Die-hard traditionalists holding onto their first generation iPhones from a decade ago should maybe possibly think about upgrading. On January 1, 2017, AT&T finally shut down its outmoded 2G wireless network, thus rendering the 2007 iPhones useless except as shiny souvenirs of a more primitive time. The original Apple smartphones were designed to work exclusively with AT&T’s then-adequate 2G network. The groundbreaking iPhone would undergo numerous improvements in the subsequent decade, including the ability to support faster 3G and 4G networks. But the original iPhone remained tethered to that quaint 2G network, which now no longer exists. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
How does this affect most of the world? Not at all. Nearly all Apple users have upgraded their phones several times since the iPhone’s initial launch. But it’s just barely possible that some lonely hermit out there is still using a smartphone from the George W. Bush era. If so, that person will now find the 2007 iPhone non-functional. Bereft of life, it rests in peace.
This is, perhaps, a time for reflection and nostalgic contemplation. In that spirit, here is the first official commercial for the iPhone. Note the optimism and anticipation here. This ad aired during the 2007 Academy Awards telecast, which accounts for the numerous clips of classic movies. Many of the celebrities featured in it, including Humphrey Bogart, Lucille Ball, and Peter Sellers, were long dead by the time of the iPhone’s debut. And now, the original iPhone joins them in the afterlife.