The iPhone decade

Apple's device has ushered in a civilisational change

On January 9, 2007, the late Steve Jobs climbed onto the stage at the annual MacWorld Conference in San Francisco and held up a device he described as “An iPod. A Phone. And an Internet communicator”. It was the first iPhone. In retrospect, it could also be described as the first modern smartphone. Even though that device now seems primitive so many versions later, it heralded a civilisational change across the globe. In essence, the iPhone was a miniaturised computer. It allowed voice communication and seamless synchronisation with other networked devices. It had a touchscreen with multiple icons, a simple intuitive interface, and users could web-surf on a small but surprisingly legible screen. And yes, it also took pictures. That smorgasbord of new features packaged into a sleek design struck an instant rapport with consumers. Not surprisingly, the iPhone catapulted Apple to the exalted status of the world’s most valuable company.

More importantly, the iPhone pioneered a new category of handheld devices that have collectively changed the way people communicate with each other and their surroundings. Circa 2017, over 2.1 billion people use smartphones and that is likely to reach 3 billion by the end of the year. Most users would sooner leave their houses without their wallets than without their smartphones. Mobile internet users far outnumber fixed-line surfers. Indeed, the iPhone has far less global market share than devices based on other operating systems, but the credit for sparking the revolution goes to Apple.

Like everything Apple, the iPhone works off a closed operating system (OS), the iOS. It offers curated “apps” in the iStore. Again, in keeping with Apple’s premium marketing philosophy, the iPhone charges a hefty premium over the sum of its parts. Competitors soon got into the act. Other smartphones use different operating systems and many are aimed at the price-conscious buyer. But all try to deliver “must-have” features in emulation of the iPhone: Touchscreens, cameras, net access and mandatory wireless syncing, which were available since the beginning, as well as the newer additions of maps, GPS-enabled navigation, locational services and voice-activated commands. Google wrote an open-source OS, the Android OS, and put it into the public domain. It is by far the most popular OS with millions of apps being freely available. Microsoft also created the Windows 10 OS, which works across phones and personal computers. There are stark contrasts in terms of price as well. Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai says smartphones need to get down to Rs 2,000 to be affordable to all. Low-end Chinese and Indian brands are already near that price point, but the top-end iPhone 7 costs about Rs 1 lakh.

But in the past decade, the technology world has changed completely. The smartphones of 2017 possess more processing power than the corporate servers of 2007. Commerce and social media are built around the ability to deliver Net access on the fly. Selfie-addiction has changed the way tourists move around. The video-call is so common it is almost passé. It is impossible to contemplate living in a world without these devices – political movements like the so-called Arab Spring could not have been coordinated without smartphones – and they continue to evolve. New concepts such as augmented reality and accessories such as virtual reality helmets promise to take users into new, unexplored realms. It all started that day in San Francisco.