The Wall Street Journal | By: Betsy Morris Updated June 23, 2017 8:56 a.m. ET:
Apple’s iPhone gave rise to whole new industries and laid waste to others. As the device turns 10, we take stock of its impact on everything from cameras to telecoms.
Ten years ago, hailing a cab meant waving one’s arm at passing traffic, consumers routinely purchased cameras, and a phone was something people made calls on.
The iPhone, released a decade ago this month, changed all of that and more, sparking a business transformation as sweeping as the one triggered by the personal computer in the 1980s. Apple Inc.’s AAPL 0.45% gadget, and the smartphone boom that followed, gave rise to whole new industries, laid waste to others and forced new business models.
By essentially compressing a powerful, networked computer into a pocket-size device and making it easy to use, Steve Jobs made the internet almost ubiquitous and fundamentally altered decades-old consumer habits in areas like music and books. What’s more, the functionality packed into the iPhone made it a digital Swiss Army knife, supplanting existing tools from email to calendar to maps to calculators.
“It combined size, power and personalization,” said Paul Nunes, managing director at global consulting and services firm Accenture and author of “Big Bang Disruption,” a book about transformational technologies.
The upheaval triggered by the iPhone, and the launch of Google’s Android operating system for smartphones the following year, led to new innovations like apps that continued to transform industry.
Entrepreneurial coders and upstart businesses could now reach consumers directly, creating new modes of shopping, entertainment, travel and more. App stores today offer an estimated 3.5 million to 3.6 million choices, including games, fitness programs, shopping and dating, according to audience-measurement firm Verto Analytics Inc.
Apps also made it easier for big companies to connect with customers: airlines use them to expedite flight check-ins, banks to handle check deposits, and restaurants to automate ordering.
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