iView: The Beginning of iPhone Life Magazine
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the iPhone and along with it the genesis of iPhone Life magazine. As the founder of the magazine, I figured what better time to reflect on the story of iPhone Life's beginnings and the product that started it all. Unexpected Change
In the months after Steve Jobs released the original iPhone in January of 2007, it looked like Apple's new smash success would doom our company for good. It was fall, 2008 at the time. Revenue had all but stopped from our magazine that was focused on Microsoft-based Pocket PCs and smartphones. The economy was imploding and the iPhone had taken over the smartphone market. Nobody was buying our magazine anymore.
Rewind a year and a half, and the email-based Blackberry, the easy-to-use Palm Treo, and the full-featured Microsoft-based smartphone were battling for leadership in a market not living up to its potential. Some analysts concluded that smartphones were destined to be a niche product. But at Apple's 2007 Macworld keynote, late Apple CEO Steve Jobs shared a new vision. Today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products… a widescreen iPod with touch controls; a revolutionary mobile phone; and a breakthrough internet communications device. An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator. An iPod, a phone … are you getting it? These are not three separate devices, this is one device, and we are calling it iPhone.
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laughed when asked about the new iPhone. Competing companies like Palm and Blackberry weren't worried either. After all, the iPhone used only one network—the unpopular and unreliable AT&T. It offered no third-party apps, no styluses, no swappable batteries, no extra buttons, and no expandable storage. Microsoft-based smartphones could do everything the iPhone could and more. So, why did the iPhone win?
Apple had taken the best from competitors such as Palm, Blackberry, and Microsoft and then perfected the apps that appealed to most users: Phone, Safari, and Music. Best of all, the apps were easy to use. And Jobs created such excitement about the iPhone that it took on a life of its own. The End of an Era
With no one buying Microsoft-based devices, it looked like we would have to shut down our company. I cut the magazine staff down to one editor, one ad salesperson, and myself. I told my remaining two employees, who together had worked for me for over thirty years, that I had no money to pay them. But I promised that if we could successfully produce and sell iPhone Life, I would make it right.
We made a bold decision: Rather than publishing the next issue of Smartphone & Pocket PC, we created and mailed the first issue of iPhone Life. Newsstand sell-through jumped by over 20 percent. Only 15 percent of our subscribers cancelled, and the renewal rate stayed the same.
In 2011, I semi-retired. Today, the iPhone Life team has successfully transitioned to being a digital-first company. Our premium subscription, iPhone Life Insider, includes daily one-minute video tips, video tutorials, digital access to iPhone Life archives, and direct support from an editor. The tactile, immersive print version of iPhone Life offers respite from the digital world and from reading on a screen. We love what we do, and with this issue, we celebrate our ninth year in print.
Hal, along with his wife Rita, founded iPhone Life’s original publishing company, Thaddeus Computing, in 1985. You can reach him at hal@thaddeus.com. Check out Hal's new book at meditatingentrepreneur.com.