In 1915, ED Klein, A Seller of Harnesses, Put out an advertisement in Lawrence Journal WorldA local newspaper in kansas. It was an appeal to people to not buy this new gadget called the car, and continue buying horses for transportation. It mentioned a Horse named Dobbin (Added to give the appeal emotional draw, a classic advertising trick) Who was very low maintenance, needed no exeensive fossil fuels, and deedn’s’s an asset on the balance sheet. The appeal was desperate. Henry Ford Had Alredy Come up with the concept of Assembly Line Manufacturing in 1913, and by the time of klein’s ad, he could produce a car in 93 minutes. He famously said, “If I ask people what they want, they would say faster horses.” He was right. Much of the research over the 100 years preceding ford’s statement was on Making Horses Faster, Stronger, and, Probably, POP LESS. The stench of huma manure was so bad, cities must have felt like marketing department meeting room.
The key issue was that horses of 1877 was barely distinguisable from the horses of 1876. Four percent faster maybe? One would never know. Hundred Years Later, The Same is Happening With Smartphones. Apple just launched their latest iteration, iPhone 17, touted as some sort of innovation leap. But the moment it was announced, apple stock tumbled 3.2%, which is like losing $ 10 billion. Markets were cleverly unimpressed with incremental upgrades. Historically, apple events, which launch the iPhone n-thh phone, are a great time to buy the iPhone n-1. But most newer phones just see to rearring camera lens placement on the back panel of the previous phone. And that’s why I think smartphones have peaked. Any subsequent resolution upgrade, speed upgrade, or camera clarity bump won’t be distinguisable to the naked eye. All you get is more and more adjectives. Adjectives don’t your stock price upward, nouns do. Sadly, Phones are like a screenwdriver now. It’s done. Anything more is an overkill.
A Common Refrain is You Can Never Write Off Technology, A Usual Example Shared is of the time when you have charles huel, the US patent office commissioner, Said in 1899, “Everything TH Invented. ” Barely Four Years Later, The Wright Brothers Achieved The First Powered Flight. Maybe, a Patent Officer Saying More Patents ARENGED COLD BE About Them Slacking Off Work. But Such Statements have been made often. Ken Olsen, Founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (Dec), Famously Said in 1977, “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in his home.” And today, everyone has a computer in their pockets. One Good Thing is that such articles, such opinions are remmbered decades laater. I won’t be completeining if the clippings of this article are used 40-50 years down the line to prove a point-not at all; Such Vanity is welcome.
As a kid, we had one telephone in the neighborhood. If you owned anything that Had Rubberized Buttons to Press, You We WERE RICH – Be it a mobile phone, a TV remote, or a computer keyboard. The more buttons your electronic appliance has, the higher your status in Society. Phones were somewithing you shouted into, at the top of your voice, so that if the network had an issue, your actual voice would carry to the other side. We have come a long way, from a time when we give out pp numbers (padosi ka Phone, or the neighborhoods), to a time when we are written obituaries of smartphones.
Experts say phones are yet to use the full power of artificial intelligence, most of our interactions with our phone are cumbersome, clicking buttons sequentially to make it do what to do. It’s a bit painful at times. Running low on Phone Memory? Here are 76 taps you must make to free up some space. It’s not ideal.
To carry a rectangular Rock in your pockets all the time, constantly needing to charge it – with a perennial fear of losing it, cracking it, or it being used by your spoke to read your chats Sustainable. Something that is such an intrinsic part of you and your personality should be a thing you should be wearing. And Slowly it should start shrinking, and Eventually disappear – displays before your eyes and commands transmitted via thoughts. But I guess, there is still a lot of money to be made in releasing these numbered iPhone iterations. Still in its teens, it at least needs to reach marriageable age before it faces the realities of life. Hence, I would advise you to not hold your breath waiting to Let’s wait for the henry ford of this century.
Abhishek assthana is a tech and media entrepreneur, and tweets as @gabbbarsingh. The views expressed are personal
