It was revealed by Apple engineers somewhere along the line that the company’s original plan for the iPhone was to ship it with a software interface largely resembling the one installed on the OG, click-wheel-equipped iPod. Though this top-secret software was a relatively big deal among Apple engineers and hardware/software programmers, it was a well-kept secret, nevertheless, that maintained such status for years — until just recently, that is.
Truth is, nobody on the outside really knew about Apple’s top-secret iPhone software; however, that all changed earlier this week at the hands of none other than famed serial leaker, @SonnyDickson, who, in vivid imagery, and a captivating little hands-on video, shows us exactly what Apple’s original iPhone user interface was like.
Enter Acorn OS — dubbed internally, as such, because as opposed to booting up to the traditional Apple logo, prototype iPhones running the rudimentary OS booted up to the backdrop of an acorn. What’s most interesting about this software, however, according to Dickson, himself, who reportedly got the chance to sit down with one of Apple’s original click-wheel-equipped iPhone prototypes, is that the user interface is astoundingly similar to the software that once powered Apple’s click-wheel iPod.
So what is this ‘Acorn OS’ all about, anyways? Well, one could think of the rudimentary operating system as a sort of (very) “rough draft” of what iOS 1.0 would ultimately become. However, as you can see from the video presentation and images below, while there are basic options present for a Dial Pad, SMS, Music, Contacts, Photos, Games, Calendar, Notes and a few other iOS system apps, clearly missing from Dickson’s build of Acorn OS is the option to access Safari — or any other, 3rd party web browser, for that matter. If you’ll recall, when iOS originally launched, there was no App Store or iCloud or anything like that, so the only way for OG iPhone users to get any 3rd party apps on their device was to download them via Safari — which clearly explains why Dickson’s prototype hasn’t a single 3rd party app installed on it.
Check out the video below to see what navigating Acorn OS is like from Sonny Dickson’s point-of-view. It’s actually quite interesting.. Though very little is known about the prototype upon which Dickson is running the software, he alleges that the device is constructed of a similar aluminum-alloy as the original iPhone, complete with a multi-touch display, as well as Wi-Fi and 2G connectivity.
[Source:-iDrop]