Smartphones Revolution

The smartphone — a handheld computer with telephony — was effectively created by the iPhone (June 29, 2007, Apple). Within 5 years, smartphones had replaced cameras, GPS devices, alarm clocks, calculators, MP3 players, maps, encyclopedias, and countless other devices. Within 10 years, 50% of humanity had one. By 2024, 7 billion smartphones are in use worldwide — more people have a smartphone than have a bank account or access to clean water. Smartphones have created entirely new industries (app economy: $380B/year; gig economy: Uber, Lyft, DoorDash; social media; mobile gaming) and destroyed others (printed maps, telephone directories, point-and-shoot cameras, portable music players, alarm clocks). They have also fundamentally changed human behavior — the average person checks their phone 96 times per day; phantom vibration syndrome (feeling the phone vibrate when it hasn't) is a new psychological phenomenon.