‘We predict the iPhone will bomb’: The 10 most embarrassing quotes about Apple’s first smartphone

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Just over 19 years ago, the late Steve Jobs took the stage at Macworld Expo in San Francisco for what may be the most significant product announcement of the modern era: the unveiling of the original iPhone (or iPhone 2G). And while many in the audience and the industry at large were blown away by that demonstration of Apple’s first smartphone, it hardly went without its critics.

At the time, Apple was a company best known for its success in personal computers and portable media players. The idea they would create a smartphone — then largely the domain of business users rather than average consumers — seemed preposterous to some, and they were more than happy to declare their feelings. Even if, from the vantage point of almost two decades, they seem a little less than prescient.

Palm’s tragic underestimation

(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty)

“And so I just would caution people that think they’re going to walk in here and just and do these. We’ve struggled for a few years here, figuring out how to make a decent phone. The PC guys are not going to just, you know, knock this out. I guarantee it. So, look, welcome, let’s go for it. We can’t stop all that. It’s going to happen, but it’s going to be, I don’t think it’ll be so easy for everybody, as everybody thinks to enter it. It’s a tough space.”

You’d be excused for not remembering the name Ed Colligan, or even the defunct tech company Palm that he led at the time. Unfortunately for them, Apple did knock it out of the park. While Palm was a pioneer in the personal digital assistant market and had some modest success in early smartphones, the success of the iPhone was the beginning of the end for its brand, which has since been shuffled around to a variety of homes without reclaiming any vestige of its former glory.