technochocolate

the iphone and disruption: five years in [permalink]

John Gruber:

The iPod’s success fooled almost everyone (including me) into thinking that Apple’s entry into the phone market would be similar. The iPod was the world’s best portable media player; the “iPhone”, thus, would likely be the world’s best cell phone.

But that’s not what it was. It was the world’s best portable computer. Best not in the sense of being the most powerful, or the fastest, or the most-efficient to use. The thing couldn’t even do copy-and-paste. It was the best because it was always there, always on, always just a button-push away.

This is the preeminent insight shared by everyone who “gets” the computer industry and how it’s changing. It is exactly what we’ve been trying to articulate over the last five years.