The One Device, Brian Merchant
The One Device, Brian Merchant
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The One Device
The Secret History of the iPhone

Author: Brian Merchant

Narrator: Tristan Morris

Unabridged: 14 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/20/2017

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

The secret history of the invention that changed everything-and became the most profitable product in the world.

"The One Device is a tour de force, with a fast-paced edge and heaps of analytical insight."-Ashlee Vance, New York Times bestselling author of Elon Musk

"A stunning book. You will never look at your iPhone the same way again." -Dan Lyons, New York Times bestselling author of Disrupted

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.

About Brian Merchant

Brian Merchant is a writer and editor focusing on culture and technology, living in Los Angeles. He is the author of the forthcoming book Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech and the national bestseller The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mal on July 04, 2017

Other Silicon Valley observers have written about the development of the iPhone—but it's unlikely that anyone else has delved as deeply into the subject as Brian Merchant . . . or will ever do so in the future, for that matter. Merchant's brilliant new book, The One Device: The Secret History of the......more

Goodreads review by Tom on August 05, 2017

Disappointing. I think there has to be several great stories related to the development of the iPhone. There are a few of them here. Admittedly there is a problem given Apple's penchant for secrecy many of the original participants wouldn't give interviews and several others have died. But Merchant'......more

Goodreads review by Drtaxsacto on July 29, 2017

This is a short but very informative book on the development of the iPhone. Merchant went to great lengths to find those people willing to talk about how the first iPhone came to be. It involved a number of moving parts and an extraordinary level of luck to bring all the things together. Some of his......more

Goodreads review by Stuart on August 05, 2017

The insider information the author shares is fascinating and I appreciate the lengths he went to to visit the various supply chain sources. The fatal flaw in his work is that his obvious biases prevent him from being considered reliable. I am not saying he is lying but it is clear his narrative is t......more

Goodreads review by Pete on July 13, 2017

One Device (2017) by Brian Merchant is a history of the iPhone for the tenth anniversary of the device. It looks at how the phone was developed, parts of the global supply chain that produce the device and the impact it's had. Merchant has managed to write a book that is more than just a hagiography......more


Quotes

Shortlisted for the 2017 Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award and the 1-800-CEO-READS Award
One of the Best Business Books of 2017 - CNBC, Bloomberg, 1-800-CEO-Read, Financial Times, Marginal Revolution. Business Insider
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

"A remarkable tale... the story it tells is compelling, even addictive--almost as addictive as the iPhone itself."—Wall Street Journal

"Like the best historians, Merchant... unpacks the history of the iPhone in a way that makes it seem both inevitable in its outline and surprising in its details."—The Guardian

"Apple's culture of secrecy is no match for Brian Merchant in The One Device....Merchant tells a far richer story than I--having covered Apple for years as a journalist--have seen before... The iPhone masquerades as a thing not made by human hands. Merchant's book makes visible that human labor, and in the process dispels some of the fog and reality distortion that surround the iPhone."—Lev Grossman, New York Times Book Review

"A fascinating story."—Marketplace

"Merchant does the important work of excavating and compiling large numbers of details and anecdotes about the development of the iPhone, many of them previously unrecorded... Merchant tells a far richer story than the outside world has seen before."—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"Brian Merchant takes readers on an epic journey."—Parade

"Brian Merchant gives us a rare look inside Apple, chronicling the development of the iPhone with details about everything from the selection of raw materials to the product's famous launch event."—Gizmodo

"Fascinating... the author writes in the style of a fast-paced novel, with vivid details that help readers really understand how the iPhone was devised and launched."—John Rampton, Entrepreneur

"A wild ride."—San Francisco Chronicle