From GigaOm:

Few of us who were in this business that day — June 29th, 2007 — will forget the sense of anticipation and history that accompanied the countdown to the release of the iPhone. There was certainly a lot of silly hype, and a lot of bemused condescension from mobile companies such as Palm (now dead) and RIM (which might as well be). But the difference between the launch of the original iPhone and just about every other tech event before or since was the degree to which average people realized just how much this new product would change their lives.

Jump over to GigaOm and give it a read. The post links to other stories about the iPhone’s impact on the industry and how it pushed Apple to the top of the tech world.