Time’s Invention of the Year: The iPhone

Seems like 2007 is still ticking along, but Time Magazine has already crowned its 2007 Invention of the Year: the Apple iPhone.

A quick glance at the calendar revealed 2007 isn’t quite ready for the record books yet, but media stalwart Time magazine has already crowned its 2007 Invention of the Year: the Apple iPhone.

Although anyone in the technology industry—or even the general public—is probably sick of hearing about the iPhone at this point, Time cites the iPhone’s design and innovative touchscreen interface as key elements of the device’s success, along with the decision to roll a full version of Mac OS X into the phone so the device is a technology platform rather than a special-purpose black box. (Although developers are still chafing over Apple’s delays in opening that platform to native applications: an iPhone SDK isn’t due until next year.)

Perhaps more important, Time nots that the entire mobile communications industry has had no choice but to respond to the iPhone; that pressure, Time’s Lev Grossman argues, will improve the entire mobile industry.

And for the interminably curious, what was Time’s Invention of the Year for 2006? YouTube. For 2005? SpaceShipOne.