It’s hard to believe that it’s been only five short years since Apple entered the mobile phone market with the release of the iPhone.  I remember the very first time I saw one. I kept poking it and shaking it like a Neanderthal.

Five years later, with 200 million of them sold and over 30 billion apps downloaded into our pockets, it’s difficult to imagine life before the smartest of smart phones.

I’m trying to right now. Before the iPhone, I had a simple flip phone. It could take pictures, but they were worthless. If I was driving somewhere and got lost, I just navigated using the stars.

But I couldn’t get reminders about important webinars, tune my guitar, use a flashlight, and balance my credit, all while streaming my favorite stations on Pandora. I couldn’t use the internet. I couldn’t send a unified text message with more than 120 characters or make a playlist or check the temperature in Beijing or lob pissed off birds into unstable structures to destroy little green buggers — *breathing heavily*

At the very least, the iPhone changed the word “phone”. What used to be a tool for calling a person is now the tool by which we interact with everyone. At the very most, *sniffle* it has changed our lives forever.

So here’s to the iPhone! A happy five years it’s been. We can only imagine what will be in our pockets in five more.