Tech History: The Baby Pic that Changed Phones Forever!

The very first camera phone photo.

Today, snapping and sharing photos with your phone feels second nature. But the very first camera phone photo ever taken has a surprisingly personal story behind it.

In 1997, engineer Philippe Kahn became a new father. Excited to share the moment, he hacked together a digital camera, a laptop, and his mobile phone to create a system that could instantly send a picture. The very first photo? His newborn daughter.

That DIY setup turned into something much bigger. Kahn went on to found LightSurf, one of the first companies to commercialize photo sharing from mobile devices. Just a few years later, camera phones became a standard feature—and they’ve only gotten more powerful ever since.

So next time you snap a selfie or share a vacation pic in seconds, remember: it all started with a proud dad, a baby, and some creative engineering in a hospital room.