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.

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. 

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.