The Day Steve Jobs Called AT&T with iPhone Woes

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Photo: Lacy Atkins / The Chronicle

David Kelley and Steve Jobs have a lot in common. Kelley, the designer of Apple's original mouse, was diagnosed with throat cancer back in 2007.

In addition to working with Apple on the mouse project, Jobs introduced Kelley to his wife. When Kelley was in the hospital, Jobs came to visit his old friend. And just like any well-wisher, he didn't come empty handed.

Instead of flowers or candy, Jobs brought Kelley, who went on to found seminal design firm IDEO, the very first iPhone as a "get well" present. There was just one small problem: Jobs couldn't get the iPhone to work. "When I was sick in the hospital, Steve brought me the very first iPhone, and he sat there bedside," Kelley recalls. "He was trying to get it connected to AT&T. There he was, on the phone with someone at AT&T, who probably had no idea she was talking to the real Steve Jobs."

Kelley, photographed for the long feature in the SF Chronicle looking vaguely like a cross between Steve Jobs and film director

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