There is no shortage of products whose creators called them “revolutionary” or “everything-changing” when they launched. Undoubtedly, every company that creates something new hopes that its innovative design and chosen approaches will greatly change the perception of technology. Sometimes this really happens.
Wired magazine selected 10 examples of this kind from 2010 to 2019. These are products that have changed the market after their bright appearance. Because they cover different industries, their impact cannot be measured on the same scale. They will be listed not in order of importance, but in chronological order.
The messaging service was launched a little earlier - in November 2009, but its impact on the next decade was quite significant.
In the early years, co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton charged an annual fee of $1 to use the service, but that didn't stop WhatsApp from spreading, especially in developing countries like Brazil, Indonesia, and South Africa. WhatsApp worked on almost every modern mobile device, giving users the ability to write messages without being charged. It also spread end-to-end encryption, giving privacy to a huge number of users. By the time WhatsApp introduced voice calls and video chats, it had become the standard for mobile communications across borders.
In early 2014, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion. And the acquisition paid off, as WhatsApp grew its user base to 1,6 billion and became one of the most important social platforms in the world (although WeChat still reigns in China). As WhatsApp has grown, the company has struggled with the spread of misinformation through its platform, which in some cases has led to civil unrest and violence.
Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), iPad
When Steve Jobs first showed off the iPad in early 2010, many people wondered if there would be a demand for a product that is much larger than a smartphone, but lighter and more limited than a laptop? And how will they take photos with this device? But the iPad was the culmination of years of Apple's effort to launch a tablet, and Steve Jobs could have envisioned something no one else could have imagined: mobile products would indeed become life's most important devices, and the processors inside them would eventually surpass those of everyday laptops. Other manufacturers were quick to respond to the challenge - some successfully, others not. But today, the iPad is still the industry standard for tablets.
In 2013, the iPad Air redefined what thin and light meant, and the 2015 iPad Pro was the first Apple tablet to work with a digital pen, connect to a constantly charging smart keyboard, and run on a powerful 64-bit chip. A9X. iPad is no longer just a good tablet for reading magazines and watching videos - it is the computer of the future, as its creators promised.
Uber and Lyft
Who would have thought that a few techies having trouble ordering taxis in San Francisco would create one of the most influential technologies of the decade? UberCab was launched in June 2010, allowing people to hail a "taxi" by pressing a virtual smartphone button. In the early days, the service operated only in a few cities, included a large surcharge, and sent luxury cars and limousines. The launch of the cheaper UberX service in 2012 changed that, as well as bringing even more hybrid cars to the road. The launch of Lyft that same year created a serious competitor for Uber.
Of course, with the expansion of Uber around the world, the company's problems have also increased. A series of New York Times articles in 2017 revealed serious shortcomings in the domestic culture. Co-founder Travis Kalanick eventually stepped down as CEO. The company's relationship with drivers is ambiguous: it refuses to classify them as employees, while at the same time being criticized for skimping on driver background checks. But to find out how the sharing economy has changed our world and people's lives over the past decade, all you have to do is ask a taxi driver how they feel about Uber?
In the beginning, Instagram was all about filters. Early adopters enjoyed applying X-Pro II and Gotham filters to their square Instagram photos, which at first could only be taken from an iPhone. But co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger had a vision beyond hipster photo filters. Instagram has not only cemented the camera as the most important feature of a smartphone, but also ditched the superfluous trappings of social networks with their links and status updates. This created a new type of social network, a kind of digital glossy magazine, and eventually became an extremely important platform for brands, businesses, celebrities and hobbyists.
Instagram was taken over by Facebook in 2012, just two years after its launch. He now has private messages, time-limited stories, and IGTV. But, in fact, it remains the same as it was conceived years ago.
Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), iPhone 4S
The release of the original iPhone in 2007 was one of the most significant events of the modern era. But over the past decade, the iPhone 4S, introduced in October 2011, has been a game-changer for Apple's business. The newly redesigned device received three new features that would define the way personal tech devices are used for the foreseeable future: Siri, iCloud (on iOS 5), and a camera that could capture both 8-megapixel photos and 1080p high-definition video.
Within a short time, these extremely advanced pocket cameras began to destroy the compact digital camera market, and in some cases, kill competitors outright (eg Flip). iCloud, formerly MobileMe, became the middleware that synced data across apps and devices. And Siri is still trying to find its way. At least people have already realized how useful virtual assistants can be.
Tesla Model S
It wasn't the first all-electric car to hit the mass market. Tesla Model S is perceived first because it captured the imagination of car owners. The long-awaited electric car was introduced in June 2012. Early reviewers noted that it was light-years ahead of the Roadster and called it a technological marvel. In 2013 MotorTrend named it Car of the Year. And the popularity of Elon Musk only added to the attractiveness of the car.
When Tesla introduced the autopilot feature, it came under scrutiny after several fatal accidents where the driver reportedly relied too much on it. Questions about self-driving technologies and their impact on drivers will now be asked more frequently. Meanwhile, Tesla has spurred major innovations in the electric vehicle market.
Oculus Rift
Maybe VR will eventually fail. But its potential is undeniable, and Oculus was the first to truly jumpstart the mass market. The first demonstrations of the Oculus Rift during CES 2013 in Las Vegas saw many tech reviewers with helmets on their heads smiling enthusiastically. The original Kickstarter campaign for the Oculus Rift had a $250 goal; but $000 million was collected. It took a long time for Oculus to release the Rift headset, and $2,5 was a pretty high price. But the company eventually brought the $600 Quest 6-DOF standalone helmet to market.
Of course, VR lovers weren't the only ones inspired by Oculus. In early 2014, before the Oculus Rift hit the mainstream market, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried out the Oculus Rift in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at Stanford University. A few months later, he bought the company for $2,3 billion.
Amazon Echo
One morning in November 2014, the Echo smart speaker just appeared on Amazon's website, and its modest launch could have been misleading about how influential the product would be in the second half of the decade. It was not only a wireless speaker, but also an Alexa voice assistant, which initially proved to be more intuitive than Apple's Siri at the time of its launch. Alexa made it possible to give voice commands to turn off the lights, control streaming music, add purchases to the shopping cart on Amazon.
Whether people wanted to use smart speakers or voice-activated displays (most still undecided), Amazon went ahead and made it possible anyway. Nearly every major manufacturer has followed suit.
Google Pixel
In the eight years leading up to the release of the Pixel smartphone, Google watched its hardware partners (HTC, Moto, LG) build the Android mobile operating system into their devices, which were quite good. But none of these smartphones rose to the high bar set by the iPhone. iOS devices had a key performance advantage in smartphones because Apple was able to maintain complete control over the hardware and software. If Google was going to compete, it would have to stop relying on its partners and take over the hardware business.
The first Pixel phone was a revelation to the Android world. Sleek design, quality components, and a fantastic camera all run Google's reference mobile OS, untainted by manufacturer skins or carrier apps. The Pixel didn't capture a huge share of the Android market (and it didn't, three years later), but showed how advanced an Android phone could be and made a big impact on the industry. In particular, camera technology enhanced by the intelligence of Google's software has spurred device manufacturers to develop sensors and lenses.
SpaceX Falcon Heavy
It really was a "product launch" above all other launches. In early February 2018, seven years after the project was first announced, Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched a three-part Falcon Heavy rocket with 27 engines into space. Capable of lifting 63,5 tons of payload into lower orbit, it is the most powerful launch vehicle in the world today and was built at a fraction of the cost of NASA's latest rocket. The successful test flight even included an advertisement for Elon Musk's other company: the payload was a cherry-red Tesla roadster with a dummy Starman at the wheel.
In addition to power, one of SpaceX's most important innovations has been reusable rocket boosters. In February 2018, two spent side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral, but the central one collapsed. Just over a year later, during a commercial rocket launch in April 2019, all three Falcon Heavy boosters found their way home.
Source: 3dnews.ru