I had an iPhone before you did. So ha ha ha on you!

I had my first iPhone in late 2000. It had a nice big touch screen with a few major icons to make phone calls, browse the web, or manage emails. A glowing review of that iPhone is here. That review ends with the minor complaint that the iPhone did not come with an SDK, and then with this prediction: "mark my keystrokes, in a few years, every phone will have the capabilities of this nifty little gizmo".

I had the iPhone because my company, Nombas, was working with InfoGear (who made the iPhone) to get a combination of client- and server-side scripting to work on the device. InfoGear was claiming that the touch-screen interface was so intuitive that anyone could use it to manage emails and to browse the web. So I gave it to my mother.

"Here mom, it’s something I’ve been doing at work. Now you can send me email messages anytime. Or browse the web. Or make phone calls without remembering anyone’s phone number. Try it. Send me an email."

"That’s very nice, dear. Send you what?"

"Email. It’s like a letter that goes directly to my computer."

"How do I send you a mail?"

"There’s three big icons on the screen. One says 'phone', one says 'web', and one says 'email'. Touch the one that says 'email'."

"Touch? What do you mean."

"I mean touch the picture."

"Touch it with what?"

"With your finger."

"Oh, this is too complicated. Can’t I just call you?"

"Sure. It’s also a phone. Touch the big phone icon and all your contacts will show."

"Touch it with what?"

"Oh, never mind."

I won’t be giving mom a new iPhone.