Iconic iPhone turns 10, with over 1bn users

This week, precisely on June 29, iPhone turned ten.

Yes, that’s how fast time flies. Looking back, the device Apple CEO Steve Jobs launched at Macworld 2007 has become so much more than even he imagined.

Under the early stewardship of Jobs (now deceased), iPhone became an economic and cultural revolution while almost single-handedly making Apple the most valuable company on the planet.

The first generation mobile device from computer manufacturer Apple had been unveiled by Jobs in January, but wasn’t made available to the public until June 29, 2007.

INTERNET SERVICE

At the iPhone launch, Jobs referred to the new gadget as “a revolutionary new mobile phone that allows users to make calls by simply pointing at a name or number.

iPhone syncs all of your contacts from your PC, Mac or Internet service such as Yahoo!, so that you always have your full list of up-to-date contacts with you”.

Up until that point, Jobs and Apple had masterfully marketed the personal computer and, later, the iPod.

They would go on to invent ever-sleeker gadgets that have transformed everyday technology, including the iPad.

LEADING PHONE

The coming of the iPhone stole the sheen from then leading phone, Nokia.

Nokia was the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer until the iPhone came calling.

Although the company has had some hiccups in the past years, it still stands strong in the league of top-notch phone and tablet manufacturers.

The company boasts of selling more than a billion phones and is valued at more than a trillion dollars.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Perhaps Apple’s success is pegged on its approach to business. Jobs and his team never saw Apple as just an iPhone manufacturer.

To the contrary, Apple built its business with the aim of improving customer experience.

This experience is seen in the brilliance of swiping and tapping and pinching a screen with your fingers.

By stripping away physical keys to leaving only a screen and a multi-touch interface, Apple made it possible for designers and engineers to do things few had ever imagined.

DOOM AND GLOOM

Many analysts didn’t know what to make of the new phone.

It was expensive; it didn’t have 3G; there was no physical keyboard and the touchscreen didn’t have a stylus.

Some analysts saw doom and gloom but Apple’s story of success has proved them wrong.

The company wanted to spread its wings on the general computing experience that could offer a bevy of software apps.

It realised that the potential and planned profits would come from opening the iOS system to outside developers as well.

NEW VEHICLE

Beyond apps, the phone was also a new vehicle to sell media and online services, not to mention lucrative accessories.

But Jobs’ strength has also proven to be a weakness.

The more recent lesson of the iPhone is that any great design will be copied.

Despite Apple’s many patents and trade secrets, the company was unable to prevent Samsung and others from collectively surpassing the iPhone’s market share with almost identical products.

COVETED GADGET

Compared with other brands, the iPhone has not had a strong foothold in Africa but it is the most coveted gadget in many developed countries. In USA, people sometime even equate phones to iPhones.

The iPhone brand is so entrenched that, 10 years ago when it was unveiled, people lined up for more than 10 hours to buy the 8MB memory-loaded phone.

Regardless of your phone of choice, the iconic apple iPhone has changed the world in many ways.

Some studies even claim that since the introduction of mobile phones, sales of chewing gum have plunged.

Why? People are so engrained on their screens that they have no time for small, filler luxuries that used to catch their eyes.

The writer is an informatics specialist. [email protected]. @samwambugu2