3 ms·

Fashion. Early iPhones were a sign of wealth. They still are to some extent.

• pmarreck 3y ago
  When Teslas came out in the model S format, they were the “iPhone of cars”, not just because of wealth (which is a piss-poor argument for why something succeeded btw), but because of a fundamental improvement in the essence of the category If “status signaling” was really as significant an influence as you say, then every single original Macintosh would’ve been a huge hit and clearly was not. Every single Powerbook and Macbook as well, since those are more visible and portable. If you want to talk “fashion accessory,” then there are plenty of phones that were expensive as well at the time that did not take off either. The reason why Apple was finally successful, is because Steve Jobs took a calligraphy class for fun instead of an engineering class, and all those things like the Zune were designed by engineers, first and foremost. Holistic thinking is not rational.
• chriswarbo 3y ago
  iPhones were expensive, so iPhones were mostly used by wealthy people. That made it attractive for companies to make iPhone apps: not because of market share, but because it was targeted to those willing to pay. Software developers were happy for the busy-work, and once a company had its own iPhone app they might as well mention it in their marketing. The public saw all this focus on iPhones and concluded that they must be more popular than they actually were (i.e. the only thing more desirable than a status symbol, is a status symbol you think everyone except you already has!). That boosted sales, making it more popular but reducing its correlation to wealth. At that point it was firmly established culturally, technologically, economically, etc. which makes it attractive via the usual market share arguments.