Ep. 029 - The Secret History of the iPhone with Brian Merchant
Jill Schlesinger
CBS News Business Analyst, host "Jill on Money/MoneyWatch" pods, author of "The Great Money Reset"
On June 29th, 2007 Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a new product, which he described as “a revolutionary mobile phone,” and a “breakthrough Internet communications device.”
Indeed, the iPhone has changed our lives. We do EVERYTHING on our phones. We text, we surf the web, we bank, we book vacations, we get directions, we book cars, we play games, and we even make the occasional phone call.
In the process, Apple has become the most profitable public company in the world, with a market cap of about three quarters of a trillion dollars – that’s more than twice as much as Exxon Mobil and three times as much as General Electric. Over the past ten years, Apple’s business has grown by 10 times and its stock price has increased by nearly 720 percent, dwarfing the 134 percent rise in the NASDAQ Composite Index.
But just how close did we come to not having the iPhone? How did it actually happen? Our guest Brian Merchant, technology journalist and author of the new book, The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone takes us back to the mid-2000’s to tell the iPhone origin story.
Brian reveals the inside story of the device, based on his exclusive interviews with the engineers, inventors and developers who guided every stage of the iPhone's creation. He also discussed what life is like for the workers in China who assemble the phones. As you’ll hear, Brian doesn’t paint a very pretty picture.
If you’re a techie and live for the latest Apple rumors and news, definitely follow Brian on Twitter.
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Co-Founder @Synchronicity.co, Inc. & BOS
7 年Can I just tell you that it was 1995 when I called what I was fixing to create a "smart phone". This was way before anything like that existed. (except AT&T had tried 3 times already to launch the visual phone!!) The term "smart" this, or that, wasn't entirely new but it certainly wasn't used in business vernacular. But check it out. Using our new technology, I envisioned a (stationary!) phone that had one touch dial icons on a searchable scrolling graphic interface that was geared to be thee replacement for the commercial phone book. This is back when "push" was starting and when Mark Cuban had broadcast dot Com. The public barely had little tiny icons on AOL. Ha! Never got the chance to make that happen and in a couple years, Jobs, with his ready made hardware capabilities was the one who could do it. And although I'm a Windows gal all the way, he was a brilliant guy who had "the Force" with him and left an astounding legacy! #respect
Senior Talent Acquisition- AVAILABLE (Remote) Contract/Freelance
7 年Working conditions for Apple (Foxconn Technology Co Ltd) China workers is horrific. They have to put nets on the buildings to prevent workers from committing suicide. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9006988/Mass-suicide-protest-at-Apple-manufacturer-Foxconn-factory.html
East Coast Prosthetics & Orthotics Laboratories
7 年Good Morning