Can the iPhone do that yet?

While farting around online, I stumbled across this 2008 Time Capsule from Stephen Fry. In it, he discusses the state of mobile phones - diving into the problems with BlackBerry's and Apple's latest offerings. BlackBerry had released the Storm¹ and Apple's 2nd iPhone was now 3G capable. It's quite the glimpse into what we thought the future would be like.

Halfway through, he says:

When the first generation [of iPhone] came out I offered the view, based on my experience of releases and refinements in this field, that iPhone the Third would be The One. I still believe this to be true. Any wishlist for hardware and software improvements in v3.0 would be bound to hope for – nay demand – the following:

So, what did St Stephen of Fry wish for? And can 2023 iPhones and Android match His expectations?

Fry's Wishlist

1. Cut and paste. I mean come on!!

Yes! Inexplicably this was a Hard Problem™ for multiple devices. Even Windows Phone 7 launched without such basic text editing. The iPhone eventually got this in 2009.

2. iPhone version of Safari to be Flash capable.

No! In 2010, Steve Jobs published his "Thoughts On Flash" letter. He (correctly) described all the problems with Flash and why it would never be suitable for the iPhone.

You may not remember, but Flash was ubiquitous at the time. Symbian phones had (rudimentary) Flash players, as did early Android phones. That wasn't enough to save the publication format. Nor was there enough consumer pressure to force Apple into supporting it.

3. Video recording: iPhone should be like a Flip

Yes. It may surprise you to learn that the original iPhone couldn't record video! Nearly every cameraphone on the market could. But not iOS.

4. Upgrade of camera (xenon flash, higher res)

Yes. Again, the original iPhone had a 2MP camera and no flash - compared to the contemporary Nokia N95 which had a 5MP sensor, Carl Zeiss lens, and a flash. Nowadays the iPhone has more cameras on it than seems possible.

5. Front facing video camera for 3G video calls

Yes and no. Again, the first few iPhones had no FFC. It wasn't until 2010's iPhone 4 that it got the ability to do video calls.

But! Only via Facetime. I don't think the iPhone has ever supported the GSM specification for carrier video calling. To be fair, mobile networks repeatedly shat the bed in terms of pricing their calling options, so repeatedly had their lunch stolen by "Over The Top" services like Facetime and WhatsApp.

6. MMS

Ish? Because the aforementioned carriers decided to price MMS as a premium product, most users turned to WhatsApp or similar. But, as Fry predicted, iOS 3 came with MMS.

7. User file management capabilities

Steve Jobs suggested that users didn't understand filesystems. And, therefore, the app should manage its specific files. That's a design decision which iOS still embodies. While there are now some limited ways to manage files, you're mostly at the mercy of the individual apps.

Of course, in a self-fulfilling-prophecy, people who grew up with an iPhone don't understand how file systems work.

Android, of course, doesn't give a shit at will happily let apps crap all over the filesystem.

8. Bluetooth that is worthy of the name. File transfers between different phones and platforms is a minimum requirement.

Hahaha! No. In 2013, iOS 7 introduced AirDrop which made it possible to transfer large files quickly between iOS devices and other Mac devices. But there's no way to send Bluetooth files to the filthy scum who use Android. Ewww!

9. A memory card slot.

No. And fuck you for asking! If you fill up your device, just buy a new one!!!

To be fair, the latest iPhones do offer a terabyte of storage. And, nowadays, it is getting rarer to find an Android which will take a MicroSD card.

10. AM/FM radio. (Mobile TV too, why not?)

What, are you some kind of Communist who wants to listen to music for free?!?! Just buy your songs from iTunes like a normal person.

Although there were adapters for radio signals there was never any native support for free-to-air radio. Several Android devices support AM/FM and use a standard headphone cable as an antenna.

As for TV? There is a standard for mobile broadcast called DVB-H. But it was only ever supported by a few Nokia phones and never any Android devices.

11. Better (and removable) battery.

Better? Yes? Removable? Again, fuck you for asking. Buy a new phone or pay for an expensive replacement.

12. Built in projector (this prolly won’t come till V4, but you never know)

I love the idea of iPhone users having a high-intensity light source with which to dazzle people! Sadly, this technology never came to iPhone. There are a few Android devices with built-in projectors but it still remains a niche bit of tech. There are too many compromises around picture quality, power consumption, and heat to make it worthwhile.

13. Customisable glossary for Apple’s predictive text input system. BlackBerry has a superb autotext that allows BB units still to outperform iPhone when it comes to input.

Yes, eventually. Early iPhones let you add custom text shortcuts albeit with some truly atrocious hacks.

14. Email to be widescreen capable.

It is bizarre that early iPhones didn't let you use landscape orientation in some key apps. Thankfully, this is now possible. INNOVATION!

15. Attachable proprietary or third party peripherals: keyboard, projector (if not built in see wish 12), printer etc. Maybe not necessary if iPhone implementation of Bluetooth gets the kick up the arse it needs.

*sigh* Apple's proprietary Lightning port and strict licencing programme means that there are some peripherals. It isn't like Android where you can shove in an OTG cable and use basically any USB device.

Coda

After his main list, Fry says:

I would add to that list three demands that are more to do with the way Apple and the network companies limit the iPhone’s power.

Oh, this should be good…!

1. Jailbreaking to be tolerated – encouraged, even

I hear Jobs spinning in his grave just thinking about it. Those who violate the holy sanctity of the iPhone must be cast out!

To be fair, the main reason for jailbreaking back in 2008 was to enable 3rd party app stores. It will be interesting to see if recent anticompetitive investigations will reignite this debate.

Also of interest is the way that Apple adopted some of the customisations released by the jailbreak community.

2. Unlocking not to be hobbled by iTunes

Back in 2009, I was frustrated that iTunes was needed to set up an iPhone. Nowadays, you don't need a separate computer and unlocking is handled remotely.

3. Apps designers to be freer to innovate yet further.

Well, yes and no. There are lots of interesting apps. But if designers are too innovative, or not socially conservative enough, their apps won't get released.

Again, this is an excellent reason to require Apple to allow alternative app stores.

Verdict

Overall, Stephen Fry did a good job of predicting what Steve Jobs would eventually launch.

It's interesting to remember that it wasn't obvious that the iPhone would succeed. It launched without features which the rest of the industry had decided were essential, but which regular customers didn't seem to care for.

Would I love to see an iPhone with a projector, 3rd party app store, and a built-in TV tuner which can save video to an SD card, while I use my USB keyboard to shuffle files on the filesystem? Sure! But that's what Android is for.