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What the iPhone Could’ve Been

techeblog.com — If Apple had held an iPhone design contest, this is what the device could have looked like — iPhone V.2

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 4, 2007

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  • pygar, on 10/11/2007, -10/+468these phones are terrible! thank god they didn't hold a competition.
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -4/+152Haha. Interesting to see, but sadly they kind of suck.
  • thecompkid, on 10/11/2007, -7/+104I can understand why people would dislike the iphone based on its features, but how can anyone deny that the iPhone is perhaps the best looking cellphone on the market. You can't, it's impossible. Apple products may rock or suck, depending on who you are, but they are undoubtedly the most beautiful.
  • HunterTV, on 10/11/2007, -3/+86And that, my friends, is why companies usually don't hold contests to design their products.
  • Lark7, on 10/11/2007, -29/+100What the iPhone could have been - in the hands of Microsoft.
  • charlief, on 10/11/2007, -5/+69looks like iCrap to me
  • theboredom, on 10/11/2007, -1/+37These are terrible compared to the actual iPhone. Almost all of them use the iPod as a template.
  • Alegoo92, on 10/11/2007, -6/+33And not one is as good as iPhone. My favorite was the one from that youtube video- really sleek.
  • LaSepultura, on 10/11/2007, -1/+26And this is why Apple makes the big bucks, cause these people fail at designing.
  • gmprunner, on 10/11/2007, -0/+22The OLED one is kinda cool, but the rest do suck.
  • 12Iceman, on 10/11/2007, -7/+28Apple's iPhone design is already way better than any of those mockups. If they would just drop AT&T as a requirement and add Skype support (over WiFi) I would be sold.
  • kalyansagar, on 10/11/2007, -1/+16none of them are user friendly...look like real wannabeees.
  • jmonty1000, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13Not gonna happen. Your, you're, too, two, to, there, they're, their, ...the list goes on. How long before "wrong" becomes acceptable? Apparently it is now okay to say less for a number of items instead of fewer and vice-versa. Oh, well.
  • theokandroid, on 10/11/2007, -1/+14And of course Apple did it better.
  • mojaam, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13I was really expecting to be amazed.... these are very unimpressive, who wants phones that long?
  • ericdano, on 10/11/2007, -2/+14I agree. Thank GOD the Steve did not do any of those.
  • sancho320, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10remember just less than a year ago when all these designs were circling digg like crazy?
    good times... but Ives out designed em all.
  • viperman5000, on 10/11/2007, -3/+12*It's.

    When will people lern?
  • spokesandspools, on 05/07/2008, -0/+8sorry, apple got this one right on

    the next reiteration will probably look identical, just with hdd and internal changes
  • p0intblank, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7The current design is so much better than all those...
  • winampman2, on 10/11/2007, -4/+10Good thing Apple didn't have a contest.
  • smackhero, on 10/11/2007, -8/+14holding a competition is a good way to brainstorm from the public and see what users want/expect. it never hurts to get some product feedback/suggestions from the public.

    and i actually kinda like the idea of the nano-iPhone.
  • masterc, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Sorry, but those look like ass. I would never buy one of those!
  • ajchavar, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7the second one actually isnt terrible (though i've never used a slider, so cant vouch for usability in that aspect), it just needs a better UI, the 5th gen style scroll wheel, and a to be a bit taller (for widescreen), and a nicer finish. though it could be confusing to have 3 input devices. . .
  • SenorCardgage74, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7No. No it's not. Not even close.
  • pacokorn77, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5I think I've seen this story dugg about a month ago. Same pictures, different site, better resolution.
  • Tamant, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5the real iphone looks better than all those..and i dont even like the iphone
  • gregmo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6This post could've been made 6 months ago when all those pictures were new.
  • championchap, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Eugh, unfortunately this is exactly what is happening over here in the UK right now.
    Because of the massive amounts of American Media we get, we now have British published books with the word "Color" in them as apposed to the British "Colour".
    Though if I were to write "Color" in an English exam I would still lose a mark.

    Edit: I tried to reply to jmonty1000 up there, but Digg keeps telling me that my session has expired and I need to refresh the page.. then lets me comment in 2 other places.
  • etnu, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6Good thing Apple has enough money to pay competent designers, because those are the dumbest looking devices I've seen in a while.

    The rotary-like dial pad on one of them was kind of funny.
  • zioxide, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5And that's why Jonathan Ive is rich and the people who made those aren't.
  • fxspec06, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5iPhone is just fine the way it is. It seems to have no problem selling in the first 3 days ...
  • richardhenry, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6In the hands of Microsoft, I see something poo-coloured which tries to welcome you to 'The Social' (only you're the only one there). You can 'squirt' things at each other, only making calls has been renamed to 'voice ejaculation' to be 'down with the kids'.
  • rasterbator, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4These images are so old they pre-date the LG Chocolate.
  • bashfulczar, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6Shoulda woulda coulda. OLED display is about the only thing that woulda been neat.
  • neonrehan, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4design contest? no thanks...i'm happy with the design. i'm very happy.
  • Firehed, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Probably because it's the only one that even vaguely resembles what we actually got. As it is, I think the formfactor we got is better - the Nano is just too narrow to hold up to your head for a while without becoming uncomfortable.
  • r3zonance, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3You'd still have to worry about finger prints with a matte finish, ask every laptop/screen I've ever owned.
  • Nossie, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5when they lern learn :)
  • Billions, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4I don't agree with you but I dugg you because you care about design. Not gonna digg someone down who cares about the good fight.
  • sishgupta, on 10/11/2007, -5/+8I use an ipod but I actually REALLY dont like the way the chrome comes up on the front of the iphone. They beveled the front of iphone to make it look smaller, which is OK and important imho, but I don't like how the iphone has a border. I also wish that there was no hardware button and screenless part at the bottom of the iphone.
    Thats just me I am sure I'll get dugg down.
  • folletto, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5It's strange to see one of my old concepts (2006 03 21, the OLED Nano-based one) still around.
    It's also strange to see how a concept that before-iPhone was quite successful, now it's described as a "failure". :)

    I see many comments - including the first one here - stating how bad they are. Also excluding the fact that any compare is impossible, you should simply note that most of them are works around an idea and not full 360° refined designs.

    For example, mine was a 15-minutes work around a simple concept of a touch surface. As you might note, I'm completely successful and the only one between those that got it right: the Apple iPhone is a full surface multitouch device. :)

    I'm a designer, but that doesn't mean that I want to trash my free time working and refining an idea that will never be used, also with a company like Apple that surely outperforms anyone, with years of design and millions of funds. Also, note that I did a little more research on a wheel-concept based on that one, that is better looking: there's another mockup by me around. But here you have listed the 'worse' one. Wonder why. :)
  • azzageddi, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5Why does everyone always say that? Who sits down with a phone in their back pocket, anyway? What kind of moron puts a phone right were it'll be sat on?

    Anyway, like most people here said, none of those look as good as what we got. I was hoping it would be an article about iPhone features that should be added.
  • Jericon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I think the design that Apple came up with for the iPhone blows all of these out of the water.
  • ophello, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4dunno why people are digging you down. Atlas linus rate.
  • r3zonance, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2OLED has slower response times, and would take longer to refresh, and therefore would be useless for 25-30fps video, would it not?
  • th3wiz4rd, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Dugg. Cool video. A few of those phones REALLY sucked, but most of them were awesome.
  • ReinMasamuri, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3The OLED was the only redeeming factor.
    Make the iPhone full color, matte finish, and OLED you'd never have to worry about finger prints again!
  • championchap, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Indeed, but this one I think deserves some merit.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4296efmOWLs

    This concept phone was gorgeous, just a little too impractical for Apple I think.
  • jus10y, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2THIS IS A CONSPIRACY TO MANIPULATE DIGG... GO RON PAUL
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