Posted on 06/29/2017 6:51:58 AM PDT by Kaslin
Societal changes take place so slowly that we rarely see them unfold on a day-to-day basis. Our culture and lifestyles adapt so quickly to new technology that we soon can't remember life without the latest innovation. But when we look back over any significant period of time, the scale of change is truly breathtaking.
Today, smartphones are such a part of the culture that it's hard to believe they've only been around for a decade. But the smartphone era began just 10 years ago with the June 29, 2007 release of the iPhone. Time magazine hailed it as the 2007 Invention of the Year and more than a billion iPhones have been sold since that time.
Even the stunning sales total understates the magnitude of the transformation. Today, more than half the entire world's population uses a smartphone. Every one of them has access to more information than the President of the United States could call upon just a generation or two ago.
Economist Mark Perry says the iPhone is "perhaps the most remarkable and revolutionary consumer product ever introduced." To support that claim, Perry cited a 2014 article with a telling headline: "Everything from the 1991 Radio Shack Ad I Now Do with my Phone."
Radio Shack billed itself in those days as America's Technology Store. Fourteen of the items in the 1991 ad are now available in a smartphone: personal stereo, AM/FM clock radio, headphones, calculator, computer, VHS camcorder, mobile cell phone, regular speed dial phone, portable CD player, mobile CB radio, desktop scanner, phone answering machine, cassette tape recorder and radar detector.
Adjusting for inflation, those 14 items would cost $5,614 today. Instead, you can get it all on an iPhone for under $500. Or, you can pay around $30 a month to enjoy the benefits of this amazing breakthrough. And, your phone can also provide a bunch of other services available in 1991 that weren't in the Radio Shack ad -- things like cameras, stopwatches, newspapers, language translators and more.
As if that wasn't enough, the iPhone can do all kinds of things that weren't possible or even dreamed of in 1991. Just think for a moment about all the new services like text messaging, GPS and music streaming. Or the ability to watch movies, TV shows and sports on your phone.
What a bargain! And what unbelievable progress.
The cultural change brought about by the iPhone is a great example of how progress comes from outside the political process. It changed the world by serving consumers.
But, make no mistake about it -- this massive cultural change is also shaking up the world of politics. The hundreds of millions of smartphones owned by Americans today reflects the greatest force for change in our nation's history.
"The devices and connectivity so essential to modern life put unprecedented power in the hands of every individual," according to Harvard's Nicco Mele. This is "a radical redistribution of power that our traditional institutions don't and perhaps can't understand." As if that wasn't enough, he adds, "Radical connectivity is toxic to traditional power structures."
Transferring power from 20th century bureaucracies to everyday Americans is yet another reason to celebrate the birth of the iPhone.
Happy Birthday, iPhone. And, thank you.
Pretty sure the Windows Mobile was first.
I lost count, of the number of people walking down sidewalks, or in a shopping mall, who aren’t watching where they are going, because their noses are buried in their phones as they walk along.
And then YOU have to be the one to watch out for them, and step out of their way as they don’t see you. YOU have to get out of their way to avoid a collision.
Common courtesy as part of cellular phone etiquette never evolved from what I see.
About ten years ago I was watching a 1940s movie, and by then-fourth-grade daughter happened to walk by as someone in the movie was making a phone call. She stopped, looked at the screen for a moment, then exclaimed, "THAT'S why it's calling dialing the number!"
P.S. You're not spending $1000 for the phone. You're spending the money for a handheld computerized audio/video connection to the world. One proof of this is that the same aforementioned daughter, now working her way through nursing school, has a Galaxy 8 and cannot be seen without it, but the one thing she never uses it for is to phone someone.
The article overlooked the most amazing factor about the smartphone/iPhone - Innovation. Apple came up with the product when people were not necessarily clamoring for it. It was done as a pure innovation project. Once people had it, they wondered how they had gotten along without it before the purchase.
Another factor not touched on in the article - it was all done without government input. Imagine the kind of solutions in other areas we could have if government got out of the way.
I have specific ringtones so I know who is calling and call the number back when it is safe to do so. I also have a specific ringtone for numbers that I do not recognize and will block them.
I also never use my phone in the store, unless I have to call my husband or son and then I stop the cart I am pushing.
“Common courtesy as part of cellular phone etiquette never evolved from what I see”.
That’s the truth. And many people have turned into impersonal Zombies. The young ones are definitely lacking in social skills and seem to be functionally illiterate.
...and now near everyone stares at their blasted phone instead of being in a conversation with the people around them.
You are making the same mistake Palm and BlackBerry made. They built a handheld phone.
Apple built a handheld computer that (among other things) ran a phone application.
“Phones” are already the primary computing platform in several parts of the world.
No, it's not $1000 - you overpaid. I paid $200 for my iPhone, and the article missed out on one cool function - it's a great flashlight for finding things in the dark. So yeah, I paid $200 for a flashlight, but I like it.
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