You are incorrigible! The card that I purchased with the PPC-6700 was 1GB and it was upgraded later to 2GB and then to 4GB. The 1GB card did cost a fair amount of money back then. I can’t remember if I had to do a firmware update to get the 4GB card to work. There was a very active modding community right from the start which did help to extend its useful life. Many of the original members of the XDA Developers Community got their start on the PPC-6700.
I am not sure why the “technology evangelist” was not able to use the PPC-6700 without a stylus. Maybe he is a nervous guy with fat fingers who chews his nails.
I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much over not opting for the 16GB model to start with. The 16 GB model of the original iPhone was not released until February 5, 2008 about 8 months after you spent 2 days waiting in line to get yours.
Actually the PPC-6700 does have GPS built in, unfortunately to use free navigation apps not provided by Sprint it was necessary to use an inexpensive Bluetooth GPS. There were browsers available from the beginning that allowed one to view full websites. I have to admit that I normally used it tethered to a laptop for serious web browsing. It also has a “motion sensor” built in. No compass though. And I am glad that you finally started listing some of the little known extras. I have never heard that the first generation unit had a compass.
Congratulations on taking such good care of your original iPhone’s battery. I am glad that it is still getting use.
No line standing for me. . . I ordered it and it came to my front door.
But now we know you modded your geeky phone. . .
Not according to the specs and reviews I've read. Those said that any map functions had to connect to an external GPS via Bluetooth to function. Ergo, no internal GPS functions. I saw no mention of internal GPS antennas of functionality. . . nor does it mention anything about motion sensors. The screen changes orientation when you pull out the keyboard. It lacks all inertial sensing completely that the iPhone has built in. Sorry, it just doesn't have the degree of sensitivity to do anything like what the iPhone can do such as, for example, act as an accurate spirit level.
As for the 16GB only coming out 8 months later? There were ways to get that earlier. . . if you knew how and wanted to pay quite a bit extra. Remember, when the iPhone first came out AT&T would not subsidize it.