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Single major innovation in iPhone was ability to perform reasonably high precision user interaction using grossly imprecise input method, i.e. Human thumbs. My
by sytelus 10y ago
Single major innovation in iPhone was ability to perform reasonably high precision user interaction using grossly imprecise input method, i.e. Human thumbs. My theory is that people in WinMo team didn't used iPhone when it came out because everyone carried WinMo in their pocket. I think most people just didn't believed it was perfectly possible to use touch keyboard with thumbs with reasonable precision. So the reaction to new design was slow. Once Verizon told Microsoft how they were bleeding customers over iPhone, people realized the significance of what had happened. But then there was long battle for how to evolve. Should old WinMo code be modified or do we need new OS or do we combine desktop and mobile OS? This would have been difficult decision in itself because you also need to support vast number of existing WinMo customers. This struggle took years to resolve and by that time ship was sailed. If there was one person in charge who understood what was going to hit the world and gave order to unify entire army behind creating new mobile OS without worrying about compatibility or merge with desktop then we might have had different story. Of course, in hindsight every thing looks crystal clear about what should have been done but if you were sitting in Ballmerd chair with data you had in hand your call could have been the same. On the other hand Android chief realized what was going to hit them and they turned around their execution overnight which was possible because they didn't had legacy OS used by millions or desktop OS diverging from mobile. Anyway, this is just my theory. I have no insider information like the author.
- dboreham 10y agoThe capacitive touch screen is a major factor however I believe it was Steve Jobs ability to break carrier control (in the USA, where the iPhone was initially launched) was critical. I had worked for a while in the telecoms business and noted this at the time. In fact I bought Apple stock on the day the iPhone was announced specifically because it had a visual voicemail feature. This was something we had built years before but could not get it on phones because the carriers liked to charge for the air time to listen to and delete voice mails. He also got AT&T to provide a reasonably cheap data plan. At the time you could either have a cheap plan with services the carrier had complete control over, OR you could have IP connectivity at a much higher price. This isn't something I'm rationalizing after the fact: I saw it happen, opened the Schwab web site, bought stock and made a nice profit. I had no notion of apps or nice browsers or decent touch screens being key at the time. There were no apps on the iPhone initially but they had long existed for WM Nokia BB etc.
- r00fus 10y agoThe data plan was insane. Year before I had a Palm and it cost $45 vs. $20 for the iPhone. Sure it was 2G, but the things you could do were so compelling. Being on the road, starting a download for an app at one stoplight and being able to use it by the time I got to the next stop light... that was an epiphany.
- hackaflocka 10y ago"Windows windows windows windows windows windows windows windows" This was Ballmer's response at a conference when he was asked what Microsoft's response would be to the iPhone. Verbatim.