Ten years ago yesterday, a computer company changed the cellular technology market forever with the release of the iPhone.

For the most part, I have always considered Apple products to be well-built devices from first time I used a Power Mac G5 in 2005. From that point on, I made the switch.

That same company would later bring a major change to the cellphone industry, the first smartphone. While plenty of devices already existed that would allow people to check their email, place calls and surf the Internet, on Jan. 9, 2007 Apple unveiled the device that did those things in such a way that made other companies take notice.

Even if you, like me, have never owned one of these iconic devices, you still have to admit that the smartphones of today owe their existence to the device Steve Jobs introduced a decade ago.

So, at this point you may be wondering why I never purchased an iPhone if I think so highly of the company’s products. Well, that’s simple, the initial cost was prohibitive and the device was limited to only one cellular network at its launch.

The biggest hurdle to my early adoption of the iPhone was the lack of a physical keyboard. But, in the end we all ended up giving up physical buttons on cellphones for touchscreen keyboards, which in my opinion are still hit or miss.

Another reason we should wish the iPhone a happy 10th is it is the reason we all have “apps” on our mobile devices today. Apple was the first company to develop a place to download these handy pieces of software, the App Store, a year after introducing the iPhone.

While I still lament the lack of a physical keyboard, I, like the rest of us, never leave home without the device that now acts as our social media hub, allows us to check email, is also a music player, video player and GPS device, and, of course, is also a phone.

Happy birthday, iPhone.