January 9th, 2017 is a milestone day in the technology world: It's the 10th anniversary of Apple's iPhone.

Yes, it's been a full decade since Steve Jobs took to the stage and introduced the device that many credit with defining the modern smartphone. But was it an overnight revolution? Well, no.

Despite all the initial hype, the iPhone actually represents a gradual reinvention strung across many years. It wasn't the first out of the gate with many basic concepts, but its fresh approaches to those concepts helped smartphones escape their niche business-tool status and become the must-have companion devices they are now.

More on Engadget.