Few people realized it at the time, but the world shifted fundamentally a decade ago when Steve Jobs pulled the first iPhone from Apple’s bag of technological tricks.
“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything,” Jobs declared as he paced across a San Francisco stage.
It obviously wasn’t an empty boast. We all know now that Jobs’ “magical product” has reshaped culture, shaken up industries, put computers in billions of pockets and made it possible to do just about anything with a few taps on a screen. Besides its then 3.5-inch touch screen, the first iPhone featured a browser for on-the-go web surfing and built-in apps to check email and get directions.
GOING MOBILE
Apple has sold more than 1 billion iPhones since its debut, spawning millions of mobile applications and prodding other technology companies to make similar smartphones that have become like phantom limbs for many of us.
We use iPhones and their copycats to instantly share video and pictures with friends and family from almost anywhere. We use them to figure out where we are going. We use them to find the best deals while shopping in stores and to pay for stuff at the checkout stand. We use the phones to a hail ride, to tune instruments, to monitor our health and help find our next jobs.
Phones have gotten so smart that they even talk back to us via helpful digital concierges such as the iPhone’s Siri and the recently introduced Assistant on Google’s Pixel phone.
This story is from the January 13,2017 edition of AppleMagazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 13,2017 edition of AppleMagazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
CLIMATE SOLUTION: MASSACHUSETTS TOWN EXPERIMENTS WITH COMMUNITY HEATING AND COOLING
Jennifer and Eric Mauchan live in a Cape Codstyle house in Framingham, Massachusetts that they’ve been cooling with five air conditioners.
ONLINE MARKETPLACE EBAY TO DROP AMERICAN EXPRESS, CITING FEES, AND SAYS CUSTOMERS HAVE OTHER OPTIONS
Online marketplace behemoth eBay said it plans to no longer accept American Express, citing what the company says are “unacceptably high fees” and that customers have other payment options to shop online.
TECH NEWS SITE GIZMODO SOLD FOR THIRD TIME IN 8 YEARS AS EUROPEAN PUBLISHER KELEOPS LOOKS TO EXPAND
Longtime technology news and review site Gizmodo has been sold for the third time in the past eight years, this time to a European publisher looking to expand its coverage of the digital scene.
SOFTWARE GIANT SAP AGREES TO BUY WALKME FOR $1.5 BILLION CASH
German software giant SAP has agreed to buy WalkMe in an all-cash deal valued at about $1.5 billion.
CHINA LANDS A SPACECRAFT ON THE MOON'S FAR SIDE TO COLLECT ROCKS FOR STUDY
A Chinese spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon Sunday (02) to collect soil and rock samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better known near side.
BOEING LAUNCHES NASA ASTRONAUTS FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER YEARS OF DELAYS
Boeing launched astronauts for the first time Wednesday, belatedly joining SpaceX as a second taxi service for NASA.
NEW ORLEANS PLANS TO SPIFF UP AS HOST OF NEXT YEAR'S SUPER BOWL
New Orleans hosts its 11th Super Bowl next year and the preparations involve showcasing the city’s heralded architecture, music, food and celebratory culture while addressing its myriad challenges, including crime, pockets of homelessness and an antiquated drainage system.
GOOGLE MAKES FIXES TO AI-GENERATED SEARCH SUMMARIES AFTER OUTLANDISH ANSWERS WENT VIRAL
Google said it has made “more than a dozen technical improvements” to its artificial intelligence systems after its retooled search engine was found spitting out erroneous information.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: WHAT YOUNG PEOPLE WISH THEY'D KNOWN ABOUT SOCIAL MEDI
It’s dangerous. It’s addictive. Get off your phone.
LIFE AS A TEEN WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA ISN'T EASY.THESE FAMILIES ARE NAVIGATING ADOLESCENCE OFFLINE
Kate Bulkeley’s pledge to stay off social media in high school worked at first. She watched the benefits pile up: She was getting excellent grades. She read lots of books.
