[MBCook]

It became so popular, especially after it was officially available on Windows in 2003. And it remained THE thing until the iPhone really exploded when unleashed from AT&T around 2011.

It’s heyday was only about 8 years but it had such a MASSIVE effect on the technology and music industries.

Has any other product been so important but only been around for a relatively short amount of time?

[tantalor]

Daguerreotypes were only used for a brief period in 1840s and 1850s but had huge impact on development of photography.

Edit: check out the video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbbH77rYaa8

[MBCook]

That’s a great example.

[reaperducer]

the iPhone really exploded when unleashed from AT&T around 2011.

Cingular.

[xxpor]

Cingular was renamed to AT&T in 2006.

[warning26]

Exactly -- during the iPhone unveiling all the demo screenshots showed "Cingular", but by the time it had been released, Cingular had been rebranded to AT&T.

[reaperducer]

I had (and still have) a launch day iPhone and it had "Cingular" on the carrier icon at the top of the screen.

Maybe the rollout timing was different in different markets.

[hunterb123]

Bit more complicated than that:

https://www.att.com/Common/merger/files/pdf/Cingular_timelin...