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iPhone celebrates its 10th anniversary with over a billion sold

It's hard to imagine the world without smartphones as today marks the iPhone's 10th anniversary. ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

09.34 29 Jun 2017


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iPhone celebrates its 10th ann...

iPhone celebrates its 10th anniversary with over a billion sold

Newstalk
Newstalk

09.34 29 Jun 2017


Share this article


It's hard to imagine the world without smartphones as today marks the iPhone's 10th anniversary.

Over a billion have been sold making it one of the most successful products in history.

We've seen it get smaller, sleeker, and smarter. Few products can claim to have influenced our lives in quite the same way.

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Chief curator at the Design Museum in London, Justin McGurk, says its cultural significance cannot be underestimated.

"I think the iPhone is one of the most significant pieces of design of the early 21st century.

"The fact that it's often the first thing we pick up in the morning and the last thing we look at night. That we look at it about 80 times a day, it has influenced so many other mobile devices and it revolutionised human behaviour.

"It is absolutely iconic. If you look at all the smartphones on the market today they are all in some form imitations or improvements on the iPhone - it changed phones."

Arguably the product's popularity has waned from the fan-boy adoration that was present in its early years but for most of us the smartphone is now an essential.

British designer Jonathan Ive took away clunky buttons, and replaced them with a series of swipes and pinches we now use to access the world.

For some though, Apple's determination to keep selling us stuff is a source of frustration.

"Because Apple is a hardware company it wants you to buy more Apple hardware," says technology journalist Kate Bevan.

"As well as buying an iPhone you now need an Apple-made headphones adaptor to use your headphones with, that really annoys people."

Steve Jobs made the announcement of the iPhone on June 29th 2007.


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