Former Apple designer Sir Jony Ive has said he feels “responsible” for the “not so positive consequences” of the iPhone.
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Windows Mobile was already commercially available in phones when the iPhone came out. Android was well on its way.
Both changed in response to the iPhone, but I think evolution would have led to a similar place without it. Trends like the loss of physical keyboards were driven by improvements to capacitive touchscreens.
I think evolution would have led to a similar place without it.
I highly doubt it.
Nobody was taking that risk anymore. Every tech company that tried to reinvent the cell phone failed miserably, over and over and over. Every attempt was more pathetic and embarrassing than the last. Tablets were the same way, it became a running joke. Nobody wanted a newton, a Palm pilot, they were ridiculous.
Apple defined the form factor and the interface for the smartphone, and frankly, it was revolutionary, it was not a small jump.
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I mean, a smartphone is a computer that people can afford and anyone can figure out how to use. Computers are definitely tools of empowerment and liberty. As a computer it's a general purpose information tool, you can do nearly anything with it. For instance, you could look up information, communicate with people, take a class, design a website, run a business, do your taxes, keep a journal, borrow books, apply for a job, play games, sign forms, watch movies, read the news, write a book, check the weather, and literally thousands of other things. You might even say, whatever you want to do, there's an app for that.
I don't think calling smartphones a tool for empowerment and liberty isn't really a stretch at all. Some people may not be old enough to remember when nobody had one, if that's the case, then trust me, it was a different society then.
I am old enough to remember not have mobile phones (not even smartphones) or even having a desktop PC that wasn't connected to the internet (although we did get dialup about 6 months after buying the PC, parents thought might as well do that).
I don't deny the utility of a smartphone or PCs for that matter. My issue is with framing a techology device as a sort of metaphysical source of "liberty" and "empowerment". Any tool can be used for bad or for good, it's all up to us. There are pro/cons to digital hardware and services.
It's like with industrialization, it clearly led to empowerment of wider society. Collapse of regressive feudal models, increased education among "commoners", rise of democracy and so on. But all of this didn't happen in a vacuum. It required global revolutionary movement that scared the oligarchs of the time into giving consessions to commoners (because at high level they realized things could have worked out really bad for them).
Then there is the propaganda line, an almost communist-like veneration around Ivey (even though in the global context it is most definitely not iOS devices that are having most impact) and some bullshit about Ivey caring.
"I care and shit about you plebs ... ugh ... yeah, the negative effects bother me ... Not sure how something I was involved in can have negatives, but yeah I really care! See I am even saying I care on this random BBC musical program! That's how much I care!"
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I am old enough to remember not have mobile phones (not even smartphones) or even having a desktop PC that wasn't connected to the internet (although we did get dialup about 6 months after buying the PC, parents thought might as well do that).
I don't deny the utility of a smartphone or PCs for that matter. My issue is with framing a techology device as a sort of metaphysical source of "liberty" and "empowerment". Any tool can be used for bad or for good, it's all up to us. There are pro/cons to digital hardware and services.
It's like with industrialization, it clearly led to empowerment of wider society. Collapse of regressive feudal models, increased education among "commoners", rise of democracy and so on. But all of this didn't happen in a vacuum. It required global revolutionary movement that scared the oligarchs of the time into giving consessions to commoners (because at high level they realized things could have worked out really bad for them).
Then there is the propaganda line, an almost communist-like veneration around Ivey (even though in the global context it is most definitely not iOS devices that are having most impact) and some bullshit about Ivey caring.
"I care and shit about you plebs ... ugh ... yeah, the negative effects bother me ... Not sure how something I was involved in can have negatives, but yeah I really care! See I am even saying I care on this random BBC musical program! That's how much I care!"
I don't deny the utility of a smartphone or PCs for that matter. My issue is with framing a techology device as a sort of metaphysical source of "liberty" and "empowerment". Any tool can be used for bad or for good, it's all up to us. There are pro/cons to digital hardware and services.
Hmm, that's kinda interesting. I mean, I wonder what your definition of personal empowerment is? Like, to me if a tool isn't the perfect example of empowerment, then I didn't know what is. Like, on a desert island, once you have a blade, you can start to build yourself a shelter, etc. The blade can certainly be used for ill pursuits, but isn't it still empowering? Hell, isn't giving you the option of using it for evil also empowering? (Albeit empowering you to commit evil)
But I do see what you mean, the smartphone is a double edged sword. It's easy to see all the ways that it did not change society for the better.
Also, I like your analogy to industrialization, spot on.
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Iphone is like a big brother from 1984. A tool to collect all possible data for corporations and governments and create each users profile. Then sell stuff and propaganda at the convenience of your palm. Only better option would be a brain implant which would directly influence and read your thoughts
This is just smartphones in general, nothing to do with iPhones
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Jony Ive will be on BBC Radio 4's 'Desert Island Discs' today, Sunday 23 February 2025. Press reports quote him saying that he feels responsible for the 'not so positive consequences' of the iPhone, but that he is still proud of his work.
Speaking to Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Sir Jony said: “I celebrate and am encouraged by the very positive contribution (of the iPhone), the empowerment, the liberty that is provided to so many people in so many ways.
“Just because the not so positive consequences, I mean they weren’t intended, but that doesn’t matter relative to how I feel responsible, and that weighs, and is a contributor to decisions that I have made since, and decisions that I’m making in the future.”
Listen on the BBC Sounds web page or app from 10.00 London time, and the programme will be archived there to listen again for the next 28 days.
Apart from hearing what he has to say about his work and about technology, it will also be interesting to hear which selection of records he would chose to have if he were marooned on a desert island.
Were there any comments on lack of repairability or the obtuse insistence on removing physical keys?
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I think evolution would have led to a similar place without it.
I highly doubt it.
Nobody was taking that risk anymore. Every tech company that tried to reinvent the cell phone failed miserably, over and over and over. Every attempt was more pathetic and embarrassing than the last. Tablets were the same way, it became a running joke. Nobody wanted a newton, a Palm pilot, they were ridiculous.
Apple defined the form factor and the interface for the smartphone, and frankly, it was revolutionary, it was not a small jump.
BlackBerry and Palm were incredibly popular before the iPhone, though mostly for business customers because data was expensive. As such, things like email were more important than things like YouTube, hence the keyboard.
iPhone ate their lunch because it was more fashionable and better as a consumer device, and business customers also like fads. Apps were built to fix the issues for business customers, and here we are.
I think we would've gotten to this point eventually, though maybe a little slower, because a larger screen for consumers makes a ton of sense.
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Were there any comments on lack of repairability or the obtuse insistence on removing physical keys?
Unfortunately not (although it's not really surprising).
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Jony Ive will be on BBC Radio 4's 'Desert Island Discs' today, Sunday 23 February 2025. Press reports quote him saying that he feels responsible for the 'not so positive consequences' of the iPhone, but that he is still proud of his work.
Speaking to Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Sir Jony said: “I celebrate and am encouraged by the very positive contribution (of the iPhone), the empowerment, the liberty that is provided to so many people in so many ways.
“Just because the not so positive consequences, I mean they weren’t intended, but that doesn’t matter relative to how I feel responsible, and that weighs, and is a contributor to decisions that I have made since, and decisions that I’m making in the future.”
Listen on the BBC Sounds web page or app from 10.00 London time, and the programme will be archived there to listen again for the next 28 days.
Apart from hearing what he has to say about his work and about technology, it will also be interesting to hear which selection of records he would chose to have if he were marooned on a desert island.
I blame him for MacBook unibody design that made whole generations of mbooks gone way too soon because of heat stress. But shiny metal pretty!
I blame him for the whole butterly keyboard fiasco that made me stop using MBooks.
I don't blame him for smartphones because I don't think he invented those.
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I think evolution would have led to a similar place without it.
I highly doubt it.
Nobody was taking that risk anymore. Every tech company that tried to reinvent the cell phone failed miserably, over and over and over. Every attempt was more pathetic and embarrassing than the last. Tablets were the same way, it became a running joke. Nobody wanted a newton, a Palm pilot, they were ridiculous.
Apple defined the form factor and the interface for the smartphone, and frankly, it was revolutionary, it was not a small jump.
The multitouch-only UI was the big thing that made the iPhone stand out from Blackberry and Windows Mobile. Palm was already on the decline. Android was intended to lean heavily on physical controls at the time, but was well on the way to release.
Several companies were already working on multitouch UIs, including Microsoft, Samsung, Mitsubishi, and startups like JazzMutant and Fingerworks; Apple bought Fingerworks. If Apple hadn't, Microsoft probably would have been the first to add it to a phone OS, perhaps with Samsung as a hardware partner.
Other factors that contributed to the smartphone as we know it today include good enough cameras, 3G (enough bandwidth for the web), 4G (enough bandwidth for video), and falling prices on all of it.
A multitouch phone with native third-party apps, a decent browser, good camera, and fast networking was absolutely on the horizon by 2007. The iPhone certainly accelerated things, but there's a reason Apple rushed to demo barely functional prototypes and released it without 3G.
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Those apps have gotten hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in India and China who are doing e-commerce and opening small businesses from their phones. That’s food on the table for the working class. They can earn money while looking after their children because they’re not chained to a desktop computer for internet access.
I'm not sure if you've seen it or it's a picture similar to what OLPC founder would describe to investors.
People in remote areas can know instantly about natural disasters and the news, educating them and making them active citizens in a democracy.
Now we learn that Apple invented radio.
People across the world can chat with each other for nearly free using messaging and social media apps, and won’t have to send letters or pay extra fees for long-distance calls. The iPhone got more people onto what formerly only Blackberry-owning business executive had.
Apple also did not invent the Internet, or instant messaging, or social media, or ability to use them on a portable device. And I wonder how old you are, ignoring all PDAs other than Apple and Blackberry in that time.
It’s such a first world thing to belittle the impact of smartphone (an industry which the iPhone shaped tremendously), when it has so much tangible impact, especially to working people.
This really reads like, I repeat, what OLPC founder would tell to investors. A first world thing.
Mans giving them a lot of credit lmao
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