Who Invented the iPhone?

More than twelve years have passed since Apple shattered every design rule in the phone world and captured the hearts and minds of millions with the launch of the first iPhone. Once again, Steve Jobs stood front and center with the small rectangle in his hand, but behind that device was a team that worked in secrecy and against the clock for over three years. One of the masterminds behind that phone is Tony Fadell, the "Father of the iPod," who nearly had a heart attack when he thought he had lost a prototype...

Nobody took Steve Jobs' threats lightly. His goal was that the project remain secret from start to finish, and anyone who let a detail slip would be immediately ejected. Fortunately, the situation ended well for Fadell (the prototype had gotten stuck between the airplane seats), but we imagine he will never forget those two hours of torture.

The Genesis

For some, the history of the iPhone begins in 1999, when Apple registered the domain "iphone.org", which today simply redirects to Apple's portal. However, the year 2004 arrived, and plans to launch a phone were almost on hold. All of Apple's advances pointed toward a tablet format, but at that time the iPod already had a color screen and could display images (video playback would come a year later).

At the same time, the explosion of data networks was imminent, and Fadell's vision was to imagine the iPod as a general-purpose platform, not as an isolated product with a specific role. While his competitors tried to bring a desktop computer down to phone size, Apple implemented a different kind of reduction. The first iPhone prototypes used an iPod-like wheel, but it was quickly discarded. The device was too complicated to use, and it would never have gone to market in those conditions.

In parallel, another Apple division was developing the equivalent of a Mac with a touchscreen. Fadell explained that that prototype "was as big as a ping-pong table," and when Jobs showed it to him, he said, "I want you to put this in an iPod." Apple had neither the infrastructure nor the know-how to tackle a project of that magnitude. Fadell and his team began a kind of tour, studying laboratories and talking with telecommunications experts. During their visit to Malmo, Sweden, they suffered a robbery. Notes, plans, everything disappeared from the car. Fadell swears it was corporate espionage, because "they knew we wanted to make a phone."

The Keyboard Debate

Even so, one of the most tense and bitter episodes in the creation of the iPhone was the discussion about the keyboard. The "iPod-style wheel" was not viable, and a keyboard was shaping up to be a safe bet... but on the other side was Steve Jobs. No keys, no stylus. Finally, Jobs reminded the "pro-keyboard" people involved that Apple was not a democracy: "Until you agree with us, you can't come back into this room. If you don't want to be on the team... don't be on the team." One member was "invited" to leave the room, and at that instant, all discussions ceased. Ave Caesar.

However, Fadell somewhat got his way. Jobs' anti-stylus stance was resounding, ideological, and philosophical: everything the user would need was a finger. But Fadell and his team knew that sooner or later the stylus would be inevitable, so they added support in the background, without revealing anything to Jobs. Four years after Jobs' death, the company introduced the Apple Pencil for its iPads. Fadell was right.

Working Behind Jobs's Back

If he had found out about the hidden support, Jobs "would have ripped his head off." Working behind Jobs' back was not uncommon. Fadell cites another high-profile example: the iPod's compatibility with PCs. Initially, Jobs' anti-PC vision dominated the player's evolution, until sales lost strength. At that point, Fadell revealed that they had been working on Windows support and preempted the barrage of complaints with a single question: "How much does a song cost on iTunes?"

Jobs' answer was "99 cents," but Fadell corrected him: "No, it's the 99 cents, plus the iPod, plus a Mac. We have 1 percent of the market." Jobs dropped his opposition. The iPod came to Windows with Musicmatch Jukebox, and then via iTunes 4.1.

The Big Reveal

January 9, 2007 was "the" moment. The Moscone Center in San Francisco was packed with people. Fadell remembers it very well: the iPhone was only half developed. The "two and a half years" Jobs mentioned on stage did not represent the whole truth. As expected, he took the opportunity to mock the stylus and all the keyboard phones on the market, but his prototypes were precarious. "The cables are for the projector," Jobs said, but the batteries in the devices could barely be called experimental. The umbilical cord was mandatory.

Much of the press mocked it (I was one of them). Even Steve Ballmer laughed on live TV, but others recognized its potential. The "Jesus phone" has sold more than two billion units. Steve Jobs was its face. Jony Ive is credited with its design. And Tony Fadell was in the trenches.

Source: BBC