The iPhone Is Ten Years Old

Steve Jobs, 2007

The general consensus in the technology industry is that the expontential growth of mobile has finally peaked, after years of driving massive technology growth and value for venture capitalists. While it is undeniable that the hyper growth mobile experienced during the past decade (which venture capitalist rely on) has slowed, I have fought the notion that mobile has truly peaked. Today for the first time though, it hit home for me that maybe mobile phones have reached most of their potential by something I didn't see coming; time.

The iPhone is officially ten years old this week. I know, I can't believe it has been ten years either. I still remember when new iPhones were the hottest thing you could get your hands on. You could touch it with your fingers to use it. It had pinch to zoom and slide to unlock! Included a 2 Megapixel camera, headphone jack, single home button, accelerometer and a proximity sensor. It talked to the internet and all of it was in your pocket! 

The past year has shown that investors are looking for new industries and technology sectors to invest in. Fred Wilson has predicted artificial intelligence will be the new mobile. As proof of this, Amazon's new home speaker that you talk too, the Echo, was one of the most popular products of the year. Other technologies with the label artificial intelligence seem to be creeping into many of our existing products. For example, my to do list app, Todoist, now uses A.I. to learn from me overtime and automatically reschedule my tasks that become past due. 

This implication means many things to Apple and it's need for new product lines.  The Apple Watch was a mild success/failure depending on how you view it. Airpods seem to be a new favorite and I personally love mine, but deep diving into Apple's future is much more then we need to get into here. Instead I would like to recognize it's past. In honor of the ten year anniversary of the iPhone I found Steve Jobs keynote from 2007 and shared it below. I encourage you to watch the first few minutes to remind yourself just how revolutionary the new iPhone was at the time and how funny Steve Jobs was while announcing it.

Then just let it simmer that the iPhone is now ten years old- and what that means for the technology industry. Putting that number ten on the age of the iPhone makes it feel a lot more like my laptop in terms of excitement. As new innovations come from wearables it is only logical that mobile is going the way of desktop computers & laptops. My phone is now something I use multiple times a day, everyday, but just is not as exciting in the long run. 

Mobile will continue to grow as it expands into new markets and territories across the planet. But as with the greatest of technologies we rely on as a species, without large innovations it will fade into the background of our lives, perhaps even for he better. If mobile fades into something we use everyday without thinking, then maybe it can truly enhance our human experience instead of drawing us away from things we should be focusing on. It will go the way of electricity, where we just turn it on without thinking. To become such a utility in our daily lives that it just fades into the background, to be taken for granted the miracle it truly is.

See how it all began, complete and uncut.

I Deleted Every App On My Phone

I and everyone around me knows I have too many apps on my phone. Years of testing apps from various startups and services combined with the never leave an app behind again "iCloud Backup" meant that unless I deleted an app manually, it never went away. Then something happened. Apparently somewhere hidden in my iCloud backup was a glitch according the Genius's at Apple. I was told the only way to not have it affect my phone anymore was to erase my phone and start from scratch. So that is what I did. 

I have been thinking about doing this for years after reading a few blog posts from others before me. I was attracted to how freeing I heard it could be. Also, I clean my home all the time and it felt about time I did the same for my digital world too. 

So currently, I am only re-downloading the apps that matter to me. In the process I will be saying goodbye to several apps. Those of note worthy in both categroies I will mention here. I thought it would be interesting to share which apps are worth keeping in 2016. So without further ado: 

Apps I Am Keeping:

• Dark Sky - Best weather app there is.

• Apple Podcasts - Can't delete but its back on the home screen so Ambition Today is always close!

• Audible - I listen to a lot of books.

• Slack - Immediate access for those close to me and on my teams who know my email inbox can get a bit backed up.

• Todoist - the life saver of to-do list apps.

• Google Maps - Obviously. I tried Apple maps recently in NYC and it took me to the wrong place by about 20 blocks. I was late for that meeting...

• Google Inbox - My lifeline. My go to-email app. If you know a better one you swear by then let me know in the comments.

• Google App - I look up a lot of things. I'm curious, what can I say.

• Google Drive - Are you seeing a theme here?

• Twitter - The best social network there is currently.

• Snapchat - The best up and coming social network. If you need further proof of that, my Mom joined recently. Really loving Snapchat lately.

• Instagram - Just because.

• Nuzzel - I love Nuzzel! It has become the first news app I click each day.

• Yahoo News Digest - When I want to know whats happening in the world outside my immediate industry and networks.

• Fitbit - because health.

• Bitmoji - because fun with friends.

• Giphy - because hilarious with friends.

• Esper - Great platform to track my time and work.

• Robinhood - Why is anyone still paying Scottrade $7 to buy and another $7 to sell?

• Youtube - Loving the content on Youtube recently.

• The Herd Report - You have to have your own app. Plus the Sabres have Eichel now.

• Ward eSports - Best new eSports app for fans there is.

• Timehop - Who doesn't love some personal nostalgia from time to time.

• Buffer - Best app for sharing content across multiple channels. Works with Nuzzel to easily share article I like.

• Venmo - Use it constantly with friends and family.

• Acorns - I didn't want to re-download but it is mobile only so I kind of had to.

• Uber- I live in New York City. Enough said on this one.

Apps I Am Saying Goodbye To:

• Facebook - I turned off badge and push notifications a few weeks ago. Not even going to put it back on my phone this time. I will check in on my laptop when I feel like it.

• Google Chrome - It's just not "that" much better then safari. Don't need it and will give Safari one more chance.

• LinkedIn - Very, very little value comes out of this app that isn't more easily found other places.

• Reddit - Nuzzel has replaced it.

• Periscope - I broadcast from time to time, but I haven't consumed anything of note recently.

• Medium - The best medium posts surface inside Nuzzel. And Medium has been sending way to many push notifications recently anyway.

• Vine - I recently went viral on vine, but still do not think enough people are using it day to day. I never open it.

• Skype - Will probably have to re-download but don't want to.

• Whatsapp - I talk to these friends on iMessage or Facebook Messenger now.

• Facebook Messenger - Will probably have to re-download but don't want to.

• Many, many more - I didn't even re-download any apps from screen 3 or 4 of my phone.

These are the apps I have downloaded while setting my phone back up and the ones that I didn't bring back. I am sure I will have to re-download more apps as I realize I need them and I will do that when the time comes. In the meantime though I feel freed. Most importantly I am excited to see how my phones battery life improves. 

Before and After: Home Screen

Before and After: Screen 2

Uber The Conglomerate

Google Logo 1997

Google Logo 2016

At one point in time Google was called BackRub back when Larry first met Sergey to show him around Stanford. Now it is called Alphabet and just yesterday over took Apple as the world's most valuable company at a $560 billion valuation. Throughout the years we have seen Google refine and even rename it's brand. It has come a long way from the small startup company that only operated a Search Engine using their initial $25 million dollar investment from Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins.  

Brand refinements can allow a company to take on much, much more. The Google of 2016 is a much different company than it's original search engine business. At a even higher level the Alphabet rebrand has solidified the company's new reorganization as an official conglomerate. Alphabet now owns the individual companies of Google, Calico, GV, Google Capital, X, Google Fiber, Nest Labs, and Verily.

I think we just saw the first step in this direction from Uber. Meet Uber the conglomerate. The company has just released a new logo and brand direction. 

"We leave no bit or atom unturned to create industries that serve people"

- Uber

 

Uber Old Logo

Uber's New Bits and Atoms Logo

While Uber is still the same company and no reorganization has been announced the new high level branding of the "bits and atoms" logo from Uber feels very similar to the move Google made with rebranding as Alphabet. Uber no longer just focuses on being everyone's private driver. The new vision of Uber focuses on the much larger goal of combining bits and atoms to create industries that serve people. While the company has yet to IPO, it's $60 Billion dollar valuation certainly shows the company has reached a scale at which it can start exploring other business models. For example, Uber Eats, delivering kittens, and Uber Rush are early looks at some of these potential other business models.

For now this is just a simple rebrand. But as with all rebrands the goal is to change the way in which think about a company. As customers, and employees, become accustomed to the new way of thinking about Uber I am really excited about the potential possibilities the company seems destined to explore. 

Alphabet, meet Uber. Another future conglomerate.

Alphabet Inc.  2016

Uber's New 2016 Logo

The Death Of The Headphone Jack

iPhone 7 concept design without headphone jack. Image credit: Handy Abovergleich

In 2014, I for the third time returned my wired Beats by Dre Tour headphones to Best Buy. Yet again they had stopped working in the one ear due to the cord bending down at the plug. Over the years I had tried Beats, Skull Candy, and many other brands of headphones. As they all suffered the same fate I needed to make a bolder change than just trying another brand. So to change it up this time I exchanged my beaten up tour headphones with wires for some Beats By Dre Powerbeats2 Wireless headphones. I made the switch to bluetooth headphones and said goodbye to the headphone jack, for the most part. 

The next day I went into the office, grabbed my shiny new headphones, and went to plug them into the headphone jack before a conference call; which I obviously couldn't. I had to take a moment, turn on my laptops bluetooth, and connect them wirelessly. Which then disconnected them from my phone as it also had it's bluetooth on. Also new for me was the concept that I now had to keep my headphones charged. Something I have never had to worry about before. I found myself from time to time gravitating toward my wired Apple headphones when using my laptop just to avoid having to reconnect back to my iPhone later. Needless to say, as a man whose headphones are so important they are always within arms reach, there were some behavior changes I had to make. 

Surprisingly though, I made those changes and I did not return my bluetooth wireless headphones. Two years later I still use my bluetooth headphones everyday. The sound is great! I am more handsfree with my devices when using them and my iPhone alway keeps me notified of the headphones battery level. As you can see the headphone jack is dying and rightfully so. The technology behind the modern headphone jack was actually invented in 1878. 

Earlier this month it leaked that the Apple iPhone 7 might not have the normal 3.5mm headphone port at all. Headphones will now have to connect to your iPhone either through bluetooth or by plugging into the existing lightning port where you charge your phone. A similar move to the one made by Apple last year when it removed all the ports on its Macbook and switched everything to a single USB-C port. I am confident that in 2016 we will witness the beginning of the end for the headphone jack as we know it for a few reasons. 

Image credit: Apple

First off, Apple now owns a headphone company. Apple is one of the few companies that could force the headphone standard to switch from 3.5mm to lighting ports across the industry using it's Beats by Dre brand. 

From the phone perspective this move immediately frees up more room inside the new device for other hardware, hopefully more battery. It also potentially removes the last hole on the iPhone that couldn't be properly waterproofed. Perhaps most importantly, switching audio from the current hundred year old headphone jack to using the digital Apple lightning port would enable higher definition audio. After all, every box of Beats by Dre headphones includes a quote from Dr. Dre in the studio telling you that you need these high quality headphones to be able to hear all the sound as it was intended to be heard by the artists. Lastly, a lighting connector enable's a whole new suite of digital software possibilities between your headphones and your iPhone 7. The rise of the smart headphones will likely be a result. 

Apple's growth has slowed and they will need to start finding new ways to keep increasing revenue. As shown by the new iPhone smart case, accessories seem to be one of their moves in addressing that gap. A lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapter would could be a major sell for the company if there is no other option to listen to certain devices without it. 

So just as in 2012 when TechCrunch declared Winter Was Coming due to Apple declaring the end of the 30 pin chargers that were in the iPhone 4, Spring will follow winter very quickly. We will all adapt. In the process we will finally update a 100 year old technology, have better sounding music, enjoy a smarter pair of headphones, and once again Apple will continue to lead innovation in the mobile space. 

The Future Is Empathy

Merriam Webster simply defines Empathy as:

"the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions : the ability to share someone else's feelings"

Empathy requires a deeper level of realism than sympathy. It requires the ability to look from another persons perspective, not to it from your own perspective. 

Monday of this week started with honoring Dr. Marin Luther King Jr. and his dream.  Dr King was able to lead during his lifetime because he had a deep empathy for the other people in this world going through similar struggles. The greatest leaders of our time use empathy to gain followers and with those followers collectively solve large problems.

Today Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released a new song about the role white privilege has played in their life. The song chronicles Macklemore's recent experiences marching in Black Lives Matter protests and being a part of the hip hop community. The song shows an understanding and empathy of both sides of the table. The greatest artists of our time use empathy to create great and relatable work. 

Steve Job's knew empathy in design was the path to creating groundbreaking new products. The best product designers know their customers because they are their customers. Empathy guides the creation of the product. The greatest products of our time were built by founders who had the ability to empathize with the customers they are helping.

Last week I stood in the middle of a field in Africa while a plane flew overhead and dropped bags of food to the ground. Myself and others began to run, grab as much as we could, and carried home what we had picked up to feed our families. I experienced this shockingly first person perspective while wearing a $20 Google cardboard Virtual Reality headset in my living room. I was amazed at how real it felt. You should have seen the look on my Grandfather's face when I had him try it too. 

Technology enabled me and the others who tried it, to in that moment empathize immediately in a way that reading text simply never could do as powerfully or effectively. Empathy is an incredibly powerful ability. With constant new technology and the increasing free flow of information on the internet I expect empathy to grow to be a more naturally occurring and common part of society. The earliest test of this theory is and will be the attitude of Millennials as they have had the greatest exposure to new technologies and open information. In the next few years we will see if I am right, but I believe an open mind and empathy are the way of the future.  

Getting Featured On BGR.com

Last week I was walking down 5th Avenue in New York City and noticed that people were already outside in line waiting for the iPhone 6s to come out more than a week before it's release. So I snapped a quick pic, tweeted it out, and kept walking. That was it. 

Then I Friday I saw on a mention on Twitter that the photo I took last week was featured on BGR.com, Boy Genius Report. Thought that was pretty cool. It goes to show the importance of always creating and putting something out there, can pay off even when you don't expect it to. The link to the full BGR.com article is above and a screenshot of the mention in the Boy Genius Report article is below. 

A Brief History Of Time, Before Apple Watch

Unlike other “A Brief History Of Time” stories I promise this one won’t include details of wormholes. I started following the wearables market a few years ago. In 2012 I had gained about 10 pounds due the abundant amount of pizza and chicken wings available in Buffalo, NY. Soon after I realized I needed to make a change. I knew I could simply tell my self to start eating better, but I also knew a physical step in the direction of a healthier lifestyle would increase my chances of shedding those pounds. So I put my money where my mouth was and I bought my first wearable: the Fitbit Tracker.

It was great. I gained access to information I never had before and began to use steps as a metric to gauge my days. I even used the food tracking part of the Fitbit app to monitor approximately how many calories I was consuming in a day. I loved my Fitbit then and I still have it now. I haven’t meet anything that could replace it yet. My phone does now have step data, however it’s just not as complete as the picture Fitbit currently gives me.

Then came the Google glass phase of my life. I had been tied to my smartphone since 2008 and wanted to finally be free. Google glass actually delivered on this front. The developers and designers of glass called this new wave: “Glanceable technology”. Software designed to get the user the information being delivered to them as fast and as efficiently as possible so the user could quickly resume what they were doing. This new wave of technology would force us to redefine all of our known metrics that currently focus on measuring time in app and user engagement. Unfortunately for Glass, Google underestimated how our primal brain uses faces throughout our daily lives and how unsettling putting a device on the face is to those looking at you. The camera on the front of the device didn’t help it’s case either.

Unlike how Google glass tested the wearable market with it’s own early prototype, Apple is about to do what it does best. Apple is best at using the user feedback from early versions of its competitors devices (in this case Android Wear watches, Google Glass, & Samsung Gear) to in its own time release a product that is 10x better than what the current market offers. They did this with the the Mac (RIP P.C.’s), the iPhone (RIP Palm), the iPad (RIP Netbooks), and are doing it again now with the Apple Watch.

I think the form factor of a watch will deliver on the objectives Google Glass promised but couldn’t deliver in its form factor. Google evidently thinks this as well. It recently shut down the glass explorer program and as also ramped up its focus on Android Wear.

What I have wanted most though since owning wearables is feedback. We have been collecting all this data on ourselves for some time now. What do we do with it all? There is an opportunity to now be coached based on the data. This is where I think Apple could deliver where other wearables have fallen short.

Another interesting point is that the Apple Watch will be a new user interface. The first one since iOS. Apple already has a strong developer base and as we all know this is key to launching a new platform successfully. Assuming Apple makes it easy to develop for Watch we could be off the to the races again. Mobile already has established apps in its ecosystem. With the new hardware form factor and a fresh UI, the Apple Watch could re-open the Wild West of tech startups and also force us to find new metrics on how we evaluate a successful app.