Write to the Point
While having to dodge yet another phone-fixated robot stepping off the curb recently, it got me thinking.
Just when did the world seem to turn the page from gazing intently into a 4-inch by 2-inch piece of plastic to noticing if two tons of steel and its driver wonder if the clueless pedestrian understands the windshield and bug theory?
Recently I learned it had been 10 years since Apple rolled out its groundbreaking technology found on the touchscreen of its original iPhone.
Our thumbs have never been the same, nor has society.
As an Apple guy practically since that 1984 rollout of the original MacIntosh, I remember wanting to complete the circle by trading in my flip-phone for an iPhone a decade ago.
A phone that was as intuitive and powerful as the company’s computers had to be something, too.
But at the time, the reason for having a cell phone in the first place was to be able to use it when you needed to. Not to opine on social media or win the latest trivial bar bet.
I certainly was not about to give up coverage and service of my, “Can you hear me now,” provider for a phone that was locked to service that could not raise AAA roadside service if needed out in the hinterlands.
It’s been a blink of the eye since June 29, 2007 when the innovative Steve Jobs rolled out his first phone. It had a groundbreaking screen that was sensitive to the touch of a finger, or thumb. There was nothing of the like at the time.
But bringing practicality to technology began when Apple first connected a mouse to its Mac, which started another revolution: pointing and clicking. Beats the heck out of typing in mysterious MS-DOS programming code to fire up my old Kaypro in 1982.
And just as with the mouse being such an integral part of today’s computing, others followed with their phone clones. The phone idea soon hatched Apple’s tablet, the iPad in 2010, and the rest of the tech world also followed suit.
During his speech that introduced his latest gizmo, Jobs said it was rare enough for a company to revolutionize even one product category. Apple had already done so with the computer, the iPod for music, now the phone and soon, tablets.
Touch-screen technology is slowly making the old fashioned keyboard obsolete, especially with today’s youngsters. It was interesting — and refreshing — to see my 8-year-old grandson actually sitting at a desk in front of our family computer and know how it functions.
A decade of tapping icons on a screen has been nothing short of amazing in terms of what it has done, both good and bad, to our daily existence.
Take Twitter, which was founded in pre-iPhone days in 2006. Between 2012 and 2016, its use has increased over three-fold from 100 million users to over 300 million. You can decide the plusses and minuses to what 140 characters can do.
As with the computing world where Mac sales are pale in comparison, Apple phone products trail in projected 2018 sales to South Korean tech giant, Samsung, almost two-fold.
But consider that not long ago, Apple became the first company in history to surpass the $700 billion barrier in net worth, bigger than all but 19 national GDPs across the globe.
Other notable milestones linked to the iPhone listed at recode.net include:
• The iPhone put the Internet in everyone’s pocket.
• Phone photography now comprises 85 percent of pictures taken worldwide.
• The touch-screen phone launched an entirely new industry with “Apps” with 3.4 million available for the Android and 2.1 million for Apple.
• Made media giants out of Google and Facebook.
You be the judge when it comes to the what has been good — or not — from what launched a decade ago with the iPhone. Maybe that person failing to pay attention as you drive towards them is not so bad after all?
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@chneyfreepress.com.
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