Apple brought its iconic iPhone to market three years before releasing its iPad tablet computer, but follow the company’s development pipeline back far enough, and that order was reversed.
In an on-stage interview at the All Things Digital conference, CEO Steve Jobs explained that he had envisioned a tablet computer almost a decade ago, but when he saw an early mockup of the device, the idea of building a phone dawned on him.
Interviewers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher solicited comments from Jobs on a host of other topics, ranging from Apple’s competition with Google and Apple to online privacy. Enterprise Mobile Today takes a look.
PALOS VERDES, Calif. — Speaking here at the Wall Street Journal‘s All Things Digital Conference, Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs said that he had thought of a tablet computer before coming up with the idea for the iPhone.
During his on-stage interview by the conference’s co-hosts, Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walter Mossberg and All Things Digital blogger Kara Swisher, Jobs said that he had the idea for a multitouch tablet in the “early 2000s.” But when he saw an early design, he realized that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) could build a phone with it, he said.