The One Device

The Secret History of the iPhone

By: Brian Merchant

Narrated by: Tristan Morris

Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Odds are that right now, 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 road map 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, 10 years in the making, of the device that changed everything.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 Brian Merchant (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

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

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

Highly informative, eye opener

Just like Down and Out in London and Paris, this is the author’s first work. With a bit of mischief and a lot of intellectual honesty, the author travels to the ends of the world to better understand the most remarkable product of our time. Unlike Orwell’s first work, this book feels much more polished. It reads like a documentary very well executed. Well done to the author!

Bist Apple Book I've Read to Date (August, 2018)

An excellent book on all the various elements that went in to creating the iPhone. And by "elements" we really do mean, at times in this book, elements. Like, periodic table elements! This may turn a lot of people off but I urge you to give it a chance. This book truly tells a complete story, debunks a lot of well-established myths and gives credit to a lot of key people whose names you may not know, even if you consider yourself an Apple fan-person. In short, this is the best book about what goes on inside Apple that I've ever read.

One note: The audiobook version of The One Device once again brought on my ire that audiobooks are not provided with the same level of editing as print books. There were sentences re-read. (And not for emphasis.) There were pronunciations that show an ignorance of subject matter by the reader/editor ("OS X" pronounced as oh-ess-ecks instead of oh-ess-ten.)

TECH PORN AT ITS BEST

Any additional comments?

This book was so much fun. I loved it. It teaches the history of every element of iPhone. a glimpse into how it all came together. The soap opera that is Steve Jobs.

History with a bit of opinion

Great overall history and story of the vast number of events that came together to be the iPhone. Looks at it from angles but occasionally strays into opinion and commentary.

Factual history? Makes you think, beware bias

Is there anything you would change about this book?

There is a lot of great content to this book, but the way it is organized presents issues. I would have grouped the chapters in a different fashion. At times it felt like two books. One story is the actual development of the iPhone and the other book is the technological advances that made the individual components possible. As a result, the narrative feels disjointed.

Would you ever listen to anything by Brian Merchant again?

Yes, He has given a different viewpoint. However, I would not consider his works as an unbiased history of event.

Merchants work reminds me more of Capote's work than a strict history.

Which scene was your favorite?

I really enjoyed the parts of the book that explored the development of the technology that made the iPhone possible. With this being said, the editorializing from the author could have been omitted. I think that everyone knows that Jobs did not invent glass :)

Was The One Device worth the listening time?

For an accurate depiction of how the iPhone was developed from the early 2000 on, I would say it is lacking. Not that the facts are incorrect, but they are presented out of context. Consider the chapter on GPS that explores the origins of this system. When the author ties it back to the launch of the original iPhone, it is implied that GPS is present in the hardware. This is not true as the first GPS radio included in the iPhone did not occur until the iPhone 3G. While this should not be a huge issue for the average reader, if you want an easy to follow accurate historical accounting, this book falls short.

As far as a good use of time reading this book, I did enjoy it. If you can understand bias from fact (which in this book the author does not hide), and follow the disjointed narrative, it would not be a waste of time.

One thing I would like to point out, is that this is not a "pro-Jobs" book which I find refreshing. However I do not feel that it was balanced in giving Jobs credit to bringing this device to fruition.

Any additional comments?

Very interesting book. It does sing the praises of the individuals that originated the technologies that comprise the iPhone, however it does downplay Job's role in bringing it to market.

There is a very liberal bias (not knocking liberals as I consider myself more liberal than conservative). This mitigates the value of this book as a historical account. With this being said, this is the only source that I have read about Apple that "married" the cost of technological advancement with the impact on humans and human life.

Some of the facts I would consider suspect, however this could just be the way the book is structured. However this may be attributed the natural way the narrative had to flow.

And apologies for a disjointed review, this was unavoidable as I am still of "two minds" about this book. This is the first detailed review I have written about a book. As such, If the authors intention was to make me "Think Different". He succeeded

Fascinating!

Great story. Very enjoyable and entertaining.
Would recommend this book to anyone who interested in iPhones.

Extremely mixed feelings

Would you listen to The One Device again? Why?

No. It just wasn't that good.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I felt like it was a very good attempt at making a book about the iPhone and it had many interesting facts and moments.

But I felt that the book was a little meandering and not very cohesive. I like to start a non-fiction book with some kind of mental map of where we're going. In this book I often found myself getting bored and frustrated and just hanging on waiting until the next change in topic (which was often not far around the corner).

So I would have liked a stronger introduction laying out the format.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I wasn't a fan of the narrators voice - it felt like listening to someone with a blocked nose for hours upon hours. I know this is a personal feeling though, and I don't want to knock them, but it made me uncomfortable.

Any additional comments?

I rated the book and the narration 3 stars. But I felt that the book overall was worth 4 stars. Yes - despite not being great, or having a great narrator, there's just no other source like this and I think it's worth listening to.

Very, very good!

Excellent book, definitely not an Apple brownnoser, but still an admirer of all the iPhone is, and those who brought it about. And how much effort it took to make it. Great structure to the book, and amazing amount to detail. Solid writing, great narration. Hats off to author, narrator and production team.

Interesting

It's a good book. Covers from beginning to end how the iPhone was made. Disheartening to learn a lot of the tragedy behind it though. I didn't find it captivating enough to finish it without struggle.

Slow Start, But Good Read

Am a developer, specially in the iOS field, and really enjoyed learning about how the development of the first iPhone went and how it happened.

I didn't enjoy the starting bit when it was all about the material used to make the iPhone. The reason I bought is to know more about the birth of the iPhone.

If you are interested in knowing that, then go of it. It will be a bit slow thought at the start.