> But none of that functionality is as important and effective as phone calls.
Wait, what? Making phone calls is almost always the least efficient last resort.
> And almost all of that is based on the foundation of The Internet.
Absolutely, but the Internet is dramatically more useful when it's always on, and always with you, and tied into sensors that help decide what you need.
BlackBerry gave us smart pagers. Microsoft gave us a microscopic desktop with all the charm and utility that implies. Neither were successful with the mass market because neither were particularly relevant to consumers.
The problem with saying iPhone was a few years ahead of its time is that iPhone defined the future. Without it we might still be divided between 10-20% of the user base with stylii and physical keyboards and WAP web browsers and the rest of us with feature phones.
"Wait, what? Making phone calls is almost always the least efficient last resort."
Right. The nuances of a voice conversation is less efficient than what? A text message with some emoji? A Facebook poke? Tagging someone? If you're going to tell me that all these apps are the communication method of choice...
"The problem with saying iPhone was a few years ahead of its time is that iPhone defined the future. Without it we might still be divided between 10-20% of the user base with stylii and physical keyboards and WAP web browsers and the rest of us with feature phones."
Eh, my phone had a HTML web browser before the iPhone was a twinkle in the eye.
>If you're going to tell me that all these apps are the communication method of choice...
I can't remember the last time I used my phone to actually make a call. In fact, in 2012 making a call was only the fifth most-used feature of the average smartphone, following after internet, social media, music, and games. I'm guessing that in 2016, with the plethora of messaging apps and the huge push by Facebook and others to drive adoption of those apps, making calls is even less of a priority for people.
Stand at a platform at a train station and look at the crowd. Everyone who is not looking down is currently talking to a person, either on their phone, or there at the station. Everyone else is looking down, fiddling with their phones. Before the smartphone, the only people who did this was the rare book-reader.
The smartphone would have come to us eventually, but the iphone hastened it's arrival by more than a few years.
For me at least, the other functionality is more important than phone calls. After all, I'd never pay $1k or even close for a device that can just make phone calls, but I would pay that much for a device that can do everything else a modern smartphone can do.
But none of that functionality is as important and effective as phone calls. And almost all of that is based on the foundation of The Internet.