How the iPhone Reinvented Business

From Apps to Music, Apple's iPhone Transformed How We Do Business and How We Communicate

“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything...Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.”

— Steve Jobs, Apple Inc.

On June 29th this year, Apple celebrated the 10th year of the iPhone. In just 10 years, the iPhone has radically altered the world. When Steve Jobs announced the launch of the iPhone at MacWorld in 2007, he called it revolutionary, saying that it would 'reinvent the phone' and would change everything. While there was a lot of hype surrounding its launch, the effect that the iPhone would have on business and communications, was surprisingly underestimated.

Before the iPhone, you had to carry a camera to take photos, use your laptop or desktop computer to write anything longer than a paragraph in an email with ease and call a cab by energetically waving your arms in front of traffic. After the launch of the iPhone, you could do all of that and much more on one single device. The iPhone offered intelligent and personalized options for you.

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At the iPhone product launch in Jan 2007, Steve Jobs explained how revolutionary the new smartphone was.

“This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two and a half years. Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh and changed the computer industry. In 2001, the company introduced the iPod and changed the entire music industry.

Well, today we’re introducing three revolutionary products of this class. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. The third is a breakthrough Internet communications device. But these are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we are calling it iPhone. Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone.”

— Steve Jobs, Apple CEO and co-founder

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A Bonafide Game Changer

The iPhone has turned out to truly be a game-changer for how hundreds of millions of people communicate all over the world. It has opened the door to accelerated learning and swift communication, transforming industries and become the platform from which so many new revolutionary companies (Airbnb, Instagram, Snapchat and Uber to name a few) have launched. It also has laid waste to other industries and demanded that both hardware and software companies deliver at a higher level for the consumer.

Apple's iPhone transformed the way we communicate on a daily basis. It ignited the rise of mobility and smartphone usage, while creating a personalized experience for every iPhone user. This remarkable consumer electronics device has had a massive impact upon mobility, computing, design, entertainment and the tech industry as a whole over the last decade. Let's take a closer look. 

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Original iPhone 2007

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Personalized User Experience

The iPhone revolutionized how we communicate by offering a single device that enabled you to make phone calls, listen to music, search the Internet, check your email, take and send photos and videos, get directions and more - all on one device. Singlehandedly, it eliminated the need for standalone music players, GPS devices, cameras, notepads and carrying your laptop with you. It simplified things that you do on a daily basis in one device in a personalized way, where you could decide what was relevant and what was not.

The iPhone turned your cell phone into so much more than just a way of making phone calls. You had information at your fingertips 24/7 anywhere you were. This prompt access informed your decisions and kept you connected wherever you were. The iPhone's ease of use paved the way for:

• Individual access and empowerment

• Touch interactivity

• Using an on-screen keyboard on the smartphone itself

• Fast adoption of software

• Fast adoption of cloud computing

• Fast adoption of social networking
 

Since the iPhone was easy to use unlike other smartphones available at the time, consumers immediately expected better quality in other products as well. Every smartphone company had to immediately adapt or die. Motorola, Palm and Windows Mobile lost sales immediately and even companies like Blackberry that had thrived on sales of their smartphone devices with tiny QWERTY keyboards to business executives, suffered a significant decline over time.  

While the iPhone and subsequent smartphones did not start social media, they popularized its use, especially apps like What's App, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat and more. By the end of March this year, over 1.94 billion users checked into Facebook at least once a month.

More people spend time on their smartphones too, with as high as 73.8 hours/month per user in June 2016, according to comScore. Heavy mobile usage also has helped spur the growth of tech companies who benefit both from engagement and advertising. In 2007, there was only one tech company in the top five list of most valuable stock market companies. Today, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google) and Facebook dominate earnings. Both Alphabet and Facebook get a lot of advertising revenue from mobile ads, with over 49% of Facebook's revenue in Q1 of 2017 from online advertising, just as the popular social media site reached over two billion users. This has also decimated established and traditional news companies that have not been able to compete as effectively on their own as advertisers switch to mobile ad spending with Alphabet and Facebook.

That activity has been a catalyst for the growing dominance of tech-industry titans. Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Facebook Inc. now get the bulk of their advertising revenue from mobile ads. Together with Apple, Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., they are the five most valuable companies on the stock market today. 

iPhone in Rose Gold 2016

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Ignited Rise of Mobility and Use of Smartphones

Given how cumbersome existing smartphone devices were pre-iPhone, it was easy to understand why consumers failed to adopt them. They were not easy to use nor were they well designed. With the arrival of the iPhone, the stylus and add-on keyboard was eliminated and instead the whole device was touch-sensitive. The world of cell phones was changed forever and consumers now expected thinner phones, better quality screens, touch interaction and multiple functionality.

Businesses adopted iPhone usage rapidly, recognizing that their employees were already using iPhones. The iPhone dramatically changed the way people communicate, learn, play and work. With an iPhone in hand, an employee could work from home or be on site with a client and still have access to company data and be connected. The iPhone popularized the use of apps, web tools and mobility. In many companies, both the owners and CEOs wanted iPhones after seeing their employees using them. Businesses were thus forced to adapt, but quickly benefited from increased information flow and providing data in the field for their employees, using popular apps and web tools from Microsoft Office to Salesforce, IBM and SAP.

Prior to the launch of the iPhone, PC sales averaged 400 million a year. However as the iPhone's popularity spread, other smartphones also were developed and launched to provide information, productivity tools, communication and entertainment options. The PC market has continued to decline over the years, while tablets and smartphone usage has gone upwards. Many PC companies went out of business subsequently and the industry consolidated around major players such as HP, Lenovo, Dell, Acer and Apple. The iPhone's popularity and adoption made it easier to launch the iPad subsequently.

Telecom companies such as AT&T and Verizon also had to adapt, as consumers stepped away from traditional landlines and adopted smartphones. All of these companies now offer both information and entertainment options as well as data services. They have also aligned themselves with smartphone companies to keep consumers engaged. The payphone also has disappeared from most public spaces in the United States as smartphone usage has gone up. In the first year of the launch of the iPhone, wireless service revenue among the top U.S. carriers grew 5.9% in 2008, according to Fidelity Investments.

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Catapulted Use of Apps and Launched a Billion Dollar New App Industry

Just a few days prior to the iPhone becoming available for purchase in July 2007, Steve Jobs announced that the new smartphone would support third-party applications through the Internet. This decision by Apple was tremendous, as it led to the development of a developer-led ecosystem and the birth of the app industry.

Prior to the iPhone, apps were classified as Web 2.0 tools and not in common use. With the launch of the App Store via an update to iTunes in July 2008, Apple introduced a new way to shop for information and entertainment with apps built by third-party developers. The App Store became a billion-dollar enterprise rapidly, supporting the creativity and works of app developers worldwide. Other platforms like Google and Microsoft had to adapt fast and build their own app stores as their consumers now wanted access to the same apps on their smartphone devices.

There were app stores before Apple's own App Store but they were not well designed and installing apps was problematic. With the App Store, you could quickly discover, purchase and install an app. It was easy to also uninstall an app at any time.

Apple insisted on high quality standards for all apps submitted to their App Store, ensuring both the integrity of their own brand as well as any apps coming through it. This in turn, built trust and helped in the rapid growth of the App Store. The App Store split revenue between Apple and developers and offered a new marketplace, building an entire new industry. By January 22, 2011, Apple had over 10 billion app downloads.

Now enterprising developers could reach consumers directly through apps they had designed and developed. Today the App Store has everything from fitness to games, information, shopping, entertainment and dating with a plethora of choices for every category. Bigger companies also benefit by being able to offer personalized service to their customers in a streamlined way. For example, an airline carrier can quickly provide flight check-in and information through their own app while restaurants can offer online ordering and banks are able to provide quick deposits without even going to an ATM.

Changes brought about by the launch of the App Store include:

• transformation of software distribution and usage

• new app economy

• accelerated learning

• launch of apps that revolutionized industries

Spawned Industry-Changing Apps

Apps like Airbnb, Uber, Instagram and Snapchat were built upon the popularity of the iPhone (that in turn, popularized smartphone usage) and revolutionized industries from rentals and real estate to transportation, photo sharing and messaging.

For example, Uber's entire business model is built upon having a smartphone. Both the driver and the passenger need a smartphone to use their app and book a ride.

Increased the Speed of Communication

Fast forward to today, and we have 10-year-old app developers! New generations are growing up in a post-iPhone and app world, where it is a seamless part of their lives. This has accelerated learning by young kids and adults as well. In fact, some third-world countries in Africa have made the leap to smartphone usage without going through the traditional telecommunications infrastructure setup common among more developed nations.

Accelerated the Use of Apps Elsewhere

The iPhone accelerated the use of apps everywhere, from your iPad to now your TV and car. Using a touch interface and on-screen keyboard has become familiar to consumers and this trend is only going up.

Popularized Use of Accelerometers, Orientation Sensors and Gorgeous Graphics

The first iPhone's built in accelerometer offered motion capabilities. Current models include gyroscope and compass as well that help create amazing effects. This has been adopted in many apps and also in gaming.

The gaming industry has also changed dramatically. Pre-iPhone, most games were limited to consoles. While console use is still popular, gaming apps are in high demand with touch-based gameplay. For example, Niantic's augmented reality-angled Pokémon Go alone has been downloaded over 750 million times while Nintendo's super popular Mario franchise had 500 million sales over its lifetime. Super Mario is now available in the App Store.

At the WWDC in June this year, Apple also shared its AR Kit for immersive app experiences.
 

iPhone 7

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Transformed the Music, Film and Video Industries

The iPhone made it easy to listen to music on the same device that you made phone calls from, checked your email, surfed the web and organized your day. It built upon the popularity of the iPod and made it easier to buy a single song instead of a whole album and also get recommendations for other music you might like.

With gorgeous graphics, the iPhone made it easier to watch movies on the go, providing a platform for video delivery. This in turn forced movie and television studios to expand distribution so that anyone could purchase, download and stream movies to their mobile devices. The iPhone also helped existing companies like YouTube (now part of Google), Netflix and Hulu reach more people and become powerhouses themselves.

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Reinvented Map Usage and Camera Access

Prior to the iPhone, Garmin was the de facto favorite for maps. They enjoyed high sales and usage despite a price point of $700 and up in 2005. However, with the arrival of the iPhone, consumers could get directions right on their phone and navigate using this touch-friendly device. Garmin and other GPS providers were forced to branch out into other markets like wearables to survive as sales plummeted. Other smartphones (Android for example) have also developed enhanced mapping capabilities with voiceover options as well.

The iPhone and other smartphones have simultaneously made photo sharing more accessible and relevant, while dramatically altering the camera industry. Eastman Kodak went out of business while even digital cameras sales dropped 80% from 2009 to 2016. Interestingly enough, today photos are not printed as much but mostly posted, shared and tweeted. This in turn, impacted the rise of Snap Inc., the messaging app that had a $20 billion IPO.
 

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Changing Apple Itself

One of the biggest and most transformative changes that the iPhone has had is on Apple itself, that has gone from being known as a computer company to just Apple Inc. While the iPhone remains one of its bestselling products with record profits and 1.3 billion iPhones sold per year, Apple has now built an entire ecosystem of related products and its supporting App store.

The iPhone truly changed the world and may be the world's most influential consumer electronics device ever. It changed the way people interact and even see the world. This year, marking its 10th anniversary, Apple is expected to launch an updated version of its iPhone in September or early fall. We're eager to see what comes next! 

Communicating: Optimism, Originality and Being Articulate

We're all communicating throughout the day. At Elf, we consciously choose to be optimistic and positive in our approach to everything. It's part of our DNA. :)

While we begin our communications work with research and discovery to find the facts and fully understand the market, subject and context, we are fortunate to not be a news agency or other press-related kind of company.  Our work instead is client and consumer-focused, based primarily around products and services. We get to write about things people and businesses can use and ideas that further that progress. We are instinctively positive, future-oriented and solution-focused.

We create and deliver high quality consistently. That takes some time and effort. We're still fast but we get to shape and sculpt what we create to the best of our ability with the time we have.

In addition to content accuracy and presenting the facts, there are 3 essential components we take into consideration when we communicate. They are:
 

1. Optimism

When you communicate, there's an energy that comes across even if you are writing a technical piece. You reveal your writing prowess and appreciation for the written word every time you string some words together. We consciously choose to be optimistic.

Optimism fuels people! It gives life to ideas, teams, projects, businesses and more.

Our optimism is not separate from the world. In fact, we embrace what's happening around us. Change is inevitable and essential to progress.

While we know there's been a lot of turmoil and confusion in the past year pertaining to the uncertainty of the election, we also know that our country has been doing well economically increasingly. We know that opportunities are present despite changing political, business and market conditions.

As Winston Churchill said, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

Optimism takes guts. It requires resilience, practice and a certain determination. It's not a luxury - it is a conscious choice that can fuel an individual, team and company to do great things. Optimism wins.

At the same time, being optimistic does not mean that you fail to accept any difficulty reality you may face. We have found that optimism works collectively through a direct assessment of all realities, the open sharing of information, believing in the best in your people and working together to use your natural momentum to act.

Optimism is also contagious. It's easier to work with people who are willing to hear you out and to believe in you by default. An optimistic leader is more fun to be around but most importantly, can bring people together to be their best.
 

2. Originality

As a creative agency, Elf interacts with creative people, ideas, products and businesses every day! In recent years, we’ve been happy to participate in the acceleration of technology that can benefit people on a daily basis, enhance aesthetics and support creative endeavors.

Art and science are truly beginning to meet. It's a very exciting time to be a creative person.

Being original drives creative people - the ability to create and imagine something new. It is also how you contribute in any truly meaningful way to progress any idea, product or solution. You have to look at it anew.

Being original means you start with a fresh, clear slate. We believe this approach enables us to take on bigger challenges and instead of just retrofitting or working with outmoded technologies, we can approach problems with a direct, solution-oriented approach with original concepts and technologies. This approach that we use in our design, carries over into our communications.

We always push our clients to look for more than what's just on the surface and to clearly articulate genuine value to their customers. We always learn from our clients. Sometimes, through our work together, we spur our clients on to create new products and services!
 

3. Being Articulate

After you have done your due diligence, fact finding and research to find what's of real value and offered this original value in a positive context, then you can get to the last part of the puzzle - being articulate.

Is it succinct? Is it clear? Does it convey a well defined message?

Did they learn anything? Did it engage them? Did it lift them up in any way? Did it make them eager to learn more and to grow and engage in some way?

These are some questions we think about. We also think about conveying the facts as honestly and clearly as possible. Being articulate and positive makes a difference. We strive for a balance between a simple, direct explanation of facts to a positive presentation of that material as best as possible.

This last part - being articulate - is something we think about throughout the creation of any piece, whether it is written, visual or multifaceted. Communicating concisely and clearly takes effort. There's a lot of editing involved with the end goal of communicating clearly in the fewest words possible.

Finally, we think about what we leave our audience with - the facts we've presented, the story we've told and the energy we've conveyed.

What's the feeling you leave your audience with?

We hope sharing this helps you understand our approach better and also in your own communication and expression.

There's a lot of opportunity today and a lot to be happy about and thankful for. We believe in the future and in our agency, our clients and our ability to do great work together. Thanks for reading!

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