Steve Jobs Once Threw a Prototype iPhone to Impress Journalists

Recalling a memory of the original black and silver iPhone, CNET’s Roger Cheng has shared the story of how the late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs once threw a prototype iPhone to impress a room full of journalists.

Soon after Jobs unveiled the iPhone back in 2007, he visited The Wall Street Journal’s headquarters and then the World Financial Center to offer more than two dozen editors and reporters a peek at the device.

During a Q&A session about the iPhone, someone asked about its durability. In response, Cheng says Jobs tossed the prerelease model he held into the air toward the center of the room, “eliciting a small gasp and then hushed silence as it hit the (carpeted) floor.”

“The memory underscores the lengths Jobs went to in order to make an impression. As the 10-year anniversary of Jobs’ death approaches, those in the tech industry have begun to pay their respects by sharing stories and memories of the tech luminary, a visionary who shook up multiple industries and changed the way we interact with our mobile devices. This was mine.“

The phone survived unscathed, thanks to the carpeted floor. Jobs’ staff then distributed a handful of other test units for the reporters to play with.