OK iPhone

Very few people realize that the original working title of Radiohead's 1997 album OK Computer was OK iPhone.

It was going to be a concept album about the technological dystopia brought about by the introduction of a next generation of intelligent mobile device, called the intelliPhone (or iPhone for short). The iPhone was a cellphone, camera, media player, and wireless internet browser all in one handheld device. The must-have gadget of the summer of 2007. People were lining up for days for an opportunity to buy an iPhone.

Next generation technology doesn't come cheap, so iPhone devices cost US$500 each (or US$600 for more storage) plus a mandatory two year service contract at a minimum of US$60 per month. This made the total cost of iPhone ownership close to US$3000, outside the means of all but the most affluent, and outside the brains of all but the most gullible.

This "next generation" device only worked on a last generation data network with a top (top!) speed of 128kpbs. Which was "more than twice the speed of dialup" as they said in AOL broadband commercials, but many times slower than anything else. And the network was maintained by a ruthless oligarchy famous for poor service, hidden charges, and releasing their customers' private phone records to the U.S. government. They didn't care. They didn't have to care. They were The Phone Company.

The songs on OK iPhone explored the future balance between cool technology and the evil Phone Company. "Paranoid Android" was about the paranoia brought about by knowing that the Phone Company knew what you were doing, "the yuppies networking.. God loves his children". "Fitter Happier" was a series of feel-good slogans in a MacInTalk voice (which is how an iPhone would sound, if it could speak).

After the album was finished, the band surrendered to their own paranoia and changed the title to OK Computer. They feared that if the iPhone was just ten years away, it would be easy for the Phone Company to borrow a page from The Hitchhiker's Guide, and travel back in time to sue Radiohead for trademark infringement. Which they definitely would have done if the original title, OK iPhone, had been kept (unless Cisco sued Radiohead first).

Go Home Productions - Karma In The Life
Hard n' Phirm - Rodeohead
Luka Bloom - No Surprises
Menny Moore - Fitter Happier (Radiodread)
Radiohead - Palo Alto (OK iPhone outtake)