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The secret history of the iPhone
Lev Grossman, author of the Magicians trilogy, reviews Brian Merchant's origin story of the iPhone, called The One Device, in the NY Times:
Snip:
If youve ever worked on a hopeless project that felt like it was going nowhere, you will draw spiritual strength from Merchants account of life in the Purple trenches. It includes fascinating dead ends and might-have- beens (a prototype based on the original iPods click wheel, backlit in blue and orange); personal sacrifices (The iPhone is the reason Im divorced); obscure technical hurdles (the phones infrared proximity sensor, which turns the screen off when its near your head, wouldnt recognize dark hair); backstage tension at the launch (I was actually there, watching Jobs rehearse the famous iPhone keynote, but apparently missed everything); even a symbolic onstage assassination (when Jobs publicly demonstrated swiping to delete a contact, he used Apple vice president Tony Fadells name, foreshadowing Fadells imminent departure).
Original Link: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/r9Gr_LaujgU/the-secret-history-of-the-ipho.html