“Is a saviour needed by a humanity which has invented interactive communication, which navigates in the virtual ocean of the internet and, thanks to the most advanced modern communications technologies, has now made the Earth, our great common home, a global village?”
Pope Benedict XVI asked this question in the Christmas of 2006, a few short weeks before Apple launched its original iPhone device on January 9, 2007. He wasn’t referring to the most hyped device in tech history, but soon after Steve Jobs unveiled the smartphone, media promptly began referring to it as the “Jesus Phone”, a second coming of the digital age.
“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything,” begins Jobs in the video above, sounding much like a religious evangelist. Just a decade later, we have moved so far away that the original iPhone, the various iterations of which have gone on to sell a billion units, seems like a child’s plaything when the specs are taken into consideration: a 2 megapixel camera, and 128 mb of RAM.
But perhaps no other version of the iPhone has created quite so much wonder as the original did.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!