How the Smartphone Replaced 20 Everyday Devices

How did the smartphone replace 20 everyday devices? Follow smartphone history from early mobile phones and IBM Simon to the first iPhone, the app economy and a computer in your pocket. Cameras, calculators, alarm clocks, music players and maps once meant carrying separate tools. Digital convergence moved their jobs into pocket software, changing everyday life as smartphone evolution brought connected functions together in one device. We examine the manufacturing decisions and industrial shifts that fueled this transition. Beyond the convenience, we investigate the life cycle of these devices, specifically the growing challenge of electronic waste. Understanding the technology behind our screens helps explain not just how we arrived at this pocket-sized economy, but also the environmental cost of modern technology. Please subscribe for more Journey of Things episodes, and tell us: which gadget do you miss having in your pocket the most? CHAPTERS 00:00 The machine eater 01:01 Before the smartphone 01:48 The cellular network 02:53 IBM Simon 03:44 A computer in your pocket 04:13 The iPhone and the app economy 05:38 The feeding frenzy 06:55 Connected tools do more 07:24 Making a smartphone 09:27 The pocket economy 10:53 Electronic waste and repair 11:50 What comes next? 12:27 One object, many lives AI DISCLOSURE This episode uses AI-generated reenactments and illustrations alongside historical photographs and original narration. General industrial images illustrate processes and do not necessarily show a particular phone manufacturer. MUSIC Music I use: https://www.bensound.com Artist: Theatre Of Delays License code: SIO5VDT1TETC86X3 Track: Motion PHOTO CREDITS Photographers and licenses are credited on screen. Full photo credits, source links, licenses, and editing notes: https://journey-of-things-photo-credi... The original licenses continue to apply to those photographs. SELECTED RESEARCH Computer History Museum — Phones Get Smart https://www.computerhistory.org/revol... Apple — Introducing the iPhone, January 9, 2007 https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2007/0... Apple — One million iPhones https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2007/0... ITU / UNITAR — Global E-waste Monitor 2024 https://www.itu.int/en/mediacentre/Pa... WATCH THE PLAYLIST Everyday Technology: How Things Work    • Everyday Technology: How Things Work   #JourneyOfThings #SmartphoneHistory #Technology