WEBVTT - The History of Smartphones: Part 2 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:05.440 Get in touch with technology with text Stuff from how 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:14.880 stuff fix dot com. Hey there everyone, it is text Stuff. 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.639 I'm Jonathan Strickland and I'm Lauren volc Obam. And you 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.120 might remember our last episode. We were doing the history 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:23.759 of smartphones and then we stopped before it was over 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:27.360 because we talk a lot, a lot. Yeah, but don't worry. 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:29.240 Here's part two. We're going to pick up right where 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:34.240 we left off in the little little little Next what happened. 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.879 We have Scion. Remember who created the organizer, So organizer 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:42.879 and organizer to Sion created a spinoff company. It was 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.879 originally Ssion Software, so it was part of Ssion, but 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:49.120 in Scion, by the way, spelled with a P P 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:53.080 s I O N, so it's Passion. So Passion Software 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:56.840 becomes a new company called Symbion Limited. Now this is 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:01.400 important because Symbion Limited produced the Simbion Opera rating system, 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:04.840 and Symbion operating system was one of In fact, it 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.120 was the most popular operating system for several years. It 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:12.679 dominated the smartphone market. Because we haven't reached a point 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:16.720 yet where smartphones have become a real consumer item. We've 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:20.720 got pro summers, but we don't have like the average 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:24.280 person did not own a smartphone yet. It just it 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:29.039 just hadn't reached the point where anyone wanted one. Did 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:32.119 the average person own a cellphone by ninety eight, You're 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:34.400 starting to get into a lot more cell phone use. 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:36.720 I didn't have one yet. Let's see, I was out 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:39.720 of no do your trade manages. We're getting hold I 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:42.280 am again. I've been out of college for a while, 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:44.320 but I don't didn't yet own a cell phone, but 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:47.080 I knew plenty of people in college who had cellphones 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.840 at that time. Granted, the most advanced app that most 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:54.120 of the cell phones ran was Snake, which is awesome, seminal, 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:58.360 very important, very important. I think I think I still 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:03.040 had a beeper, so that yeah, pager. I found that 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.080 the other day. I was moving recently, and I feel 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:08.280 like I should open a museum. It's terrific. But many jokes. 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:13.920 We get into a big company, a big name in smartphones, 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.880 although they've definitely in recent year has been hitting some 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:21.520 real hard times. Research in motion, research in motion which 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.920 is known as RIM, which produces the BlackBerry. Yeah, now 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:28.440 that's yeah. And you did a gangster sign with BlackBerry, 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:32.679 which I appreciate because man, BlackBerry was the name in 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.200 smartphones all the way from when they introduced their first 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:42.119 one up until a certain Apple company called Apple developed theirs. 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:46.440 But yes, uh, in this year, they actually released their 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:50.840 BlackBerry email device, which did not have a radio transmitter, 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:53.920 and it didn't have a phone transmitter right by by 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:58.240 by this year, by this year, Jonathan means, because that 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:01.240 is where he's living right now. Apparently, well, you know, 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.280 some of us just have arrested development. Mine is very 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:09.840 specific summer of I could tell you about that summer, 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:12.480 i'd be making it all up because I have no 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:15.600 memory of it. So, yeah, ninety nine, that's when that's 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.799 when Research Emotion introduces the Blackbrain email device. And yeah, 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:22.560 not a phone, but it was the first real product 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:26.799 from that company that would later become almost synonymous with 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.680 the term smartphone. All right. And nearly simultaneously, Palm was 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:35.080 on the scene and releasing, releasing, and and and they 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:39.040 they released a PDA that year that did have wireless capacity. Yeah, 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:42.280 it had the Palm seven had wireless capabilities. It still 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.240 didn't have a phone in it because well, back back 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.240 in the early days of PDAs, they were all self 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:50.520 contained devices, right, you didn't necessarily hook it into some 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:52.960 sort of network unless you wanted to connect it to 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.360 a computer and use your fancy fourteen four motives connect 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.280 to the end. Yeah, and then forty minutes later you 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:02.360 get whatever data you wanted. Yeah, this was for that 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.120 next step. So again this this is the building blocks 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:09.320 for future self smartphones rather right right, Well, yeah, it's 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.640 both both sides of the industry. The PDA industry and 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.480 the phone industry were developing to a point. But yes, 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:18.440 nothing had had really successfully brought the two together yet, 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.880 um until Ericson came back, um with the research they 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:26.080 had done from that uh Penelope from the Penelope, um 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:30.400 and uh came out with the R three eight Yeah 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:33.800 oh yeah, yeah yeah, so that's that's the first consumer 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:38.520 phone first on the market that was called a smartphone. 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:41.240 So yeah, there you go. The very first smartphone, if 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:43.480 you want to use that particular definition, would be the 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:45.240 R three e D. If you want to be if 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:49.279 you want to be much more um uh particular as 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:52.039 my co host has been, which is awesome because she 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:54.680 she caught it and I didn't, then you would go 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:58.239 with the Penelope, the g Sight from two years before. 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:01.640 But yeah, this was the one that was available in 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:06.880 quantities greater than two units useful for for for selling them, 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:09.120 for example, if you want to do that crazy thing, right, 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.960 if you want to build a business. And it was 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:14.920 apparently it was a flip phone, and it used and 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:18.040 remember I mentioned the Symbian operating system, that's what it used. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.080 And then we also have another big name in what 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:23.720 used to what used to be a big name in 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:25.680 the smartphone industry, and it's hoping to become a big 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:30.920 name again or to re establish itself. It's Nakia Na yeah, 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:36.120 which I always hears Nokia, but apparently the correct pronunciation 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:40.480 is closer to either Nakia or Nokia. I'm completely ignorant 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.040 about this. It is it is a Japanese company. It 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:47.280 is not. It is Scandinavian. Scandinavian. Yes, So when you 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:51.559 whenever you use a Nokia phone, of Viking gets his horns, 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:55.040 more more reason to switch away from the iPhone. I'm 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.520 not I don't know if it's a good or bad thing. 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:00.480 I'm just I mean, it's look, I can't I can't 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.880 pass judgment on facts. It's just a fact. I'm made up. Jonathan. 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.000 I think I think you can pass judgment on facts 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:10.960 fair enough, so Nakia introduces the nine zero Community Tour, 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:16.120 which had the very first full color screen for a 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:19.560 cell phone. Yeah, before that, we only got half colors 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:22.800 and it was terrible right down the middle. Well, now 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:24.600 you would get things like would get like things like 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:28.000 wow this pictures and beautiful colors of blood and reading. 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.839 All of this is going on in the year two thousands. Um, 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:35.440 and uh. Then then by by two thousand one, Microsoft 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.000 decided to finally join the party. Yeah, it starts to 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.720 create some personal digital assistance with cell phone functionality. So 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:45.560 Microsoft is actually starting to build smartphones, not necessarily calling 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:49.960 them that. Um. The very first one was using a 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:56.039 pocket PC operating system, which was this gets confusing. When 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:59.440 Microsoft had quite a few operating systems kind of developing 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:03.640 and different formats at this point, pocket PC was one 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:05.800 of those, and that was what was going into these 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:09.000 early p d a's. But we'll get more into the 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:13.960 confusing Microsoft operating system thing in in a couple of years, 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:16.960 especially when we get into more of the modern day 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:21.000 mobile stuff. I see modern day we're talking two thousand one. Well, 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:24.120 do you remember two thousand and one, back when dinosaurs 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:28.080 ruled the smartphone landscape so long ago? When did Dressing 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:30.280 Park come out? Maybe it did, Actually, maybe they did. 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:34.520 I think that was back in back in something like 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:38.320 the Dressing Park was just ruling the home theater market. Yes, 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.360 that point not okay, But yeah, two thousand one, that's 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.920 the pocket PC starts hitting the market. So we start 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:49.320 seeing Microsoft branded cell phones. Well at least the operating 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.280 system is Microsoft branded. The cell phones themselves were branded 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:55.360 by other companies, and they first started to work with HTC. 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.800 Here you go, and like I said, obviously my ignorance 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:01.320 of the company was all due to me and not 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:05.440 due to them. Because the first Microsoft smartphones were built 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:08.480 by HTC. That's kind of cool. Well, I think for 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:10.200 a long time too was it wasn't there a little 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:13.000 bit of a reluctance almost on the on the manufacturers 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.000 parts style, like they kind of wanted to brand up 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.960 with whoever they had joined with it. It's actually been 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:20.560 a really I mean, that's been a tough story throughout 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:23.000 the history of smartphones as well. I didn't really touch 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:25.080 on that when I was researching, but it is true 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.680 that we've got a lot of manufacturers that have kind 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:31.520 of sided with one like they they've they've put their 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:35.240 their stock into a particular os. So you've got some 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:39.720 companies that are known for producing smartphones that only run 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:44.200 a certain operating system like Android or Symbian or Windows 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:46.840 Phone as we'll get into um. And then of course 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:48.920 you have Apple that just makes you know they've got 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:53.880 control the whole thing. Got So, Yeah, it's an interesting 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.240 landscape and there are a few there's still a few 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:58.959 companies out there that are trying to play the field 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:02.280 and make sure that they are covering all the bases 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:06.160 by producing hardware that can run one operating system, but 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.720 they produce another model that runs a different operaing system. 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.240 So they trying not to limit themselves. It's a complicated issue. 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:19.880 Thank goodness, we're doing a podcast about it. So yeah, 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:23.600 in two this is where this is where they really 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:28.560 exciting part of the super said story takes place. That's 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:30.720 you clearly have more emotions about this than I do. 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.360 I was there to see the end of it. Uh 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.200 and yeah, yeah, this this was this was Palm Palm 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:45.839 introducing the Trio when when yeah, that's that's that's fading. 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:48.360 There's a lot of them in this, but you know, 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:51.319 the Trio comes out and that's that's Palm's entry into 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.680 the smartphone market. This is the actual p d A 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:57.360 with the cell phone built in. So my goodness made 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.520 made the phone calls and did the p d A stuff. Yep, yea. 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:03.480 The very first Trio had did not have a cell 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:06.240 phone in it, and it was the very very first 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:09.600 model of Trio didn't. But after that, uh, they went 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:13.040 with the cell phone, and from that point forward, trio 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:17.400 and smartphone were for a very particular populations synonymous. I mean, 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:20.040 if you if you said, oh i'll call, I'll use 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:22.959 my smartphone, they were talking about a Trio for It 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:25.160 just was one of those things where I was kind 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.960 of like, how iPhone users can be really passionate about 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:32.480 their product. That's what happens. Yeah, I don't know if 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:35.240 you're familiar with this whole fanboy thing, but you will be. 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:39.520 I've never I've never um, but yeah, yeah, No. The 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.120 Trio fans back in the day were kind of like 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:43.600 iPhone fans are today. They were, and I mean, like 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:46.800 I said, I still know people who will wax poetic 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:50.719 about their Trios. I think Rafe Needleman of formerly of 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.280 c net, and now I think we've ever note uh 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:56.480 he I've heard him on multiple occasions talk about how 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:00.679 much he loved that device. So yeah, and then Nakia 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:04.680 introduced the seven oh, which snappy name. I have a 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.840 problem with some cell phone manufacturers who just use models, 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:10.199 model numbers. It's too hard to talk about when you're 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.720 doing a podcast that they're really not although not nearly 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:19.079 as goofy as having to say snow leopards or or 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:25.720 Android cupcake doughnut, a Claire froyo gingerbread, honeycomb ice cream sandwich. 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:28.439 It's a jelly bean. It's an ice cream sandwich that 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:30.440 I really think. I really take a little bit personally. 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.400 I'm like, really, guys, I start feeling like I'm ordering 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.160 something I hop instead of it's the left side of 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.360 the menu instead of an operating system. Yeah. Well, the 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:45.679 Nakia Nakias was the first smartphone using the Simbion operating system. 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.040 And uh so now we're starting to see Symbion really 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:53.040 take take hold of the smartphone market, especially with Nakia, 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.719 and Nakia was a big, big name, particularly outside the 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.280 United States. Right um, and a lot a lot of 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.880 this breaking ground was happening in in Europe. Actually, I 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:04.319 think that most of Europe had smartphones are more, more 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.480 of the people who would have had smartphones had them 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:08.800 in Europe before they ever had them. In Europe and Japan, 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:12.440 they were smartphones were present in Europe and Japan well 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:16.760 before they started to become more well known in the US. 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:19.680 But yes, that's absolutely true. In the United States, we 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:22.920 were trailing quite quite a ways behind. Most of us 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:27.160 were still on our featureless cell phones. Yeah, not not 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:29.880 not even feature phones at the time. Yeah. They the 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:34.200 feature they had was again they can make calls and places. Yeah, 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:36.719 you might be able to send a text. That was 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:39.600 also nice. Yeah. Yeah. SMS was starting to was starting 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:45.319 to come on yep around that era, as as all 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:50.200 of the network generations started moving up. And uh yeah, 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:52.360 and then and then BlackBerry came back in two thousand 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:55.320 three to release its first smartphone, right and that was 0:12:55.960 --> 0:13:00.160 that was the phone that captured corporate America's imagination. Uh. 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:04.280 The smartphone at that point in America anyway, was mostly 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.080 thought of as either something that was an early adopter 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:11.600 toy or you were an executive with a company because 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:13.960 you need to have access to your email while you 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:17.839 were in the bathroom of some other facility. Because I've 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.040 heard that clicking people don't think I haven't heard it 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:22.520 because you're your in your own bathroom had a phone 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:27.040 in it, so you wouldn't need that, of course phone television. 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:31.800 But we're getting we're getting off topic. Also, also in 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:35.040 two thousand and three, Android was founded kind of mysteriously. 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:36.640 No one really knew what was going on with them. 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.480 Then I imagined the people that Android probably did. But 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.240 when I was doing research for this, I really did 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:44.920 come across when Google purchased Android, which would be a 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.000 couple of years, um, a couple of years two thousand 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:51.040 and five, that's when Google buys Android Incorporated. A little Yes, 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:55.120 even at that time, no one was really the information 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:57.040 I saw. No one was really sure what Android was. 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.520 They're like, well, Google bought this company called Android Incorporated. 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:02.439 We have no what that's all about. But obviously this 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:06.480 was Google laying the groundwork for its future entry into 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:11.040 the smartphone market. So the seeds are sown at least 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.960 if no, uh no, uh later than two thousand five, 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.280 possibly earlier, because you have no idea how long the 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.120 people at Google were working on this on their own 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.240 before they said let's just buy someone who does this, 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.440 which is what a lot of big companies do. Moving 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:27.880 up to two thousand six, we get to a point where, um, okay, 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.960 so this this, this kind of shows us what smartphones 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.400 were doing in the market. All right, So we're still 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:37.280 talking two thousand six, we're still telling pre iPhone. Uh 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.520 And at this time, the average American consumer who was 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:43.840 in the market for a mobile phone was really not 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:48.280 considering smartphones that much. And the numbers reflect that smartphones 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:52.520 accounted for about ten percent of all sales. So this 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:54.880 was one of those markets where I think even I 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:56.920 at the time was like, if I were an executive 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.480 or if I had more money than brains, then I 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:01.280 would buy one of these. I just can't see in 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.120 the need for one. It was a professional and the 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.240 hobbyist kind of thing still and says the price point 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:09.840 to not quite come down yet. And you know that 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:12.240 also has to do with just the pace of pace 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:14.680 of technology and War's law and all that kind of right. Sure, 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.960 and the feature sets were very interesting for early adopters, 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.280 but not so practical for the average user. So no 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:24.680 one had really cracked that finding a way to introduce 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:28.080 a smartphone that appeals to the general consumer. And in fact, 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.280 at that time, I think no one. There was no 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:32.080 way anyone was ever going to come up with that. 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:34.520 It was just impossible. It would be it would be 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:36.920 decades before we would see a smartphone in the hands 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:41.560 of Joe America until in two thousand and seven, a 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:46.760 year later, when Steve Jobs said, Hey, I've got something, 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:50.280 and I know you're gonna love it. It's simply magical. 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:57.200 It just works, it's beautiful, and we're calling it the iPhone. Yeah, 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:59.360 Steve Jobs. I mean, he took the stage and he 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.360 showed off that first at that first iPhone presentation. I 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:05.600 don't know, you've probably never seen this. I actually went 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:07.800 back and watched the video years, like a couple of 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:09.800 years ago when I was writing an article about iPhones, 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:11.440 and I was just curious. I was like, I wonder 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:13.840 what the audience reaction was to the iPhone when they 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:16.960 first announced it, because I mean, was it was it? 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:19.160 Was it wild cheers or was it more of a quad? No, 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:22.000 it was the wild Cheers. People went bonkers because they 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.680 saw that design, and that design is undeniable. The iPhone 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.200 is a gorgeous device, oh of course. Well, and most 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:30.800 everything that Apple does is with that. With that first 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.720 iMac kind of thing, it's an exception. But yeah, they well, 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:35.760 once they get Johnny, I've you know, once I got 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:38.880 Sir Johnny, I've part of me. Once they got ser Johnny, 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.560 I've on on on the payroll. And he started to 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:45.200 help design their products. He really brought a new aesthetic 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:49.240 to Apple products across the line, but particularly when you 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:53.800 get to their mobile devices. They are sleek, They're beautiful. 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:58.520 It is not an exaggeration to call them sexy. You 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:00.760 look at that and you're like, I want to hold that. 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.800 It's not just that it's functional. It just looks great. 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:05.760 It looks great. You wanna do you want to you 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:09.760 want to poke it? Yeah? Yeah, boy? Backing off from 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:15.320 that one, so moving on, so many jokes, uh the 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.400 but yes, yes it was, and it did very well. 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:21.439 It Uh, it got consumers interested in it. When it 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.320 first launched, it launched at a higher price point. It 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:26.919 was I think around six hundred dollars something like that. 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:28.560 I don't have the figure in my notes. I just 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.720 remember it being higher. And I remember that a few 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.280 months later they had negotiated with A T and T 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.680 to have a reduced rate if you signed a contract. 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:39.560 Because I remember all the people who bought it when 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:45.400 it first came out, going the number that I wrote 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:52.560 it down, So you're my memory actually works, guys, that's phenomenal. Um. 0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:57.320 But yeah, so they they launched the iPhone. Within six months, 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:02.119 Apple starts to allow the party developers to create apps 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:05.000 on the iPhone platform. Yeah, that's right, because there was 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:06.280 a little bit there was a little bit of angst 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:08.840 at first that the iPhone wasn't really going to be 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.960 a smartphone because you weren't going to have the functionality 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:14.679 to change it to to write you would you'd be 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:18.800 limited whatever Apple made, which you know, they had had 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:21.879 sort of a similar problem with their computer lines sharing 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:24.320 the past to the idea of this closed system because 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:28.640 Jobs wanted to deliver a very specific experience to users, 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:31.479 and part of that meant being very controlling about what 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:35.720 can and cannot be allowed on that device. But within 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:38.000 six months they opened it up so that third party 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:41.080 developers could develop apps. They had to submit them to 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:43.320 Apple and they had to be approved before they could 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:46.199 go in the Apple Store. But at that point it 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.320 really opened up the doors, and it was just that 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:53.240 the game was indeed a foot in the smartphone market. 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:59.960 I mean, consumers went bonkers. Um. And so at this point, well, 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:04.480 there's there's another player in the smartphone market that wasn't 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:06.560 too impressed with the iPhone when it first came out. 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:09.840 Could could that be? Could that be Microsoft? Yeah? There 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.040 was a certain man by the name of Steve Balmer who, 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:17.399 in between eating interns, turned and looked and said, iPhone 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:20.520 too expensive. Uh. He actually really did say it was 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:23.400 like the most expensive. It was just a really expensive smartphone, 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:25.520 is pretty much. He kind of dismissed it. And at 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:29.679 the time, Windows Mobile, which was the operating system for 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:34.160 smartphones running the Microsoft operating system at that time, accounted 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:38.159 for around eight of the market share of the smartphone market. 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:42.360 So Windows Mobiles in a really good place already. I mean, 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:43.800 there were a lot of other players out there. The 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:46.560 Symbion was probably the that was the dominant player at 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:49.960 that time. BlackBerry also a very powerful player at that time. 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:54.760 This is pre Android. So, uh, iPhone comes out, bombers like, 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:58.280 it's really expensive, No one's gonna buy it. We're fine, Yeah, 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:02.000 We're good. That's not going to be a thing. Yeah. Uh. 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:04.439 Turned out he was maybe a little premature with that, 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:09.040 because only a year later I found had about about 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:11.840 thirteen percent of the market share right thirteen, from zero 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.439 to thirteen percent. Now, keep in mind Windows Mobile had 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:17.400 been an eighteen percent and had been an established operating 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:20.360 system in the smartphone market. So within just one year, 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:24.480 not even a full year, within within about half a year, 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:27.400 iPhone was already making a huge dent in a place 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:30.280 where it had never really had a presence before. Also 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.840 keep in mind that the iPhone was not globally available 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:37.639 right away. It was introduced into various markets over time. 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:40.840 It had a much wider launch than a lot of 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:43.840 other technologies have had in the in the both in 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:47.159 the past and more recently, but it still was not 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:50.879 global right out of the gate um. And that was 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:53.120 the same two thousand eight, that's the year when Nakia 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:58.520 ended up buying Symbian. So Nakia and Symbian had already 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.760 had a relationship, you know, Symbion was on that first 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:05.720 smartphone that Knockia produced. But now then, perhaps as a 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:08.120 as a little bit of a response to Apple getting 0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:10.639 into the game and having this very vertical structure, they 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:14.400 may be said, hey, yeah, let's let's square up. Let's 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:18.320 let's uh, let's let's batten down the hatches. Let's make 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:22.520 some more mixed metaphors. That's what they said. That was. 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:24.880 That was also the year, um, that that Google uh 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:27.840 introduced Android. That was, like I think it was, it 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:30.760 was in the fall, the fall of that year, and 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:33.840 it wasn't until the following as you point out, Lauren, 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:36.760 it wasn't until the following winter that I purchased my 0:21:37.080 --> 0:21:39.439 cell phone. And I almost had it by two thousand eight, 0:21:39.480 --> 0:21:41.160 but it was actually two thousand nine when I got mine. 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:44.520 Well according to my to my extensive stocking research, it 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:47.800 wasn't until you went to see Yes, but how holy crap, 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:51.359 you remember more about me than I do, Lauren, Yeah, 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:56.119 when it was yes, Yes, that's true. Um, Jonathan and Kristena, 0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:59.159 I did an episode about smartphones. In preparation for recording this, 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:02.040 I I went listened to so so this this was 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:04.280 last night for me. This was two thousand nine for 0:22:04.400 --> 0:22:07.480 everybody else. I actually haven't listened to that episodes. Now 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:10.560 I'm wondering what else I said. Uh. Yeah, HTCG one 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:13.159 was the very first cell phone in the United States 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:15.720 market that had Android, and it had different names in 0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:17.840 different like in Europe it had a different name, and 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:20.680 but in the United states. It was the HTCG one, 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:23.600 and that, in fact was the smartphone that I purchased, 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:25.760 and I liked it because it had a slide out 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:29.720