> Mindblowing - no doubt. Changing social culture though? What change did the walkman bring about?
- Music went from being a social activity to something you could privately enjoy
- You could listen to music wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted
- It was the first time, bar maybe some niche LCD games, that electronic entertainment was portable
- It was also the start of the decline of social interaction. Where people would put their headphones on and shut out the rest of the world. eg no longer chat to strangers on the bus.
Sure, there have been bigger changes to society, like the web, like micro computers, like kitchen appliances or even the car. But the Walkman is probably the least discussed and least credited of them.
> The iPhone expanded the reach of the internet on everyone's lifes and revolutionized social culture and brought an enormous individualism:
That was already happening with or without the iPhone. Don't get me wrong, it certainly help accelerate things, but it wasn't the only device out there nor even the first to do this.
> expanded instant messaging, dating apps etc. enabled a lot of interaction but among highly selected individuals or groups
Maybe in America, but that wasn't true in a lot of other continents. In the UK (for example) people still primarily used text up until relatively recently. Here the iPhone was largely just another handset (London is a slightly different story) and by the time smart phone apps became a thing the average person cared about, Android was already outselling iOS. The iPhone didn't really create that market either since feature phones would have services like this too. Again, I'm not saying the iPhone wasn't a contributor. But it your point was that is was at least mainly responsible for, and that simply wasn't the case in Europe.
> the narcistic selfie with an attractive filter replaced the group picture and changed how people view themselves
lol you do realise that people were doing that with disposable camera's in the 90s? I know this because I'm an old fart who used to do just that when out with mates. I have albums full of pictures printed on card (remember when that's what people would call a "photo") of such images with myself and friends in clubs, bars and holidays.
The iPhone wasn't even the first camera phone, nor even the first phone with a "good" multi-megapixel camera. That was an established market and an expectation that high end phones should have.
> navigation apps
I ran Google maps on my Sony Ericsson several years before the first iPhone was released. Some of my mates ran mapping software on their PDA's before me too. Fair enough these are edge cases but you're still forgetting about Android.
> review apps
Yes, that massive pivot in society, "review apps". But again, not an iPhone exclusive.
> spotify etc. enabled an individualistic movement through the world, individually entertained and shielded from strangers and random encounters
Aside from the Spotify branding there, you're literally just describing the Walkman!
Don't get me wrong, the iPhone definitely had a big cultural impact. But you're massively over attributing changes the technological and social landscape to one of what was actually many similar devices all making the same inroads in the same decade. Yet it was the Walkman (and similar cassette players) that started that journey in the first place.
The cultural change you describe seems to be minor: enjoy music privately, (minor) decline in social interaction.
The iPhone doesn't get credit to be the first, as you said, but triggered the broad adaptation and therefore has the bigger cultural impact across many dimensions.
Parents hated the Walkman. They said pretty much the same thing we say about the youngs these days with their devices: they're "tuned out". And, to be honest, they were right. We put on our Walkmans and listened to our mixtapes, ignoring social interaction. This was a major cultural change, and personally, I think this is a significant reason my generation (GenX) became known as the "slacker" generation.
> The cultural change you describe seems to be minor: enjoy music privately, (minor) decline in social interaction.
I also said:
> Sure, there have been bigger changes to society, like the web, like micro computers, like kitchen appliances or even the car. But the Walkman is probably the least discussed and least credited of them.
Plus those changes were still much larger than "dating apps", "review apps" and the other suggestions you raised :P
> The iPhone doesn't get credit to be the first, as you said, but triggered the broad adaptation and therefore has the bigger cultural impact across many dimensions.
Did it though? I cited several reasons why I disagree with that already:
- Android
- pre-existing feature phones with J2EE app support
- Android
- pre-existing PDAs
- Android
- pre-existing cameras
- Android
- pre-existing music players, like the Walkman!
- oh and had I mentioned that Android, RIM and others massively outsold iOS for years in Europe.
I'm an iPhone user myself so don't take this as biased view point. But iPhone took a hell of a lot longer to penetrate the European market than it did America. And we haven't even touched Russian, Indian or African markets. People on HN seem to forget that other markets exist and Apple weren't nearly as influential on them.
I agree that the walkman got very little credit in historical importance. But even the walkman wasn't that widespread; on a train in the 80s or 90s really only a small number of people was using one, as far as I remember. Actual significant changes would have been if, say, an important musical genre was born out of it, or a social movement was enabled by walkmen which is not the case I think.
That's why I said "broad adaptation". These days there are situations where everone in a room is looking into the smartphone. So, the iPhone as a coincidental almaganation of already existing, maturing technologies happened to be in the right place at the right time to be considered as a historic turningpoint, without taking anything away from the pre-existing feature phones wiht J2EE app support.
Walkman was massive with < 20s in my town. By the mid-90s most kids had one (if not Sony then certainly some other brand). Maybe it was a regional thing
I live in Haiti and people here will readily buy a used Samsung phone for about $100 or a cheap Chinese one for less. Used iPhones can go for $300 or more. iPhone penetration is very low and most people only have the 6 and 7 one.
Not even Android. The Palm OS, particularly on Treo, did nearly every function that an iPhone does today. The Treo even had a selfie mirror near the camera.. I had Facebook for Palm OS 13 years ago.
- Music went from being a social activity to something you could privately enjoy
- You could listen to music wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted
- It was the first time, bar maybe some niche LCD games, that electronic entertainment was portable
- It was also the start of the decline of social interaction. Where people would put their headphones on and shut out the rest of the world. eg no longer chat to strangers on the bus.
Sure, there have been bigger changes to society, like the web, like micro computers, like kitchen appliances or even the car. But the Walkman is probably the least discussed and least credited of them.
> The iPhone expanded the reach of the internet on everyone's lifes and revolutionized social culture and brought an enormous individualism:
That was already happening with or without the iPhone. Don't get me wrong, it certainly help accelerate things, but it wasn't the only device out there nor even the first to do this.
> expanded instant messaging, dating apps etc. enabled a lot of interaction but among highly selected individuals or groups
Maybe in America, but that wasn't true in a lot of other continents. In the UK (for example) people still primarily used text up until relatively recently. Here the iPhone was largely just another handset (London is a slightly different story) and by the time smart phone apps became a thing the average person cared about, Android was already outselling iOS. The iPhone didn't really create that market either since feature phones would have services like this too. Again, I'm not saying the iPhone wasn't a contributor. But it your point was that is was at least mainly responsible for, and that simply wasn't the case in Europe.
> the narcistic selfie with an attractive filter replaced the group picture and changed how people view themselves
lol you do realise that people were doing that with disposable camera's in the 90s? I know this because I'm an old fart who used to do just that when out with mates. I have albums full of pictures printed on card (remember when that's what people would call a "photo") of such images with myself and friends in clubs, bars and holidays.
The iPhone wasn't even the first camera phone, nor even the first phone with a "good" multi-megapixel camera. That was an established market and an expectation that high end phones should have.
> navigation apps
I ran Google maps on my Sony Ericsson several years before the first iPhone was released. Some of my mates ran mapping software on their PDA's before me too. Fair enough these are edge cases but you're still forgetting about Android.
> review apps
Yes, that massive pivot in society, "review apps". But again, not an iPhone exclusive.
> spotify etc. enabled an individualistic movement through the world, individually entertained and shielded from strangers and random encounters
Aside from the Spotify branding there, you're literally just describing the Walkman!
Don't get me wrong, the iPhone definitely had a big cultural impact. But you're massively over attributing changes the technological and social landscape to one of what was actually many similar devices all making the same inroads in the same decade. Yet it was the Walkman (and similar cassette players) that started that journey in the first place.