EOTO #1 Reaction: The iPhone, The Typewriter, YouTube, and Netflix

After watching my classmates' presentations on the history of different types of communication technology, I found that four topics piqued my interest the most. Here is everything I learned about the history of the iPhone, the typewriter, YouTube, and Netflix. 

The iPhone was revealed to the public on January 9, 2007. Development of the iPhone began in 2004, and before the iPhone came around, there were very few phones that had a touchscreen. Those that did were super expensive. The point of the iPhone was to have the functions of a computer condensed and able to fit into the palm of your hand. The first iPhone cost $599, and Apple sold 300,000 units in its first weekend. Every new iPhone model has come with a new feature, such as touch ID, face ID, and the loss of the home button. Today, Apple has released over 30 different iPhone models, and they've become a pretty powerful company. 50% of people in the United States and 21% of people globally own an iPhone. As an iPhone owner myself, I was a little surprised to discover that half of the U.S. population owns an iPhone. 

The typewriter does not have a distinct inventor and is said to have been invented by a man of unknown origin. One thing that surprised me was finding out that the typewriter was originally created for blind people to type out their thoughts. Later on, it was used to cut down on the time it takes to handwrite on paper. Christopher Soles, the inventor of the QWERTY keyboard, reinvented and patented the typewriter and took it to the United States. I thought it was really cool that the typewriter was first made with the intention of helping blind people communicate. I had no idea! 

YouTube came to be on February 14, 2005, by three former employees of the financial company PayPal. Their idea was to create a community where people could share home videos. In the very beginning, those who wanted to share videos on YouTube had to pay a fee. It's weird to think about the fact that people were required to pay to post at first. Imagine all the current YouTubers and social media influencers, who post multiple videos weekly, having to put their paychecks toward posting their videos rather than updating equipment or other things related to their channels. 

Netflix was created by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph on August 27, 1997, in Scotts Valley, California. Initially, Netflix started out as a DVD rental website that would ship customers DVDs in the mail. Users would then rate the DVDs they rented. By 2006, Netflix had reached 5 million users. The company did not add a streaming feature until 2007. Netflix's direct competition at the time was Blockbuster, and with the way things are today, it is pretty clear which entertainment giant won. There is only one Blockbuster in existence as of right now, and it is located in Bend, Oregon. As of September 8 of this year, Netflix's net worth is 196.23 billion dollars, and the streaming company currently boasts about 238 million subscribers, which is more than any other streaming service. I was already aware that Marc Randolph frequently visits High Point University to meet with business students, but it never occurred to me just how much effort Randolph had to put into creating this company and what it truly meant to surpass Blockbuster's success.