New Book Reveals 'The Secret History of the iPhone'

A new book from Brian Merchant, senior editor of Motherboard, entitled 'The One Device - The Secret History of the iPhone' is now available.

The book aims to provide some backstory to the creation of the original iPhone at Apple. It features numerous quotes and stories from former employees who helped bring the smartphone to life.

Notably, there is already some controversy surrounding the book. An excerpt recently published has Tony Fadell saying that SVP Phil Schiller was adamant about the iPhone having a keyboard.


When the rest of the team had decided to move on multitouch and a virtual keyboard, Schiller put his foot down. “There was this one spectacular meeting where we were finally going in a direction,” Fadell says, “and he erupted.”

“We’re making the wrong decision!” Schiller shouted.

“Steve looked at him and goes, ‘I’m sick and tired of this stuff. Can we get off of this?’ And he threw him out of the meeting,” Fadell recalls. Later, he says, “Steve and he had it out in the hallway. He was told, like, Get on the program or get the fuck out. And he ultimately caved.”

Schiller denied the story on Twitter. "Not true. Don't believe everything you read...", he tweeted.


Fadell then tweeted, "I respect @pschiller as a colleague & friend. The story about him is not true. Have asked writer to correct the record."

However, Merchant defended his writing on Twitter and revealed that he has a recording of Fadell telling the exact story word for word.

"It was taken verbatim from an on-the-record portion of our interview, which was recorded and conducted in person. I stand by my story 100%," says Merchant.

Here's the official description of the new book...

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Odds are that as you read this, an iPhone is within reach. But before Steve Jobs introduced us to "the one device," as he called it, a cell phone was merely what you used to make calls on the go.

How did the iPhone transform our world and turn Apple into the most valuable company ever? Veteran technology journalist Brian Merchant reveals the inside story you won't hear from Cupertino-based on his exclusive interviews with the engineers, inventors, and developers who guided every stage of the iPhone's creation.

This deep dive takes you from inside One Infinite Loop to 19th century France to WWII America, from the driest place on earth to a Kenyan pit of toxic e-waste, and even deep inside Shenzhen's notorious "suicide factories." It's a firsthand look at how the cutting-edge tech that makes the world work-touch screens, motion trackers, and even AI-made their way into our pockets.

The One Device is a roadmap for design and engineering genius, an anthropology of the modern age, and an unprecedented view into one of the most secretive companies in history. This is the untold account, ten years in the making, of the device that changed everything.
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You can get a copy at the link below...

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