Scott Forstall, ousted Apple executive and the father of iOS, is taking part in a Computer History Museum event about the iPhone. Titled, “Putting Your Finger On It: Creating the iPhone,” Mr. Forstall will talk about “How the iPhone came to be?”
The event takes place at June 20th, 2017, at the Computer History Museum (CHM) in Mountain View, CA. Yours truly will be there. It’s a free event, part of a broader series the CHM is doing called “iPhone 360.”
How the iPhone Came to Be
The subtitle for the event is, “An Evening with Original iPhone Innovators & Engineers in Conversation with Museum Historian John Markoff.” John Markoff is a respected tech journalist who has interviewed everyone at one point or another, including the late Steve Jobs (many, many times)
From the event description:
During 2006, the year before the iPhone was introduced, it seemed that innovation in mobile devices was beginning to slip away from Silicon Valley. Wireless computing was advancing more quickly in Europe than it was in the United States. That all changed abruptly when Steve Jobs stepped onstage at Moscone Center in San Francisco and asserted he was introducing “three revolutionary products” in one package—the iPhone.
How did iPhone come to be? On June 20, four members of the original development team will discuss the secret Apple project, which in the past decade has remade the computer industry, changed the business landscape, and become a tool in the hands of more than a billion people around the world.
Part 1: Original iPhone Engineers Nitin Ganatra, Scott Herz, and Hugo Fiennes in Conversation with John Markoff
Part 2: Original iPhone Software Team Leader Scott Forstall in Conversation with John Markoff
iPhone Keyboard
A new book by Brian Merchant—The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone—makes for some interesting timing. An excerpt of that book published by The Verge quotes Tony Fadell as saying Phil Schiller wanted a physical keyboard on the iPhone. From that excerpt:
He “just sat there with his sword out every time, going, ‘No, we’ve got to have a hard keyboard. No. Hard keyboard.’ And he wouldn’t listen to reason as all of us were like, ‘No, this works now, Phil.’ And he’d say, ‘You gotta have a hard keyboard!’ ” Fadell says.
It gets fun, because Phil Schiller denied that claim, and Tony Fadell kind of walked the quote back, too.
Hey, guess who knows and doesn’t work for Apple any more? Scott Forstall. And he’s going to be talking about the birth of the iPhone. Eagles to bagels says he’ll clear this up by the end of the night.
The second post is the one trying to make someone appear small. The first post (which I wrote) expresses a legitimate desire for someone I viewed very highly to continue doing amazing work.
Have not heard it yet – but I believe there is fire in people that never burns out. People just express differently.
Previous post just wants to make someone apprear small. For what purpose – We must always celebrate the fire that burns in some of us, this wuality will always move humanity forward.
Bless them.
a.) Apple should bring Scott back
b.) I’m really underwhelmed. I heard Scott was so close to Steve Jobs. But when Steve Jobs was kicked out of Apple, he went and started NeXT, bought Pixar and continued marching onward. Scott… did a broadway play? I mean it was very cool and imaginative to do that. I don’t knock it. But I dunno. They say if ya don’t use it then you lose it. So has Scott become a retired old uncle now instead of a cutting edge figure?
I’m sure he was silenced by a bunch of BS agreements or he would forfeit wealth, but I don’t know… it’s just lame he fizzled out.
All of that being said, THANK YOU Scott for making the iPhone live.