REPLACED BY SMARTPHONES Smartphones have replaced several tools people used in the past There are apps for calculators notebooks maps and cameras People can stream movies without a television and listen to music without a radio Many people like having one device that does all of these things It is easier to carry around and hits send Her phone dings again moments later The girl reads the new text Then she closes her messaging app She checks one social media site then another She opens a game she has been playing and checks her score She scrolls through her recent photos Then she takes a new picture and sends it to her friend Smartphones can do many things They can send messages and connect people They can run games and take pictures But what happens inside smartphones to make all of these things possible Smartphones can be used for alternate reality AR games such as Pokémon Go
WHAT ARE SMARTPHONES Smartphones are mobile telephones But making calls is not all they can do They are small portable computers They have advanced technology They are connected THE FIRST SMARTPHONE The first smartphone was invented in 1992 It was created by IBM and BellSouth It was called Simon Simon had a touch screen keyboard calendar and email These functions sound basic today but they were new and exciting at the time Simon became available for purchase in 1994 It was priced at 1,100 Its battery lasted just an hour It set the stage for later smartphones such as those people use today to the internet People can take them wherever they go Smartphones have hardware and software Hardware includes the parts that make up the device Software consists of the programs that run on the device Together hardware and software make smartphones work
STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE The Apple iPhone was introduced in 2007 Other smartphones at the time had keyboards with buttons Steve Jobs was the cofounder of Apple He believed that the iPhone would change smartphones forever While introducing the iPhone Jobs said Other smartphones have these control buttons that are fixed in plastic and are the same for every application Well every application wants a slightly different user interface a slightly optimized set of buttons just for it What we’re gonna do is get rid of all these buttons and just make a giant screen We’re gonna use our fingers It’s far more accurate than any touch display that’s ever been shipped It ignores unintended touches it’s super-smart You can do multi-finger gestures on it Source Mic Wright The Original iPhone Announcement Annotated Next Web Next Web September 9 2015 Web Accessed June 13 2018 What’s the Big Idea Take a close look at this passage What is the connection being made between the screen on an iPhone and other types of smartphones In what way did the 2007 iPhone change smartphones What evidence does the author present to support this idea
