The history (and future) of technology form factors
This is not a super-technical deep dive. But I’ve been thinking it for a long time. It’s a piece about UX. About form factors; past and future. Think of it as a palate cleanser between deep-dives on concurrency, Metal, and job interviews. Chill (⛄️). Whoever cracks this is going to make a billion dollars. Legit. That’s 5.5 million years of Premium Membership to Jacob’s Tech Tavern. Perhaps a few more if you subscribe annually. But, before we get there, a history lesson 🧑🏫 Sponsored Link
InceptionIn 2007, the iPhone was announced. Like ChatGPT 15 years later, or Netscape Navigator 13 years prior, it ushered in the next great technological era: Mobile. In one swoop*, consumers had access to:
And you got all this in a portable handheld device!
Early apps got nearly-free distribution on relatively crappy hardware. To-do lists, fart apps, and static PNGs were making tens of thousands of dollars*.
Heavy hitters like Facebook scrambled to stake a claim in this new land-grab. So Zuck did what he knew best, shipping an HTML5 app that ported the existing news feed from the web. Nobody knew how to make the most of the new platform. Not Meta. Not Apple. Not even Instagram. In 2010, this mobile-native new challenger wrote OpenGL shaders to filter photos and squeeze out value from the meagre early camera hardware, transforming your iDevice into a surface for creation as well as consumption.
Many of the big hitters you know and love to hate began in this early scramble: Uber. Snapchat. Instagram. WhatsApp. Tinder. Waze. Erm, Yik Yak. The full article ships to everyone in a month. Or, get the full ramble today, free: As well as getting a head start on making a $billion, you unlock several goodies: ⚓️ Access my full library of 50+ paywalled articles Continue reading this post for free in the Substack app
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