Comments on: The iPhone Prototype is Gone. But Not, One Hopes, Gone Forever.

By: Benj Edwards

Benj Edwards — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:35:49 +0000

I had the feeling that this auction would be taken down, so I grabbed all the images and info on the prototype before Apple had it yanked. It may come in handy some day when I have to write a history of the iPhone.

You’re right, Harry. I truly hope Apple appreciates its history enough to save documents on and prototypes of its work. It’s incredibly important stuff. Once Steve Jobs leaves Apple some day (though I’m not looking forward to it), we will probably see a lot more history stuff leaking out.

By: Harry McCracken

Harry McCracken — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:19:29 +0000

Here’s a story on the Stanford deal from 1997 (yup, right after Jobs returned):

http://news.stanford.edu/news/1997/november19/apple1119.html

Don’t know whether the Stanford collection stops at 1997, or whether more stuff is going there. But I may look into whether it’s open for researchers like, oh, myself.

There are plenty of Jobs quotes about how it’s poisonous to look back, wallow in one’s history, etc., etc. And not looking back certainly works for him. But SOMEBODY needs to look back at Apple, and I hope they have the resources to do so.

–Harry

By: Wes Felter

Wes Felter — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:08:05 +0000

I forgot where I read this story: When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he found the archives and ordered them to be thrown away because they were taking up space. Someone shipped the stuff to Stanford instead. I bet they’re destroying iPhone prototypes.