of all phones sold in the US each year, and it's become one of the most valuable companies in the world. That might not have all started with this small moment, but it's certainly a window into a stratospheric trajectory.

Featured Image Credit: Apple
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