10 years of the iPhone, the essential gadget

Why the iPhone is the true personal computer.

January 9th marks 10 years since Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone.

The best way to put the impact of the iPhone into perspective is simple: What did you do today?

• Woke up to my iPhone’s alarm blaring. Immediately checked my email and NFL scores to see what I’d missed overnight.
• Put on some music and played Pokémon GO while walking to the subway.
• On the train, worked on a script for the show later that night.
• Paid for a snack with Apple Pay.
• Shot a whole segment of my show with the iPhone.
• Advertised said segment to THE PLANET (or the few brave souls who follow me) on Twitter.
• Called in a dinner order to a new place; brought up a map to help me figure out how to get there.

Most of these things are obvious, and fairly mundane. Many of them were possible before the iPhone, albeit on a variety of devices.

But… that none of these things are special anymore is precisely what makes the smartphone so special.

All of these tasks are now performed by one device, a device that’s always in my pocket, and a device that can do so much more.

I didn’t watch TV on there… but I could have. Nor did I read a book. Or call a cab. Or switch on my lights. Or pay my bills. Or one of the many, many other tasks that we all do every day with our smartphones without even thinking about it.

The smartphone is woven so deeply into our life that it truly is a “personal computer”, far more than the PC ever could be.

I cannot imagine living a modern life without one. That is the true legacy of the iPhone.