The first iPhone keynote was eight years ago today

On January 9th, 2007, Steve Jobs took to the stage to announce the first iPhone, in a keynote that would revolutionize the industry and set the tone for every major tech announcement since.

Later reporting would reveal that the phone Jobs was using was a barely functional prototype, and many of the engineers were terrified it would fail in the middle of the demo — but the keynote is still a remarkable combination of vision, engineering, and stagecraft.

It's strange to think how fundamentally the technology world shifted over the course of an hour-long speech.