A Decade of iPhones and What That Means for Adoption of Crypto

The Turning Point in Smartphones

A decade ago, I was in high school. The iPhone was coming out and everyone wanted it. iPods were the size of a cassette tape. It was the turning point; people were transitioning from "smart" phones to phones that could launch a space mission.

20 years of Innovation

We were the tech generation, the first generation with personal computers from a young age, raised with MS-DOS, Doom, Dune, and Dangerous Dave, the skrewroottshhh tones of dial-up and "you've got mail!".
Now imagine a world without iPhones. Without the app economy. 1 billion iPhones have been made and there are about 94 million in use (Thanks planned obsolescence!). iPhone and it's competition have revolutionized the way we live.
The initial iPod came out in 2001, 16 years ago, the first MP3 player was in 1997, a full 20 years ago. Apple made the MP3 player pretty and intuitive. They were popular but they weren't crucial and given the choice between carrying a cell phone or an iPod, people would grab their cellphone. Apple had to innovate in a way that made their product a need to have, not a nice to have. What if we jammed a cellphone in an iPod? The iPhone was born.

Crypto's iPhone

In 2009, Bitcoin's genesis block was mined. This is similar to the first MP3 player.
In 2011, Namecoin was created. This was just another mp3 player, no name recognition, no major brand but important because it was the difference in "have you heard of bitcoin?" and "have you heard of crypto currency?"; the beginning of the crypto world.
In 2015, Ethereum was created. Is this iPod or is this Microsoft Zune or maybe the Samsung YEPP PMP's? Only time will tell.
In 2017, there are over 4,000 altcoins. We're approaching a time period like when every tech company had a MP3.

The Future of Crypto

I don't own a crystal ball but anyone can see that there will be major innovation in the crypto industry. The most impactful catalyst of widespread adoption will likely be in making crypto intuitive and indispensable for the average person. At this point, crypto is in many ways a curiosity, a convenience. The learning curve acts a barrier to entry and until it's a matter of a few buttons, it just won't achieve widespread adoption. This innovation will likely be as simple as improvement in User Experience/User Interfaces, enhanced security with the dawn of consumer level quantum computing, and integration in day to day life - including in existing businesses and industries.

Fear of Crypto

The masses need to understand crypto in order to overcome their fear of crypto. I've touched on this in another article about crypto trading. Crypto enthusiasts could easily have "In Bitcoin We Trust" or "In Ethereum We Trust" on our currency if it were physical. The volatility, the risk, stories of hacks, and loaded/technical language are all emphasized and used in mainstream media to discourage people from getting into the crypto world. Crypto needs ambassadors in the media, people with balanced and varied perspectives on the benefits and risks associated with crypto.

Crypto Needs You

For Crypto to reach widespread adoption, the people in crypto need to talk about it. Talk about the technology. Talk about how easy it is. Provide resources. Offer advice. Suggest it as a solution in your industries. Tell businesses about it. Tell your family about it. Crypto also needs innovators. Do you have an idea that you think could change the (crypto) world? Work on it!
This is a call to action for all of us in crypto to reach out and to work towards crypto's iPhone.

How are you going to spread the word about cryptocurrency? In what ways do you think adoption can be increased? Do you see different barriers to entry?