📱iPhone: The Device Steve Jobs Didn’t Want to Build | 25

Summary

The Best Idea Yet: Episode 25 - 📱iPhone: The Device Steve Jobs Didn’t Want to Build

Release Date: April 1, 2025

Hosts: Nick Martell and Jack Pervici Kramer

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Introduction: The iPhone's Monumental Impact

The episode opens by highlighting the iPhone as "the most important invention of the 21st century and the most profitable product of all time" (01:11). Apple’s sale of over 2.3 billion iPhones and its pivotal role in transforming Apple into the world’s most valuable company underscores its significance. The hosts emphasize how the iPhone amalgamates multiple devices—computer, camera, GPS, music player, and game console—into one sleek device, revolutionizing daily life and spawning an entire app economy.

Origins of the iPhone: Tony Fadell's Vision

Tony Fadell, dubbed the “podfather,” is introduced as the visionary behind the iPhone. From his early fascination with Apple and technology, Tony’s journey begins in the late 1970s. By 1991, with the advent of the Internet, Tony recognizes the potential of digital music and the limitations of existing MP3 players like Napster (09:04). Frustrated by the illegal and unreliable nature of music downloads, Tony conceives the idea of a unified digital music player coupled with a legitimate online music store—a precursor to the iPod.

Project Purple: The Birth of the iPhone

Initially, Steve Jobs vehemently opposed Apple entering the phone market, considering smartphones a niche for "stuffy business execs" (14:22). However, as mobile phones began incorporating more features, Tony foresaw the decline of the iPod and pushed for Apple to develop its own smartphone. Despite Jobs’ resistance, a turning point occurs in 2005 when Apple’s leadership, including VP Michael Bell, persuades Jobs to greenlight the project. This initiative, code-named "Project Purple," mirrors the secrecy and ambition of the Manhattan Project (17:32).

Innovations in Design: Multitouch and Jony Ive's Genius

Jony Ive, Apple’s renowned designer, introduces a breakthrough with the multitouch interface developed by the nre (Explore New Rich Interactions) team (23:55). This capacitive touchscreen technology allows for intuitive gestures like pinching and swiping, eliminating the need for physical buttons. Ive's prototype, although crude, captivates Steve Jobs, leading to the integration of multitouch into the iPhone design and marking the end of the beloved iPod click wheel (22:39).

Launch Challenges: High Stakes and Tight Deadlines

As Apple prepares to unveil the iPhone in January 2007, the development team faces immense pressure. Tony Fadell grapples with integrating phone functionalities into the iPod framework, leading to immense stress and strained relationships within Project Purple (20:14). The team battles technical hurdles, such as developing a scratch-resistant glass screen and optimizing the capacitive touchscreen for mobile use. Despite setbacks, including incomplete features like video recording and GPS, the team meets the ambitious launch deadline (27:49).

The Grand Unveiling: Steve Jobs' Masterclass in Story Selling

Steve Jobs’ keynote at the Moscone Center is portrayed as a masterclass in "story selling," where he not only presents the iPhone but demonstrates its transformative capabilities (30:32). The seamless integration of hardware and software, highlighted by the multitouch interface and intuitive user interactions, captivates the audience. Jobs' ability to create an emotional connection with the product ensures overwhelming pre-orders and sets the stage for the iPhone's success (40:07).

App Store: Overcoming Resistance for Unprecedented Growth

Initially, Steve Jobs resisted the creation of an App Store, fearing it would dilute the iPhone's integrity and open the floodgates to low-quality apps (35:38). However, faced with the rise of competitors like Google's Android and the evident demand from users and developers, Apple launches the App Store on July 10, 2008 (37:10). This strategic pivot not only addresses user frustration due to the lack of apps but also establishes a new revenue stream for Apple through a 30% cut of app sales, despite ensuing legal challenges (e.g., Spotify lawsuits) (37:40).

Aftermath and Legacy: Shaping the Future of Technology

The App Store's launch catapults the iPhone into a platform for endless innovation, leading to subsequent iPhone generations that introduce GPS, improved cameras, front-facing cameras for FaceTime and selfies, and virtual assistants like Siri (38:29). The episode underscores the iPhone’s role in diminishing competitors like BlackBerry and setting Apple ahead of the mobile technology curve. It also touches on the personal trajectories of key players post-iPhone launch, such as Jony Ive’s founding of LoveFrom and Tony Fadell’s creation of Nest Labs (39:18).

Business Insights: Story Selling and Innovation

The hosts extract key lessons from the iPhone's history:

• Story Selling: Emphasizing storytelling over mere product description, as exemplified by Steve Jobs’ presentations, which made consumers feel part of a technological revolution (40:44).
• Letting Go of the Familiar: Steve Jobs’ decision to abandon the iPod click wheel for the iPhone’s multitouch interface illustrates the necessity of prioritizing progress over sentimental attachment to existing features (40:07).

Best Facts Yet

1. iPhone Screen Time: iPhone screens in ads often display the time as 9:41 AM, referencing the exact moment Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone on January 9, 2007.
2. Sausage Styluses: A quirky fact reveals that a snack sausage company experienced a sales spike as consumers used sausages as improvised styluses for their iPhones in cold weather.
3. iPhone Resilience: An iPhone survived a fall of 16,000 feet when an Alaska Airlines flight door blew off shortly after takeoff, yet the device remained functional upon discovery.

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Conclusion

The episode meticulously chronicles the iPhone's journey from a resisted idea within Apple to a revolutionary device that reshaped technology and society. Through interviews, behind-the-scenes narratives, and insightful commentary, Nick Martell and Jack Pervici Kramer unravel the complexities of innovation, leadership, and strategic decision-making that culminated in the iPhone's success. The story serves as both an inspiring tale of perseverance and a case study in effective business strategies like story selling and embracing transformative ideas.

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Timestamp Reference

• 01:11: Introduction of the iPhone’s significance.
• 09:04: Tony Fadell’s discovery of digital music.
• 14:22: Steve Jobs’ initial resistance to smartphones.
• 17:32: Formation of Project Purple.
• 22:39: Jony Ive’s multitouch prototype.
• 23:55: Explanation of multitouch technology.
• 27:49: Project Purple's challenges and deadlines.
• 30:32: Steve Jobs’ keynote presentation.
• 35:38: Steve Jobs’ opposition to the App Store.
• 37:10: Launch of the App Store.
• 37:40: Impact and controversy of the App Store.
• 38:29: Evolution of the iPhone post-App Store.
• 39:18: Legacy of key team members.
• 40:07: Business insights on story selling and innovation.
• 40:44: Importance of storytelling in business success.

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For more untold stories behind your favorite products and the bold risk-takers who made them go viral, follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

[Nick Martell]

Wondery subscribers can listen to the best idea yet, early and ad free right now.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Nick Martell]

Wondery. Honestly, I didn't know how hard we had it, Jack.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Back in the day without technology.

[Nick Martell]

I mean, back in the day, I'm talking like 2007, but yeah, yeah, back in the day, Jack, if you wanted to know what movie he was playing, you had to call Mr. Moviefone on the phone from your parents place at.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

7:00 you can watch Death Blow.

[Nick Martell]

But then it was even worse. If you were abroad, how would you connect to technology tech?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Nick When I visited Prague to see my buddy there, I didn't have his address. So I had to find an Internet cafe, cough up a couple kroner, log into my email and find the address, and then find a map to locate where that is in the city.

[Nick Martell]

Basically an entire brick and mortar industry that was based on the idea that you needed to access email. Jack and I are talking about the gadget that changed all of that though. The one that kicked off the smartphone revolution and that made apps a thing. Because before this product, apps were just something you ordered at a restaurant.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

This is the most important invention of the 21st century and the most profitable product of all time. And we are calling it iPhone.

[Nick Martell]

Apple has sold over 2.3 billion iPhones, and over 1.5 billion people use one every single day. That is nearly a fifth of humanity.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

After its launch in 2007, the iPhone turned Apple into the most valuable company in the world. And the iPhone is Apple's very own perfectly formed profit puppy.

[Nick Martell]

Still today, Apple sells around $200 billion worth of iPhones every year. It is the best selling phone ever.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

But it's also the biggest selling computer, camera, GPS system, music player and game console of all time too. IPhone is one of the rare Frankenstein creations to successfully merge multip products into one. And it put them all in the palm of your hand.

[Nick Martell]

It freed us from clunky keyboards and it ushered in the pinch and swipe revolution.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

It created an entirely new economy. The App Store.

[Nick Martell]

So without the iPhone or the App Store, there might not be any Instagram or Tinder or TikTok.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

And all those apps helped the iPhone change your life. From boring daily tasks like cashing checks and hailing a ride to more exciting stuff like Facetiming your grandpa in India or recording this entire podcast. The iPhone is the platform that led to all of it. But this story doesn't start where you'd expect. Steve Jobs, the guy often Credited being the godfather of the iPhone, he actually hated the idea of Apple making a phone.

[Nick Martell]

That's right, the tech visionary who saw the future before anyone else thought that smartphones would never take off.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

This is a story about why you need to take a live and let die approach to your ideas. And the stars of the story are a secret team named Project Purple Plus.

[Nick Martell]

We'll tell you why. In business, the one thing more important than storytelling is story selling.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Here's why. The iPhone is the best idea yet.

[Nick Martell]

From Wondery and T Boy. I'm Nick Martell.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

And I'm Jack Pervici Kramer.

[Nick Martell]

And this is the best idea yet. The untold origin stories of the products.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

You'Re obsessed with and the bold risk takers who made them go viral.

[Nick Martell]

I got that feeling again.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Something familiar but new. We got it coming to you. I got that feeling. They changed the game in one move.

[Nick Martell]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail].

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3.

[Nick Martell]

Month plan equivalent to $15 per month.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra.

[Nick Martell]

See full [e-mail].

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

You'Re coming out of Tower Records in downtown San Francisco clutching a plastic bag with your new haul of CDs.

[Nick Martell]

Yeah, Jack, I was trying to build up a Credence Clearwater collection because John Fogarty's voice gets me every time.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

For me, it was Chumbawamba. I was pissing the night away at this stage of my life. As we all were. As we all were. Well, your Sony Discman, That's a portable.

[Nick Martell]

CD player for everyone born after Y2K.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Is hungry, so you're gonna feed it. But first, you want to find an Internet cafe where you can update your GeoCities profile on a grimy beige public computer. And you'll also want to see how your AOL stock is doing. Is this bull market ever going to end?

[Nick Martell]

I don't know, man, but I need a dial tone before you hit me up on that aim.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

You reach for your PalmPilot PDA to update your to do list. But before you can find your stylus and start jabbing at the black and white display, your fanny PACK vibrates I.

[Nick Martell]

Don'T know whose screen name this is.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Uncle Leo.

[Nick Martell]

So you extend the antenna and you answer the call, but the reception is so bad you can't make out what the caller's even saying before the call drops.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

This is the reality of being a digital nomad in the late 1990s. Tech feels like it's trying to be the future, but it's all still heavy, awkward, just a bit too much.

[Nick Martell]

Oh yeah, being cutting edge, it is tough when you gotta haul around 20 pounds of equipment and chargers. But as you are fumbling around with all those gadgets in that fanny pack, there is someone watching you from across the street. He's an intense looking guy. He's got ice blue eyes, cropped bleached hair, and he's just shy of 30 years old. He's watching you struggle with all that cumbersome tech and he's inspired.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

That guy's name is Tony Fidel. And someday he'll be known as the pod father.

[Nick Martell]

Tony is a few years away from inventing the ipod, the revolutionary digital music player that saved Apple from near bankruptcy. And he'll end up playing a huge part in creating the iPhone. We'll get to that in a bit.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Tony's been a total Apple fanboy since he was a kid in the late.

[Nick Martell]

1970S when most preteen boys bedrooms were plastered with Julius Irving or AC DC posters. Tony, he's got Steve Wozniak quotes and pictures of circuit boards up on his walls.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Tony wants in on the new world of computers. So in 1981, 12 year old Tony gets a summer job as a golf caddy. And he earns enough money to buy an Apple 2, the computer that put.

[Nick Martell]

Apple on the map. Before it, computers were a business product. They were the things, the science Labs and Fortune 500 firms. But the Apple II that was the first true consumer computer, it was something people wanted to show off in their homes next to their hi Fi stereos and their colored TVs.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

It's boxy and it's beige, except for the rainbow colored Apple logo.

[Nick Martell]

But by 1980 standards, this is how the future looks. And it looks pretty good.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

So Tony stays up night after night writing code line by line.

[Nick Martell]

Sounds brutal.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

It's a passion for Tony, and it carries him through college where he earns a bachelor's degree in computer engineering. And by the time he graduates in 1991, there's this new thing that's getting tech nerds like Tony all hot and bothered. It's called the Internet.

[Nick Martell]

Well, at this Point, only a few people are using the Internet. There's no such thing as like a web browser. This is all text based. The only people online are academics, government workers, and bedroom hackers like Tony.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Then Tony spots something in one of his computer magazines that makes him do a double take. A bunch of the geniuses who built the Apple II have left Apple and started their own company. They're calling it Apple General Magic. Their mission, to create a new kind of computer. One you can hold in your hand. These General Magic people actually tried building a mobile device while they were still at Apple. But they couldn't get the project greenlit. Times were tough back then. Steve Jobs had been booted by the board in 1985, and he doesn't come back to Apple until 1997. So in 1990, son Steve, Apple is struggling.

[Nick Martell]

So when Tony Fadell moves to Silicon Valley, he bleaches his hair to look as cyberpunk as possible. And he lands a job with General Magic. And at first he is awestruck.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

But soon Tony realizes that all these creative geniuses strolling around the office are full of ideas, but totally lacking focus. There's no one at the top setting a clear vision, so they're spending plenty of time experimenting, but not enough time implementing. So when General Magic flames out, Tony jumps ship to Philips.

[Nick Martell]

Which is exactly when Tony discovers a new phenomenon. Digital music. Specifically MP3s.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Now, for anyone who doesn't remember yelling at their sister to get off the phone so I can download some Dr. Dre. In the last years of the 20th century, the Internet was slow and confusing and most households only had one connection. Even so, everyone wanted a piece of it.

[Nick Martell]

Those speeds, they were just way too slow for Jack to download anything before someone needed to use the phone line. But three minute MP3 music files, they would only take a few minutes to download.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

So people started sharing music online and downloading it onto their computers, most famously through a website called Napster.

[Nick Martell]

Napster. I remember getting an MP3 player, downloading an entire Credence album and listen to it on the subway on the way to school.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Was the music industry happy that you were freely downloading CCR's discography without any compensation to the artist?

[Nick Martell]

Nope.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

But Tony, he's on board with these MP3 players. They're way more convenient than lugging around those 208 sleeve binders of CDs that were always falling apart. But there's something that bothers Tony about the whole thing. Because finding and downloading these music files isn't only illegal. The websites are also sketchy.

[Nick Martell]

You never know if you're getting the live version of Freebird with the 14 minute guitar solo or without it.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

So Tony gets an idea. How about a unified digital music player and online music store where you can purchase music legally?

[Nick Martell]

And then Tony takes that idea further. He actually starts shopping that idea around to investors. But when it comes to starting a company, the critical variable no one thinks about is timing. And this happens to be the year 2000 aka.com bubble. Yeah, that just burst.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

So he pitches to 80 venture capitalists and gets 80 rejections because VCs just lost a ton of money with the dot com bubble, they're pretty much closed for business.

[Nick Martell]

But it turns out that Tony is not the only one thinking about a better way to do a digital music business. And pretty soon, a certain childhood hero of his gets wind of Tony's idea. Steve Jobs has been back in charge at Apple for three years. And since returning to the company that he co founded and then was fired from, he's pulled the company out of its death spiral with a banger of a new product. It's the imac.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Whoa. These translucent candy colored, bulbous desktop computers are the opposite of the beige boxes that IBM, Dell and every other computer makers crank it out.

[Nick Martell]

I actually got a lime green one because I just loved key lime pie.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Well, pretty soon imac starts sprouting up in design studios, ad agencies, and pretty much any office that encourages cars, cargo pants and midday meditation sessions. Computer labs across America start looking like a bag of skittles exploded. Apple's making products that don't look like functional appliances. They look like fashionable furniture. And that opens up a whole new market and customer for computers.

[Nick Martell]

Apple is back, baby. It's 1998, the year the imac came out. And Apple stock more than triples that year.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

But some context. Although the imac was the hipster's choice for computer, by the early 2000s, Apple still only has 3% market share of computers.

[Nick Martell]

So Steve's looking at these numbers and he's like, you know what? We gotta find a way to diversify. Like Tony, Steve also happens to be interested in digital music.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

So when Steve gets wind of Tony's idea for the granddaddy of MP3 players, coupled with a legit digital music marketplace, Steve makes Tony's boyhood dreams come true. And beams him aboard the Apple mothership to head up this new project. And less than a year later, in the year 2001, Apple releases the ipod.

[Nick Martell]

Ipod. A thousand songs in your pocket.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

It is sleek.

[Nick Martell]

It is Easy to use. It is innovative. Jack. Remember the click wheel?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

I felt like a DJ turning that day.

[Nick Martell]

Well, shortly after that comes the itunes store. Finally, an easy, legal way to get your music on your ipod.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

The year the ipod launches, Apple's revenue was just under $4 billion. Five years later, it hits 20 billion.

[Nick Martell]

And the iPod it controls a whopping 3/4 of the entire MP3 player market. And it drove a 5x surge in Apple's total sales.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

The ipod success didn't just shake up the music industry. It reignited Steve Jobs status as a visionary.

[Nick Martell]

He was back, back, baby.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

And inside the company. It also made this new guy, Tony Fadell, the golden child of Apple.

[Nick Martell]

But Tony, he isn't celebrating for too long. Because Tony notices something that makes his bleached blond loc on end. Mobile phones are getting smarter. They're even being marketed with a new term, smartphones. And you can do more with these new smartphones than just make calls, send text messages, and break your high score on Snake.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

These smartphones included the Motorola Q, the Samsung Blackjack, and the BlackBerry. The interfaces aren't great, and even if they support music files, it's still a hassle getting the music onto these phones.

[Nick Martell]

But Tony is looking three steps ahead. He sees the writing on the wall. Eventually, these ph are going to be as good as ipods at playing music files. And when that happens, no one's going to need a phone and an ipod. Tony knows the smartphone will eventually kill the ipod. Apple needs to make a phone because the ipod's days are numbered.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

There's just one major problem. Steve Jobs hates the idea of Apple making a phone. In fact, he thinks smartphones are a niche market only for stuffy business execs.

[Nick Martell]

When Steve wants to yell at you, he picks up an old school landline and he does it the old fashioned way.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Or he just screams across the office to make a public demonstration of fear.

[Nick Martell]

So when Tony tells Steve they've got to make a phone before the ipod gets overtaken, Steve just leans back, gives Tony a death stare with those piercing sharp eyebrows, and says something like, apple.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Is not a phone company.

[Nick Martell]

Steve and his turtleneck are not budget. Apple will not make a phone. Steve doesn't care what Tony's saying. He's got his earbuds in and the ipod volume cranked up to 11. He's bobbing his head to his own beat.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Actually, probably to Yellow Submarine.

[Nick Martell]

Meanwhile, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, BlackBerry, they are closing in. And they are packing music into their phones, threatening to make the ipod and Apple obsolete.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Everyone has that friend who seems kind of perfect for Paddy? That friend was Desiree. Until one day I texted her and.

[Nick Martell]

She was not getting the text. So I went to Instagram. She has no Instagram anymore. And Facebook.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

No Facebook anymore. Desiree was gone. And there was one person who knew the answer.

[Nick Martell]

I am a spiritual person, a magical person, a witch.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

A gorgeous Brazilian influencer called Kat Torres, but who was hiding a secret from Wondery. Based on my smash hit podcast from Brazil comes a new series, Don't Cross Cat, about a search that led me to a mystery in a Texas suburb. I'm calling to check on the two missing Brazilian girls, maybe get some undercover crew there. The family are freaking out. They are lost. I'm Chico Felitti. You can listen to Don't Cross Cat on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. One Infinite Loop is the most famous address in Silicon Valley. Inside, sunlight streams into the atrium. Apple employees sprawl on the wide couches and plush beanbags, doing their best to think different. In a side office, a young coder named Eric returns from the cafe clutching a green power smoothie for his colleague Nadia. But her desk is empty. Her bag is gone. Where is Nadia? Eric asks her coworker. I don't know. She was here a minute ago. Nadia doesn't show up for the rest of the day or the next.

[Nick Martell]

Eric's been hearing whispers about similar disappearances across the Apple campus. Hotshot engineers are just vanishing without a trace. There are plenty of rumors, and there's plenty of speculation, but one phrase just keeps cropping up. Project Purple.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Eric feels his heart beat faster. Project Purple. The secret everyone pretends not to know about. It's taken his friend. Now it seems all too real.

[Nick Martell]

Project Purple. It's actually the code name for Apple's newest project. It's 2005, and Steve Jobs has finally given the go ahead to an Apple made phone. But remember Steve? He's been dead set against making a phone. So, Jack, what changed his mind?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Well, the chorus of phone advocates has grown significantly. Besides podfather Tony Fadell, other leaders have been telling Steve that phones are the future. During a late night phone call that lasted hours, an Apple VP named Michael Bell finally convinces Steve to change course on the phone.

[Nick Martell]

Steve Jobs. Yeah, he's opinionated, he's combative. But he's also able to admit when he is wrong. Pretty soon, he goes all in, and Project Purple is born. The best minds in business, as we always say, change their minds.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

But for Project Purple, only the best employees are invited And Steve wants absolute secrecy. That's when people across Apple start disappearing. Project Purple is the tech industry's Manhattan Project.

[Nick Martell]

Well, they're not being kidnapped, they're being pitched. But the pitch, it doesn't appeal to everyone. And it goes something like this.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Hey, would you like to come and work on a project that's going to be the hardest thing you've ever done. You're going to lose sleep, damage relationships, and it's going to last at least two grueling years. Oh, and you can't tell your former colleagues why you've suddenly left your department. You can't tell anyone anything about the project, actually. Not your friends, not your spouse, not your therapist, not even your dog. Also, we can't tell you anything about the project until you agree to it. And you need to decide right now. Are you in or are you out?

[Nick Martell]

This is a real blue pill, red pill moment.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Now, if you say yes, you immediately sign an NDA, then you learn what Project Purple is. Then straight away, you have to sign a second NDA to confirm that you signed the first NDA and that you still promise not to tell a soul. This extreme secrecy, it's actually quite strategic. This is how Apple manages to surprise everyone when they unveil new products. Other companies have leaks, but Apple is notoriously watertight.

[Nick Martell]

One moment you're sitting at your desk checking your Gantt chart. The next, you're being led through a series of key card access doors to get to Project Purple's lab. And you better bring your jammies, because insiders call it the Purple Dorm. You're spending the night.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Okay, Morpheus, red pill, we're in. Guess who's already picked out his bed? In the purple dorm is Tony Fadell, the podfather himself. Now, you'd think he'd look happier now that Steve's finally gotten behind the Apple phone, but he's looking stressed.

[Nick Martell]

Because cooped up with his Project Purple pals, Tony is stressing about how to add a phone function to an ipod.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

They've actually gotten a prototype already. And that's the problem.

[Nick Martell]

From the outside, this thing looks like an ipod. It's still got that wonderful feeling and wonderful sounding click wheel. But while a click wheel on the ipod was a thing of elegant beauty, on this new Frankensteined ipod phone prototype thingy, it is an abomination.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

The more they work on it, the worse it gets. Tony has a sinking feeling in his stomach. That ipod click wheel that they become so attached to, it's fine for scrolling through your catalog of Janet Jackson Bootlegs. But for this new smartphone, it's a nightmare. Dialing phone numbers is bad enough, but try writing a text message with a click wheel. The engineers try all sorts of things to solve this problem. They even add a keypad on the back.

[Nick Martell]

But they can't put a physical keyboard on the phone like BlackBerry does, because Steve Jobs hates tiny little keyboards.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Shocker.

[Nick Martell]

A keyboard means that you lose half your screen, real estate, and you've now got these permanent little keys that don't work for every app. It's actually a red line for Steve, and this time, there is no convincing him otherwise.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Tony saved Apple with the ipod, but if this phone flops, he'll be the guy that killed Apple.

[Nick Martell]

And Steve, he'll be the guy who kills him.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

While Tony's sweating bullets with Project Purple, Steve has been setting up another project. A secret project within a project. And it all starts with Jony. I've arguably the most important designer of our age. He's the industrial design genius who came up with a sublime combination of form and function that is unmistakably Apple the imac.

[Nick Martell]

That's that sleek, colorful new desktop computer that brought Apple back from obscurity. That design was Jony I've's first big hit over at Apple.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

I've's biggest obsession is buttons. He thinks that buttons are the perfect combination of fashion and function.

[Nick Martell]

He's a button file. And though Jony I've loves the simple, humble button when it comes to making sleek tech, he ironically wants to get rid of them. Hence, the original ipod interface is centered on that click wheel. But finally, Johnny thinks he may be able to eliminate buttons forever, and he wants Steve to come and see.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

So Johnny takes Steve down into the basement of Apple hq. He flicks on the lights and reveals this strange new device. It looks like an air hockey table with a projector hanging above it. The projector casts an enlarged image of a computer's home screen onto a giant trackpad. When Johnny taps one of the projected icons with his finger, it opens a file. He pinches his fingers together and pulls them apart, and the document zooms in and zooms out.

[Nick Martell]

This is basically a giant early mock up of the iPhone home screen. It's huge, it's ugly, and it took a heck of a lot of work to get it this far. It's important to note here, this isn't a touch screen. It's a giant trackpad, like a crude version of the one you probably have on your laptop right now. With Steve, he can see through the crudeness to the underlying beauty. They call this interface multitouch. And it is light years ahead of the other touch interfaces. Remember BlackBerry? They're like click clacking away with 35 different buttons. And computers are still using mice.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Multi touch might be the most important technology at Apple you've never heard of. Because those other interfaces only respond to one touch point. Your finger or stylus can basically only do one thing.

[Nick Martell]

Click.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

But with multitouch, you can use your fingers to do all sorts of subtle movements. A two finger pinch to zoom in and out, or a three finger swipe to get back to your home screen.

[Nick Martell]

Now, what few know is that this multi touch interface was actually created by an overlooked team in Apple's basement called nre, which stands for Explore New Rich Interactions. They'd actually been tinkering with a new, more natural way to interact with desktop computers. Despite being relegated to a room with no windows, literally below everybody else.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Like engineering moles, Steve immediately sees potential. What if they make this multitouch interface work on a screen instead of a trackpad and then shrink that screen down to fit on a phone? Then the phone won't need a keyboard at all. In fact, it won't need any keys.

[Nick Martell]

For this new Apple phone. Steve orders the touchscreen interface, which means the beloved click wheel of the ipod is out. The most iconic element of Apple's best selling product to date is basically sent upstate into retirement.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Meanwhile, Tony Fadell is losing his mind trying to turn the ipod into a phone. His bleached hair is turning gray with stress. He finally works up the courage to tell Steve this just isn't working.

[Nick Martell]

Oh boy.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

He braces himself for that famous Steve Jobs fire and brimstone. But instead, Steve just looks at him and smiles.

[Nick Martell]

It is time for Tony to now see the multi touch prototype. So Steve brings him down to that windowless basement and turns on the lights. Tony is in awe. But when Steve tells him that they've got to shrink this interface down and fit it in a really cool, really small, really thin phone, Tony's jaw hits the floor. Looks like Tony's gonna be spending even more time in the purple dorm.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Current touchscreen tech just isn't up to the task of detecting all that pinching and swiping Touchscreens of this era, they.

[Nick Martell]

Use something called resistive technology, which is very pressure sensitive. Picture when you go to your local ATM machine, you know when you're like tapping away at it to put in your password and you're like three.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

I press three. Yeah, you have to like use Your thumb to get it to react to your touch.

[Nick Martell]

Well, those ATMs are using that old school tech, the ones that you jab three or four times until they register your choice and then half the time they're getting them wrong.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Fortunately for Tony, the ENRI group who.

[Nick Martell]

Created the multi touch interface, they have.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

A new type of touchscreen known as capacitive. Instead of using pressure, capacitive screens detect touch using the electrical conductivity of the human body. So when a finger comes into contact with the screen, it detects it no matter what. Your body's natural electric signal disturbs the screen electrostatic field. Even better, it can tell when more than one finger is touching the screen and where they are in relation to each other. This screen tech is perfect for multi touch.

[Nick Martell]

If the resistive screen allows for the expressiveness of a chimpanzee with a paintbrush, then the capacitive touch screen is for a Picasso with a Michael's arts and crafts expense account.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

But making a phone that gets all this to work together is a mind bogglingly complex challenge. They need thousands of people working on this all at the same time.

[Nick Martell]

And it's not just the screen and the multi touch tech. The phone will basically be a computer. This thing's also going to need an operating system, and that is going to require an incredible feat of miniaturizing as well.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Plus, Steve is insisting on a glass screen instead of a plastic screen. So they have to source a new kind of scratch resistant glass. And he doesn't want an antenna sticking out of his phone, so they have to find a way to put it in the body without dampening the signal.

[Nick Martell]

So Tony's to do list is longer than the user terms in an itunes update, making for a powder cake of intense pressure.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

There is yelling, there is crying, there is exhaustion. All the things they warned him about before he signed the NDA.

[Nick Martell]

Donny Fidel is starting to look a little ragged. That gray hair starting to take over more of his head.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

And to top it all off, Steve Jobs wants to announce the iPhone in January 2007, and he wants a launch date six months after that. But as 2006 draws to an end, Tony and his team don't even have a working prototype. Hey, everybody, it's Hoda Kotb, and I.

[Nick Martell]

Would love for you to join me for new episodes of my podcast, Making Space. Each week I'm having conversations with authors, actors, speakers, and dear friends of mine. Folks who are seeking the truth, compassion and self discovery. I promise you will leave these talks stronger and inspired to make space in your own life for growth and change. To start listening, just search Making Space wherever you get your podcasts and follow for new episodes Every Wednesday.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Steve Jobs strides onto the stage of San Francisco's Moscone Center. The crowd of 4,000 Apple devotees erupts at their turtleneck cure up. They know something big is coming, but they have no idea they're about to witness a moment that will forever change technology and the world as we know it. After the audience finally said, Steve begins his introduction, every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. Over the next 80 minutes, minds are blown, dreams are reshaped, and tech nerds weep with joy over the four and a half inch by two and a half inch curved rectangle of polished aluminum and glass that Steve Jobs calls the iPhone. After introducing the audience to the user interface tech that makes it all possible, called Multitouch, Steve says, and yeah, we patented the hell out of it.

[Nick Martell]

Yeah. Not since Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai has there been such a rapturous response to a rectangular slab. It is a rhapsody of sleek minimalism. There's no antenna, there's no keyboard. You don't look like a first year finance analyst click clacking away on a BlackBerry. It's just a sleek sheen of metal and glass with a subtle solitary home button just beneath the screen. To the crowd watching Steve Jobs, that first iPhone looks like something Tony Stark would order his Earl Grey on.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

But Steve's also showing that this iPhone has substance and style. The crowd oohs and ahs as he taps and swipes and zooms and pans through his address book, his photos and his webpages.

[Nick Martell]

But I see what you're saying, Jack. It's not just what he's showing, it's how he's showing it. Right? Like the audience gasps when Steve hits reply to an email and a virtual keyboard swooshes onto the screen. And then Steve effortlessly taps out a few little words.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

What we're going to do is get rid of all these buttons and just make a giant screen. It's so funny watching this presentation nearly 20 years later and seeing people absolutely lose their minds over these swipes that we take for granted. Even the Slide to Unlock demonstration got a gasp from the audience.

[Nick Martell]

I mean, Jake, can you imagine what it'll be like when they see Angry Birds?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Oh, but Steve's not done his show stopping stunt is pulling up Google Maps.

[Nick Martell]

Apple Maps is still five years away.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

By the way, and he uses Google Maps to Find a nearby Starbucks. Then he calls that Starbucks and gets an unsuspecting barista on the line and orders 4,000 lattes to go.

[Nick Martell]

What?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

The audience is loving it.

[Nick Martell]

A barista?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Not so much, though. And then he says, just kidding, wrong number, and hangs up the phone.

[Nick Martell]

Remember looking up a business on your phone? That's like every day to us now, but to the audience, Steve is performing P.T. barnum levels of showmanship.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Funny thing about that iPhone Steve's waving around. It's actually nowhere near finished. This is a one off device they made specifically for this product unveil event. It's got extra circuitry crammed inside to make sure that everything Steve's doing runs smoothly. And the software, at this point, it's got more bugs than a mattress at a youth hostel.

[Nick Martell]

This phone is actually so flaky that the engineer spanks hours of trial and error trying to find a golden path for Steve to follow.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

That's a tech term for a specific demo sequence that won't make the iPhone crash.

[Nick Martell]

Like, if Steve goes off script at all, let's say he opens the photo app instead of itunes, then this phone, it could just seize up and break on the spot. On stage, in front of 4,000 people.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

IPhone's reputation. The device that Apple has bet the farm on will be in the gutter in one errant swipe. Even Apple's stock is nimbly waiting as investors digest whether this is a good product or a bad product. Steve looks confident on stage, but he's actually walking a technological tightrope.

[Nick Martell]

Steve Jobs wasn't being needlessly reckless here. The iPhone, yeah, it wasn't finished. And putting on that demonstration, it was a risky move. But Steve knew that any delay could have handed an advantage to his competitors. If you wait for perfection, you might miss your whole moment or never launch at all.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good, or you'll never launch anything. Luckily, the presentation goes flawlessly. Everyone is hyped. But for Apple engineers schizing backstage, the celebration is short. They're strung out. After two years of punishing production schedules and impossible deadlines. There have been arguments, burnouts, ruined relationships, crying in the project purple bathroom, and unremitting stress.

[Nick Martell]

And they're still not done. Because they have just six months to pull everything together and make an iPhone. They can ship in the millions somehow.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Against all the odds, working around the clock, literally, they make the deadline. Sure, some corners are strategically cut to make that calendar date. Like the camera's only two megapixels. It has no flash or zoom.

[Nick Martell]

No problem. We can update that in the second version.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

You can't record video on the first iPhone.

[Nick Martell]

You can't do that in a BlackBerry anyway either, man.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

There's no GPS. It only runs on the painfully slow 2G network.

[Nick Martell]

Also, Jack, the price, $499. That is twice as expensive as the other smartphones. And AT&T has an exclusive deal with Apple, making it the only carrier that the iPhone will work with.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

It's hard to believe now that you could only get the iPhone on AT&T, but back then, no one knew if the iPhone would be a hit. So this was actually a big gamble for the mobile service provider. Everyone's taken a huge risk on this thing.

[Nick Martell]

So, Jack, it's Friday, June 29, 2007. AT&T& Apple across the United States are opening their doors to sell the first phones. And by the end of the weekend, we get the first numbers. And how does the iPhone sell?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

A quarter of a million units in the first weekend, and by the end of the summer, it's over a million.

[Nick Martell]

Not too shabby. AT&T's exclusive deal pays off. It lasted four years long, and it gave AT&T nearly twice the average revenue per user of all the other carriers. But, Jack, I'm looking at this original iPhone, and there's something critical missing from the home screen. It's the app store, because Apple hasn't actually made one yet. All those early iPhone adopters, they only got 16 apps they could play around with.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

No app store means no way to spice up your iPhone. And once the excitement of actually having an iPhone wears off, lots of users get frustrated. They've got this groundbreaking piece of technology in their pocket, but they can't take full advantage of it.

[Nick Martell]

So, Jack, there is demand for an app marketplace, an app store, if you will. The users, they want it. Software developers, they want it.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Lots of people.

[Nick Martell]

Apple, yeah, they want it, too. But, Jack, why isn't there an app store?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

You should probably be able to guess by now.

[Nick Martell]

Yeah, I think I know what you're gonna say.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Steve Jobs. Yeah, he's against it.

[Nick Martell]

Steve Jobs wants nothing to do with an app store. He thinks it's a distraction, and that will open the floodgates for third parties to ruin the iPhone. He thinks people are gonna make, like.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Fart apps, which they eventually do. But Tony Fadell and several Apple board members argue that opening the iPhone to outside developers means more innovation and way more apps than Apple could ever hope to build themselves.

[Nick Martell]

People are already jailbreaking their iPhones, Basically hacking the operating system to run unauthorized apps created by independent developers. People are willing to break their warranties, maybe even their iPhones, because they simply want more apps.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Apple doesn't get any revenue from this, but with an app store, it could get a piece of every single sale. Like cars driving on the turnpike, it could have an entirely new revenue source, a digital toll.

[Nick Martell]

Another factor here, the success of Apple's itunes store. That's a huge profit puppy for the company and actually helped rescue the entire music industry from piracy. If a digital marketplace for music is such a game changer for the business, then why not an app store?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

If all these carrots aren't enough to convince Steve, there's a huge stick on the horizon too. Google announces it's working on its own mobile platform called Android. And it's an open platform, meaning anyone could make apps for it. Steve is not happy about Android, and the thought of millions of frustrated iPhone users jumping to the competition makes him seethe.

[Nick Martell]

Oh, jack. Letting Google steal iPhone thunder. No way Steve Jobs is gonna let that one happen.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

So on July 10, 2008, a little over a year since the iPhone's debut, Apple launches the app store.

[Nick Martell]

The results, Instant hit. Creating an entirely new economy of mobile apps. The app store starts out with 500 apps. A year later, it's got 50,000 apps and 1.5 billion downloads. Today, there are over one and a half million apps available. The total downloads are in the hundreds of billions.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Financially, it also happens to be the most lucrative toll since the romans controlled the roads. Yeah, with Apple taking a sweet 30% cut of sales and app subscriptions that.

[Nick Martell]

That 30% cut, it's actually led to lawsuits from the likes of Spotify and others, because it is basically a pay to play toll that all apps need to pay for access to the store. We call it the app tax.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

And it generates huge revenue for Apple. In fact, the app store is Apple's most consistent product.

[Nick Martell]

But besties. The app store didn't just supercharge Apple's revenue. It changed society forever. Nothing would ever be the same again after this product. From ordering pizza to finding a date to depositing your paycheck if you met your fiance unhinged. You better make sure to thank Tony Fadell and project Purple at your wedding.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

It was truly the app Store that turned the iPhone into so much more than a phone. The launch of the app Store wasn't the end of iPhone's innovation. The second gen iPhone had GPS. The third gen had a 3 megapixel camera that rival dedicated digital cameras and paved the way for Instagram. The iPhone 4 added a front facing camera lens for easier facetime and selfies. And the iPhone 4s gave us. Love it or hate it. Siri. Hey, I heard that. Sorry about that.

[Nick Martell]

Our bad. You're doing great. You're doing great. This breakneck pace has kept Apple's stressed out engineers busy.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

But you know what?

[Nick Martell]

It also kept Apple one step ahead of Google's Android the whole time. And a year, a year after iPhone's debut, BlackBerry stock began to fall over 60% in one single year. And it just never recovered.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Sadly, the iPhone 4S was the last iPhone Steve Jobs would see released before his death in 2011.

[Nick Martell]

Jony Ives stuck around at Apple to bring us the iPad and the Apple watch. And then he left in 2019 and founded the design studio called Love from working with brands like Ferrari and Airbnb straight out of San Francisco.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

As for Tony Fadell, he worked on the first three generations of the iPhone and then left Apple to found Nest Labs where he made another device with the satisfyingly clicky wheel, the Nest thermostat. And a few years later, he sold Nest's innovative thermostats for $3.2 billion to Google.

[Nick Martell]

In many ways, the iPhone, it really began with a bleached hair, music loving kid with a passion for gadgets.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

So Nick, now that we've downloaded the newest update on the story of the iPhone, what's your takeaway?

[Nick Martell]

To quote one of Steve Jobs favorite musicians, Paul McCartney, live and let die.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Go on.

[Nick Martell]

Part of being a founder is the ruthless ability to sadly kill your darlings. Even if you like them. The projects, initiatives or features that are bad for your business, you just gotta let em go. Like the ipod click wheel. It's the perfect example of that, that this was the defining user interface of the ipod that Steve Jobs and everyone loved. But Steve knew it just wouldn't work on a phone. So sadly, he killed it.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

It must have been tough to kill his baby, but he did it.

[Nick Martell]

Jack, what about you? What's your takeaway?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

The most important skill in business is story selling. This is our take on a technique you may have learned from your high school English teacher about good writing. Show don't tell. Steve Jobs most remarkable, remarkable skill was storytelling. And we saw it at the first iPhone launch event. He brought that event to life by showing all the ways that the iPhone could improve your life. His pitch was to let you experience the product with him, not just describe it to you. And that's why People rushed straight out and Pre ordered one.

[Nick Martell]

If he just stood there with a PowerPoint and told everyone, hey, you can check Google Maps, you can call people, you can order food from your pocket, that just, just wouldn't have landed. There wouldn't have been record sales.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Steve's ability to story sell is what brought Apple revenue market share and the best employees. And whatever job you have to sell something, tell a story, stories sell.

[Nick Martell]

And Steve Jobs was the master of story selling. But one more thing before we go Yetis, it is time for our favorite part of the show, the Best Facts Yet.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

These are the hero stats, the facts and the surprises we discovered in our research and couldn't fit into the story. So we're giving them to you now.

[Nick Martell]

Whenever you see an iPhone screen in an ad, check the clock on that iPhone because it will almost certainly be set to 9:41am and why is that, Jack?

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

That's a nod to the exact time on January 9, 2007 that Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone to the world.

[Nick Martell]

And after the iPhone was launched, it was a boon for a lot of businesses, including a snack sausage maker.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

It turns out people were buying sausages to use as a meaty stylus for their iPhones so they didn't have to take off their gloves in the cold weather.

[Nick Martell]

The result? A snack sausage company actually saw sales spike during the winter thanks to the iPhone.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Here's another one. An iPhone once survived a fall of 16,000ft. Remember when that Alaska Airlines airplane, the door blew off shortly after takeoff.

[Nick Martell]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

No one was injured, by the way, but someone's fallen flat that open door and it was still working when it was found on the ground. And that, my friends, is why the iPhone is the Best Idea Yet.

[Nick Martell]

If you've got a product you're obsessed with, but wish you knew its backstory, drop us a comment right here and we'll look into it for you.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Oh, and don't forget to rate and review the podcast. That's how we grow the show. Coming up on the next episode of the Best Idea yet, the surprising story behind the soft, fluffy marshmallow candy for all season.

[Nick Martell]

Beeps.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Follow the Best Idea yet on the Wonry app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to every episode of the Best Idea yet early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Nick Martell]

Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey. The best idea yet is a production of Wondery hosted by me, Nick Martell and me, Jamie.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Matt Corvici Kramer. Our senior producers are Matt Beagle and Chris Gautier.

[Nick Martell]

Peter A.R. cooney is our additional senior producer.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Our senior managing producer is Nick Ryan and Taylor Sniffin is our managing producer.

[Nick Martell]

Our associate producer and researcher is H. Conley.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

This episode was written and produced by Adam Skuse.

[Nick Martell]

We use many sources in our research, including the one the Secret History of the iPhone by Brian Merchant Sound design.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

And mixing by Kelly Kramerek Fact checking by Erica Janik Music supervision by Scott Velazquez and Jolina Garcia for freesond Sync.

[Nick Martell]

Our theme song is Got that Feeling Again by Blackalac. Executive producers for Nick and Jack Studios.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

Are me, Nick Martell and me, Jack Revici Kramer.

[Nick Martell]

Executive producers for Wondery are Dave Easton, Jenny Lauer, Beckman, Aaron O'Flaherty and Marshall Louis. In the early hours of December 4, 2024, CEO Brian Thompson stepped out onto the streets of Midtown Manhattan.

[Jack Pervici Kramer]

This assailant pulls out a weapon and starts firing at him. We're talking about the CEO of the biggest private health insurance corporation in the.

[Nick Martell]

World and the suspect he has been identified as Luigi. Nicholas Mangione became one of the most divisive figures in modern criminal history. I was targeted, premeditated, Admit to sow terror. I'm Jesse Weber, host of Luigi Produced by Law and Crime and Twist. This is more than a true crime investigation. We explore a uniquely American moment that could change the country forever. He's awoken the people to a true issue. Finally, maybe this would lead rich and powerful people to acknowledge the barbaric nature of our healthcare system. Listen to Law and Crime's Luigi exclusively on Wondery Plus. You can join Wondery in the Wondery app, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.