First-generation iPhone at auction, estimated bid price of $50,000

First-generation iPhone at auction, estimated bid price of $50,000

The unopened first-generation iPhone released in 2007 has been auctioned.

Originally priced at $599, the first iPhone offered an early Apple 3.5-inch screen and a 2-megapixel camera, 4GB and 8GB storage options, Internet capabilities, and iTunes. It has no app store, runs on a 2G network, and has been proprietary to AT&T's network.

Cosmetic tattoo artist Karen Green was presented with an 8GB version in 2007 and never opened the box. Since then, another unopened first-generation iPhone, such as Green, has been auctioned off for more than $39,000 at LCG Auction's listing, which closed last October. LCG Auction is also listing Green's phone, with a bid of $2,500.

In October last year, Green saw someone else's first-generation unopened iPhone sold at LCG Auction for 39,000 dollars, so he contacted the auction company and put the iPhone up for auction. The iPhone's minimum bid is $2,500, but foreign media expect the final bid to reach more than $50,000. This is because Green's iPhone is an 8G large-capacity model and is completely unopened. This auction will run until the 19th.

The iPhone has changed the way billions of people around the world communicate, pay, work, take pictures, and even wake up in the morning. It has killed dozens of industries (camcorders, MP3 players, flip phones) and revitalized more industries. Speaking at Apple's annual MacWorld Expo in 2007, Steve Jobs, then Apple's CEO, began his presentation, saying, "We will make history together today." Jobs called the new smartphone an iPod, a phone, and a "revolutionary cell phone," which will feature what he calls an "Internet communicator."

(Photo = LCG Auction)