What’s this all about?
We waited twenty years to do something great…and now is the time to help homeless people.
input-homeless statistic
The iPhoneKindness event is sponsored by ikindness.org, a not for profit group of people focused on helping others with healthcare issues and unconditional acts of kindness.
Our goal: fund a portfolio of projects from the sale of the iPhone Time Capsule Collection and other direct support from community members like you. In exchange, the community will own the this historical collection and have their names in lights (literally, all participants will be part of an artistic digital collage of millions of people that will accompany the collection in the museum). This is a once in a life time event that will be honored by future generations of iPhone users. Come with us and be part of this global act of kindness and take your place in iPhone history.
The iPhone Story
My name is Michael Birkhead (Hawaiian shirt guy, above). I was twenty-something in the picture and lucky enough to be part of the development and launch of the original iPhone back in 1998 (yes, I’m that old). I lived the stereotypical Silicon Valley startup life for three years – stock options, venture capitalists and nerf toys for kid-like techs were the norm. Before the “Apple iPhone” changed the world in 2007, two Silicon Valley companies quietly introduced the first iPhone in 1998 and changed the world’s vision of the telephone. The infoGear iPhone “inspired” Steve Jobs’ Apple iPhone.
The first iPhone was envisioned by Chaim Bendelac, Yuval Shachar and Reuven Marko in 1995. The iPhone concept was ahead of its time as a skunk works project at National Semiconductor. Bob Ackerman, a technology visionary, saw the product in an NSD tech lab and acquired the intellectual property. Bob founded infoGear Technology in Redwood City, CA, in 1995. Over the next five years, $27,000,000 was invested into the startup by major valley investors including NEA (Dick Kramlich, Partner), Intel, Cisco Systems, Labrador Ventures and Indosuez.
The history of the original iPhone started with the 1995 concept model and ended with the second-generation model in late 2000. The thin-client device connected to “ServerGear”, a proxy server for rendering content since the iPhone only had 3 MB of memory, and accessed the internet via a dialup connection. The “internet appliance” boasted a 7.4′ gray scale touchscreen, email, electronic “rolodex” and telephone functions. The iPhone made it into a retail stores around the world and became the signature product for a multi-level marketing company in Provo, Utah (Big Planet). New Zealand (Dicks Electronics), South Africa (Radiospoor), United States (Compusa) and Australia placed early bets on iPhone network deployments. This meant installing servers across several networks to handle the “millions of units expected to hit the market” (we sold and gave away less than 70,000 units). The iPhone won innovation awards at CES and caught Cisco System’s attention in 1999 with an investment and board seat.
InfoGear was acquired for $301M in 2000. The first “Apple iPhone” was introduced to the world in 2007 with Steve Jobs proclaiming “the first iPhone’s” availability. At this time, the “dot bomb” market was already beginning and it was a miraculous adventure the acquisition went through.The Original iPhone collection is a time capsule of iPhone history representing three generations of iPhones that existed prior to 2007: Cidco iPhone, infoGear iPhone and the Cisco iPad. The collection includes:
- 1 Proof of Concept iPhones (serial 001) – 1996
- 1 White Cidco clay model – 1997
- 1 Black demo model – 1997
- 1 White Cidco iPhone – 1998
- 1 White InfoGear iPhone (foam model) – 1999
- 1 White InfoGear iPhone – 1999
- 1 Black InfoGear iPhone – 1999
- 1 Translucent InfoGear iPhone – 1999
- 1 Cisco Web Pad – 2000
- Custom carrying cases and adapters
Check out all original iPhone videos here.
The iPhonekindness Plan
Our goal is to commemorate the iPhone’s 20-year anniversary and give people an opportunity to come together in a global act of kindness with the auction the Original iPhone collection to the community. Millions of people will share ownership in this rare collection and in the positive spirit of selfless giving and gratitude. Proceeds from the auction will seed a portfolio of community projects including healthcare for the poor and terminally ill.
For the cost of an iTunes song, witness how $1.29 impacts lives in video testimonials, online meetings and podcasts with iKindness recipients. Your name will also be included in an electronic art rendering of names and pictures of one million other grateful people who share the same spirit of giving. The art rendering, named “A Million Points of Kindness”, will be placed in a museum with the iPhone collection for public viewing.
To my friends, family and colleagues, join me on this adventure. This is a personal dream, a mission, to do something wonderful for people who least expect it, but need it the most. iKindness is my magnum opus.
Help me take a dent out of the universe and restore our faith in humanity by joining us in this global social experiment.
Please remember…
…”Kindness is all we can leave behind” ~ Nimo Patel
…”Kind people are the best kind of people.” ~ Anonymous
Michael Birkhead
iPhone evangelist since 1997