the entire way the device was designed and the way you interacted with it was a new paradigm.
Only if you ignored all the other smartdevices on the market at the time. Palm and WindowsMobile phones had touchscreens before the iPhone came out. The only big change with the iPhone from an interaction perspective was a switch to capacitative screens, which made it easier to use with fingers but far worse to use in any sort of weather or industrial situations.
I had a windows mobile phone at the time and disagree. The ux of the iphone was so far beyond any competitor it was a different kind of product. It felt like a part of the future, instead of the bleeding edge of the present.
I had both a Windows Mobile and the first iPhone. The iPhone was definitely not "so far beyond any competitor" that it was a new kind of product. It just felt like another smartphone with a prettier UI.
And also, of course, all phones now are pretty much an evolution of the iPhone. No phones now are an evolution of Windows CE. Windows CE/Mobile didn't just die itself; it left no spiritual descendants.
Only if you ignored all the other smartdevices on the market at the time. Palm and WindowsMobile phones had touchscreens before the iPhone came out. The only big change with the iPhone from an interaction perspective was a switch to capacitative screens, which made it easier to use with fingers but far worse to use in any sort of weather or industrial situations.