The first generation iPhone was, in many days, quite different than the ones we see in use today. For one thing, it was small, just 4.5 inches by 2.4 inches. It had no third-party apps and topped out at 16GB of flash memory. It was exclusive to AT&T, and ran only on AT&T’s notoriously slow and unreliable EDGE GSM network.
But despite all of its shortcomings, relative to today, that first iPhone was hugely important. It was Apple’s entry into a new category, at a time when the company’s singular handheld device was the iPod.
