Okay Geek Farm
10 ways the iPhone changed smartphones forever
Nick Mahar Nov 23, 2009
Apple, Applications, Design, Gadgets, Gaming, Hardware, Internet, Mobile, Movies, Music, Personal, Pictures, Reviews, Videos, Websites, iPhone 
As 2009 is coming to an end (yes, I know a month and a half still) I thought about how the iPhone 3Gs came out and I decided to take a look back on what the iPhone itself has accomplished. Most of us know that the iPhone wasn't the first smartphone but it did change the world of smartphones. Today I'm going to go through the top 10 ways the iPhone changed the world of smartphones and even cell phones forever.
1. Screen-Centric Design
Most phones have a screen and then a keyboard, but the iPhone's screen is the phone. Since Apple created this new design there has been a mix of in-betweener's like the BlackBerry Storm and the full blown copy like the new Droid.
2. Touch Controls
Not just touchscreen, but an entire phone that you can touch with your fingers. Most phones in the past used a stylus or other devices. Since then many other phone companies have followed from Apple's success.
3. Multi-Touch
Apple is know for creating things that we would have otherwise have never thought up, multi-touch. Being able to use multiple fingers to have two different points of reference at once, the iPhone's claim to fame, and we don't know how we ever lived without it.
4. Accelerometer
Much like the PlayStation controllers, the iPhones motion sensor for games is perfect. Looking at a picture, just turn the phone to make it fit the screen perfectly. What if you're watching a video or browsing the web? Turn it on its side and check out the extra room in landscape mode. And who else would have thought to shake your device to undo, shuffle, and more? And it's showing up in most new smartphones -- and even other devices like Amazon's new Kindle DX e-book reader.
5. Pricing
The $199 iPhone 3G, released last summer, threw a wrench in an industry so used to charging $400 or more for their devices. This new price point set the standard for subsidized phones, especially since no phone could even compare to the iPhone. Not only that, but with the recent release of the 3Gs, it has brought down the iPhone 3G to a mere $99.
6. App Store
Why not make an online store with applications to download for your phone? Apple wasn't the first to open up the phone to developers, but they did it in such a way that set the bar. It was simple, consumer-friendly to browse and purchase, offering free and paid apps for every one of your everyday needs. More than 1 billion apps had been downloaded after only 9 months of its inception, and it started the now famous tagline, "there's an app for that."
7. Apple helps developers
Not only did Apple release their easy to use SDK kit for simple app creating, they also gave 70% of the revenue from their app back to you (the creator). Since Apple decided on a 70% (developer) and 30% (Apple) revenue split, other platforms have had to take that same model. It's a better deal for developers, which means more of them can afford to invest in the iPhone. That's better for consumers and Apple, too.
8. Gesture-Based Interface
Pinch in, pinch out, flicking, and more. These are just some of the simple but very useful gestures that iPhone users are used to. They created the standard as well as simple gestures (shaking for example) that just, well, make sense.
9. Real Web Browser
Most smartphones could browse the web but most of the time it was just a simple text page and nothing super detailed. The iPhone changed all that and put Safari in your hands. Sadly, it still doesn't support flash, but it does offer something no other company has before. Since then, other platforms have built similar Web browsers based on the same guts. These include Google's Android and Palm's WebO
10. Video
Now their are still many devices that beat the iPhone in video and it took 2 years to get video recording, more is on the way. With the new video streaming built into the iPhone OS 3.0, it suggests that the iPhone could be the first smartphone where people actually use their phone to watch TV, movies, and more. Imagine watching a live sporting event on your phone while stuck in traffic(hope not), work, or where ever. And even though we had to wait so long, what phone allows you to record, edit, and upload to Youtube all on your cell?
These are the Top 10 ways the iPhone changed smartphones forever.
-NM
