If you have a minute or two, take some time to visit www.allaboutstevejobs.com./ Once you scroll through his bio, his quotes, his
movies, and his accomplishments, you would have to agree that Steve Jobs was of
the most successful and influential entrepreneurs of both the 20th and the 21st
Centuries. Although he died in October 2011, his influence as a founder and
later CEO of Apple Inc. can still be felt. Steve Jobs is known as one of the
great economical leaders of our time using his powerful and charismatic oratory
skills to creatively market Apple’s ever changing product line. He can be
remembered not only for these various inventions that changed technology, but also
for the keynote addresses he delivered as he introduced them to the marketplace.
The most unforgettable and game-changing speech Jobs ever gave occurred at the
beginning of 2007 when he revealed the iPhone to the world. This new piece of
technology introduced us consumers to the “smart” phone and the miracles we
could accomplish with it. When revealing this new product, Jobs used intriguing
images, demonstrations, and praise from other technological leaders to draw in the
audience. His dynamic presentation helped make the iPhone a household name and
caused a dramatic change in the world’s love affair with technology.
The original iPhone was introduced
to the world on January 9, 2007 at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San
Francisco, California. The audience consisted of a variety of interested
people. Some were CEOs from successful corporations with invites exclusively
from Jobs himself. Others were everyday consumers who waited in lines for hours
just to get a spot to view the unveiling of a product shrouded in rumors hailing
its amazing capabilities. Everyone who came to hear Jobs wanted to know about
his new device. Steve Jobs began his keynote with a very interesting tactic to
explain that three new technologies were about to be unveiled at the event. He
used a series of flip icons to show that there would be three new devices
presented, an iPod, a phone, and an internet connecter device. With the first
images of what “apps” would look like on the screen, the crowd began to stir.
As Jobs continued to explain, the images began to move around and with the
constant repetition of “iPod, phone, and internet communicator,” the crowd soon
realized what they were about to see. This initial use of these intriguing
images captured the crowd’s attention. Jobs then panned to a graph of the
“smartness” vs “easy to use-ness” of phones with the changes of technology.
This graph clearly illustrated what the iPhone was going to do and the change
it would bring to the telecommunications market. Jobs brought up pictures of how
phones have changed over time before showing the early prototype of the iPhone.
Picture an iPod with a rotary dial on it!
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With the final unveiling of the iPhone, the crowd applauded enthusiastically to acknowledge appreciation of the
product and its promise. Jobs had used his powerful speaking skill to
effectively present an Apple product with never before heard of possibilities.
Corporations and everyday consumers would soon rush to buy the iPhone with its
new, intriguing technology.
With the iPhone now revealed, the
next thing to do was to show off the technology that had been hidden for so
many years. The next portion of the keynote was a demonstration of the specific
functions of the iPhone. Jobs had to put the device “through its paces” These
demonstrations caused rousing cheers and resounding applause from the audience.
The demonstration cruised through the new iPod and movie features, but then
revealed some its new functionalities. The email and visual voicemail functions
were completely different from any phone that was on the market at the time. By
using words such as “first” and “best ever” Jobs clearly stated the relevance
of the new technology. One of the most interesting and amazing demonstrations
was when he started working with the pictures. By using his fingers Jobs was
able to move, alter, and change the background of his phone, a revolutionary
idea at the time. Even more exciting was the iPhone’s ability to change from
portrait to landscape mode simply by turning it from vertical to a horizontal
position. And there was more for the audience to take in. Pictures could be
made smaller or larger by using “the pinch” to zoom out and in! Jobs’ final
demonstration included the iPhone’s ability to send pictures through an email
and surfing the internet while he was calling his friend. Both were amazing
capabilities never seen before. Jobs successfully gained approval from his
audience by demonstrating all the new possibilities in just one device. If
people weren’t convinced of the power of the iPhone before, they were now.
The last portion of the keynote
address was a multitude of follow up presentations from other technological
leaders complementing and praising Steve and the new iPhone. The first of these
was the CEO of Google, Dr. Eric Schmidt a partner of the iPhone and member of
the Apple board. He explained how he used his talents and skills to “merge without
merging” or using other companies to facilitate and make the iPhone better.
Google was able to add its own spin on the phone by adding maps and a search
engine that made the new iPhone possible. Next up was Jerry Yang,
the co-founder of Yahoo. He praised the privilege of being included in the
framework of the iPhone. Yahoo at the time was the leader for email functions
on the Internet and a key backer of the email function on the phone. All of
these guest appearances showed how important this new invention was going to be
on the technological market. Jobs used these speakers to further the concept of
“innovation” together. All of them wanted to share how they helped played a
role in introducing a new wave of phones that would revolutionize technology’s
role in building the economy. Without the advancements contributed by these
backers, the iPhone might not have been possible. This pairing/merging of
companies further advanced the iPhone into the technological market and changed
the way we now perceive “the phone.”
The invention of the iPhone was
revolutionary to the cellular phone industry. It changed people’s thinking
about what makes a phone “smart,” what you can do with a phone, and how easily
you can become connected to others through smart phone technology. Today’s
phone is like having your life in your pocket at all times. Steve Jobs helped
make this possible. He was given the privilege of introducing the world to the
iPhone and its capabilities. Using his personable speaking style to connect with
his audience, Jobs was able to awe everyone and get them to believe in the
iPhone just as he did when it was only an idea a few years before. The iPhone
changed the technology market. Other telecommunication companies have had to struggle
to catch up to Apple and the quality and capabilities of its phone products.
With the release of the iPhone 6 just a few months ago, Apple is galloping
ahead of the competition in innovation and creativity completely changing the
dynamic of the phone industry and market. This is extremely important to
understand and to see Jobs role in this. He was an economic leader of the 20th
and 21st Centuries. His influence and charisma changed Apple and its
marketability countless times. Steve Jobs really did “reinvent the phone.”
