Introduction
The iPhone is an innovative brand of smartphone, marketed by Apple Inc. The line of smartphones currently consists of 10 generations of models, from the original iPhone 1st gen, released in 2007, to the iPhone 7 Plus, released in 2016. The invention of the iPhone was a pioneering step in the smartphone market, with its capacitative touchscreen and user-friendly design differing it from other smartphones on the market at the time. The iPhone will be looked at in detail in this essay, with the invention, history and current concepts all reported on.
Background
The invention of the original iPhone practically changed the future of technology. The iPhone 1st gen caught the attention of the public due to the fact that this was a piece of technology that rendered its predecessors obsolete. Its looks were unique; with an aluminium case, and large touchscreen, it was completely different to any other phone of the time. Smooth edges, futuristic styling and flashy graphics made it very appealing to all age ranges. Instead of owning a phone, a camera, a music player and a sat-nav, they could just own one device. Its usability was unseen before; it was not the first to use a touchscreen, but it was the first to incorporate it into the operating system so flawlessly (Grossman). Previous phones utilized a different system, with a screen that was not interactive and actions were completed with buttons assigned to tasks. This new concept, coupled with the fact that it included applications to perform so many day-to-day tasks, such as listening to music, reading emails, browsing the web, taking photos, gaining directions and, of course, calling and messaging, made it the most complete and genre-defining phone of the time.
History
The process of inventing the iPhone originated in America in 2005, when Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Inc, asked the company’s design team to incorporate a multi-touch touchscreen and a tablet computer (Jobs and Beahm). This idea then was worked into the original iPhone design by the design team, engineers and Jobs himself, and was announced by Jobs in June of 2007.
Current Use
The iPhone is used extensively all over the world, and is sold in 115 countries (Linshi). In current times, Apple Inc is flourishing, and has just released the iPhone 7, which has futuristic technology such as water resistance, fingerprint scanner and a wireless headphone connection. Over 500 million iPhones have been sold since 2007, and the company is one of the most recognisable brands in the world (Rogowsky).The iPhone can continue to grow and shape the smartphone market in future, and is only limited by current technology. The impacts of the phone in society are largely good; people are connected on a larger scale than ever before (West and Mace 270). At the touch of a button it is possible to video talk to anyone in the world, and this is a good thing. On the other hand, the fact that users spend do much time on their iPhones can be a bad thing; important tasks like studying and working can be procrastinated.
Summary
In conclusion, the invention of the iPhone in 2007 has changed the world as we know it. Its hard to imagine a world without being able to instantly ‘FaceTime’ anyone, anywhere. The innovative nature of the invention helped it to become popular, and the extensive marketing of the product and constant updates to the design and technology have made it the ‘must-have’ technology of the 2010s. The main pints to take away from this report are: The iPhone, by Apple Inc, is one of the biggest brands of smartphones in the world. It is extremely popular, and over 500 million have been sold worldwide. In the future, the iPhone can only be predicted to keep improving with new technology. Apple keep their plans a closely guarded secret, so any discussion of the future for the iPhone will be highly estimated. As the original iPhone is now rendered obsolete, in 10 years time the iPhone 7 will most likely be obsolete, and the newest model will continue to innovate and improve with every update.
References
The references for this work were web based. From sources such as a transcription of a Steve Jobs interview, to Apple Incs financial reports, I tried to vary the sources to keep an impartial view. Lev Grossman is a journalist, who is famous in America. He can be relied upon to give unbiased reviews of technology. TIMES and Forbes are respected newspaper and websites, so they can be determined as reliable sources of information also. The sources are dated from 2007, the invention of the product, to the present year 2016. This gives an accurate timeline of the iPhone and ensures no details are missed.
- Grossman, Lev. “Invention of the year: The iPhone.” Time Magazine Online 1 (2007).
- Jobs, Steve, and George W. Beahm. I, Steve: Steve Jobs in his own words. Agate Publishing, 2011.
- Linshi, Jack. “Why U.S. Sanctions Mean Some Countries Don’t Get Any Iphones”. TIME.com. N.p., 2016.
- Rogowsky, Mark. “Without Much Fanfare, Apple Has Sold Its 500 Millionth Iphone”. Forbes.com. N.p., 2016.
- West, Joel, and Michael Mace. “Browsing as the killer app: Explaining the rapid success of Apple’s iPhone.” Telecommunications Policy 34.5 (2010): 270-286.
