Over the past decade, the iPhone has changed pretty much everything, from communication and gaming to the way in which we consume news and pay for our groceries. But how has the device impacted the lives of tech titans?
Find out from Eben Upton, creator of Raspberry Pi; Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia; Tony Fadell, founder of Nest and “godfather” of the iPod, and more.
To celebrate the iPhone’s tenth anniversary this week, Wired talked to a bunch of trendsetters and industry leaders about how the handset has changed their world — for better or worse. It’s a fascinating insight into the many ways the device is used around the world.
Upton says Raspberry Pi was shaped by the iPhone, and wouldn’t have been as successful without it.
“The iPhone established beyond doubt that mobile phones needed graphics processing units (GPUs); within a year or two of its launch, mobile phone chips without them (even for low-end handsets) were effectively unsaleable,” he says.
“Without it, I doubt that the mobile phone chip we use in Raspberry Pi would have the powerful GPU that has greatly contributed to its popularity.”
Wales has found the iPhone has impacted his life in a very different way.
“I love Apple products so, of course, I’m using a Mac and an iPad,” he says, but he chose Android when buying a smartphone because of a need for diversity in his ecosystem. “So the main impact on my life has been everyone asking me why the hell I don’t have an iPhone!”
Fadell, the man credited for helping deliver the game-changing iPod, who left Apple days before it introduced the iPad to start up Nest, says the iPhone has changed his life in many ways.
“One, it has made me incredibly productive and has changed the world, from how I shop, how I travel, how I message people and communicate – every single aspect of my life has changed because of it,” he gushes.
“And, even more so, it has changed how my kids are growing up compared to how I grew up and my wife grew up.”
Wired also spoke with Lloyds Banking director Jo Brown, architect Amanda Levete, chef Jamie Oliver, IKEA design head Marcus Engman, and others. We recommend you check out the full story before seeing the rest of our tenth anniversary iPhone coverage here.
