The iPhone's impact in 10 charts

The iPhone reshaped culture, media, and communication through innovation

Cultural moments, such as Ellen's viral Oscars selfie and Taylor Swift's iPhone Notes statement, have demonstrated how deeply integrated the device has become into society. The film "Tangerine" and Kendrick Lamar's "Pride" were created with the iPhone, underscoring its use in media creation.

Watch Steve Jobs unveil the first iPhone in 2007

During his Macworld San Francisco 2007 keynote address, Jobs claimed Apple had reinvented the phone by integrating phone capabilities with internet access and music playback from its iPod product line. The multitouch display eliminated the need for a stylus or keyboard hardware typically found on other smartphones.

Explore a breakdown of 18 influential Apple products

The launch of the MacBook Air in 2008 popularized the ultrabook category of laptops, while the iPad (2010) made large-screen mobile devices a technological norm. The iPhoneX (2017) introduced the notch, which has become a staple at the top of many smartphone displays.

Steve Jobs changed the world with Apple and Pixar

The devices Jobs introduced during his time at Apple, including the iPad and iPhone, were imitated by competitors, ultimately helping to create the numerous options consumers have today. In addition to leading Apple, Jobs also helped turn Pixar and the software startup NeXT into success stories.

Explore the history of the iPhone from 2007 to 2023

The first iPhone was launched without an app store, while security features like Face ID were only incorporated into the hardware starting in 2017. That year was the first when an iPhone cost over $1,000.

Ten defining moments at CES through the years

Iconic CES devices like the Apple Newton, CD player, VHS VCR, Sony PlayStation, and Oculus Rift “Crystal Cove” didn’t necessarily seem groundbreaking at the time. Here's a list of some defining moments from the annual show.

A short biography of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs led Apple for almost a quarter century, first from 1976 through 1985 and then from 1997 through just before his death in 2011. A brief synopsis of his career underscores the impact he made during that timespan, across everything from technology to smartphones, moviemaking, retail and much more.

In 2018, Apple became the world's first publicly traded trillion-dollar company

The valuation was made possible by Steve Jobs' return to the company in 1997, who implemented a simplification strategy by cutting the majority of Apple's existing product line. His promotion of Jony Ive to SVP of industrial design would help popularize Apple through colorful products and marketing.

Your iPhone started with a Cold War secret

Silicon Valley wasn't supposed to happen. A stretch of California orchard land somehow became the place that built the modern world: chips, PCs, the internet, the smartphone, and now AI. But the real story isn't the garage myth. It's a series of contradictions hiding in plain sight.

A detailed interactive timeline of technology since 1500

Tech devices are heirs to a complex history of both technological invention and social history. What if you could visualize how radio, TVs, and other devices are connected to the past and each other? Trace the elaborate genealogies of your phone and computer with this interactive timeline showing tech inventions since 1500.

Five charts that changed the world

Data visualization helps us understand the world, providing a powerful way to communicate complicated information in a quick and efficient way. There are many different ways to create graphs, and these five examples—the pie chart, geographic dot...

Worldwide adoption rates of 5G

The switch to 5G could become the biggest growth driver for the smartphone industry in coming years. This illustration shows the adoption rate of 5G in different parts of the world.

Are emojis real communication? And other questions for the experts

Emojis took off around 2009, after Apple's operating system for its defining iPhone became available in Japan. By 2012, a standardized set of emojis was released, and now seven in ten users feel a message without one of the 3,664 official emojis is lacking.

The next technology epoch is here

From ChatGPT to DALL-E, 2022 saw the mainstream emergence of artificial intelligence for consumer use. Here's how these platforms will disrupt today's five biggest tech companies—Apple, Amazon, Meta, Google, and Microsoft.

A timeline and visuals on TikTok's rapid growth

The app that would become TikTok is known as Douyin in China, and this article recounts its history, acquisition of rival Musical.ly, and rebranding ahead of its lightning growth. One visualization shows how quickly TikTok reached 1B users.

The McIntosh apple, long dominant, is now 10th-most popular in the US

First grown in Ontario, Canada, in 1795, the McIntosh became synonymous with the apple by the early 1900s. Newcomers on the market—especially the Honeycrisp in the 1990s—has nearly rendered the McIntosh irrelevant.

The 100 most significant sports moments between 2000 and 2025

This list ranks the 100 most significant sports moments of the first 25 years of the 21st century. The editors compiled the collection based on a list of factors, including the "collective joy" factor, whether it made you curse in disbelief, and how much it transcended the sport and entered the broader culture. The top moment: The improbable "helmet catch" during the Super Bowl in 2008.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

'Freakonomics' celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2025

The book 'Freakonomics' arguably changed the business landscape when it came out, and has since evolved into other forms of media and a cultural phenomenon.

Charting the most popular email providers since 1997

The email is the most stable feature of the Internet; a rare digital product that changed little over the decades. Nonetheless, the major email service providers have vastly shifted. Watch this time-based chart which shows the number of users of the top 10 email providers since 1997, and see how totally nonexistent Gmail skyrockets to dominance by today.

The history of the 808, the drum machine that changed pop music

Roland's TR-808 is one of the most consequential pieces of gear in the history of popular music, providing the framework for innovative hip-hop, dance, and pop records in the early 1980s.

The 10 most important (other) cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin has not only been a trendsetter, ushering in a wave of cryptocurrencies built on a decentralized peer-to-peer network, but has also become the de facto standard for cryptocurrencies. But it's not the only one. Here are some cryptocurrencies that have held on throughout steep price climbs and nosedives.

Bob Dylan, explained

Bob Dylan has never had a Billboard No. 1 hit—but his influence on music is unmatched. This overview looks at his early protest songs, his shift to electric rock, and the cultural impact of his lyrics, performances, and legacy across generations.

How Netflix changed TV

In April 2017, Netflix reached 100 million subscribers worldwide—a figure that hit 300 million by 2025. With 50 million in the US alone, it has revolutionized the way people consume entertainment. Newsweek takes a look into the company's history and how it became the dominant force in entertainment.

A technological breakthrough altered how Billboard determined what was popular

Before 1991, retail stores manually reported sales to Billboard, which then used those figures as part of its calculations for its weekly charts. In 1991, the magazine began using Nielsen SoundScan, a technology that tracked every unit sold in participating stores, providing a more accurate picture of what consumers were actually buying.

The Dow now tracks 30 major US companies across various industries

Since 1928, the DJIA has included 30 firms. Today's group spans technology, healthcare, and finance—with Apple, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer, and Coca-Cola among its most recognized components.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Fireworks make a loud booming sound after exploding due to air expanding faster than the speed of sound.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.