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Austin Sisbarro
Deby Jizi
UWRT 1103 036
9 December 2015
Extended Inquiry Project Final Draft
For my research project, I decided to dive into the evolution of the iPhone and the effects
that the iPhone has had on society. The question popped into my head when I had just received
my first iPhone a month before college came around. Before I had an iPhone, I was one of the
kids who was proud of not being on his phone every second of every day. I did not have access
to the internet and found myself less consumed by social media and the internet. The
inaccessibility gave me a certain feeling, like I was almost happier with the way I was because I
saw my friends consumed in their phones first hand. I was proud of not being a brainwashed
victim of Apple. Those feelings would soon cease to exist. The day soon came when my father
arrived with iPhones for everyone in our family.

Fig 1.
Karpin, Jim. IPhone Separation. Digital image. Http://www.iphonelife.com/. N.p., 11
Jan. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015. <http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/5/suffering-iphone-separationresearch-shows-your-suffering-real>.

Within hours I felt myself drowning in the phone with this overwhelming amount of
technology. I fell to the addiction as soon as the iPhone seamlessly touched my hand. I never
wanted to let it go. I had always had Apple products, such as the iPad and IPod Touch, but never
had I ever had a product that allowed me to access the internet without Wi-Fi. The ability to have
access to social media and the internet at all times is a blessing and a curse. Within months I had
soon become one of the kids, that I used to look down upon, who was having a conversation with
an individual while his head was stuck in his phone. I had become one of the kids who
disrespects individuals without even knowing it because at that point, drowning in my phone
wasnt just a habit anymore, it was an addiction. As I have already seen the dramatic effects only
a couple months in, I decided to base my research paper on the evolution of the iPhone and the
positive and negative effects the iPhone has had on society.
Because of the iPhone, society is no longer the same! At the educational level kids are
starting to actually believe they no longer need to learn material, because why would they need
to when they have an iPhone that has all the information they need to know with the touch of a
finger. The way individuals interact with one another has completely changed since the iPhone. It
is a rare occasion when two individuals can sit down and have a conversation these days without
having the urge to look at their iPhones. Although, the instantaneous access to information isnt
completely negative to our society. Before the iPhone, there wasnt an efficient way to really
interact with individuals from other nations. The ability to communicate with people from all
over the world has brought different cultures and countries together. We have the ability to know
about events in other countries within seconds of it happening. The iPhone even gave us the
ability to answer ridiculous trivia questions that stump everyone at a family reunion within

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seconds. The iPhone has opened the path to a simplistic and informative life. Elderly people have
the ability to control the lights, garage, and other household items with the touch of a button,
without even getting up. The evolution of the iPhone has completely changed society today and
will without a doubt have an everlasting effect, whether it be positive or negative, on this world
in the years to come.
In The Film Media Groups documentary, Planet of the Apps: A Handheld Revolution,
they discuss the creation of applications from the iPhone and how they have shaped society as
we know it today. Applications are the driving force behind the technology in the iPhone. The
applications are the programs that connect us to the internet and social media. In the
documentary, The Film Media Group discusses the enormous market that these applications have
produced due to the consumers need for a simpler life. This documentary contributes to my
discussion of the effects of the iPhone because it discusses the huge economical market that the
iPhone has created, just from the invention of the applications within the iPhone. In Alwaleed Al
Afaliqs blog post, Smartphones Improvements: positive and negative impact on society,
Afaliq discusses both the negative and positive effects of the iPhone on society. His research
drew me in with a very simple reasoning. The way humans interact today has completely
changed solely because of the iPhone. Afaliq goes on in his blog post to talk about how kids are
being disrespectful by being on their iPhones and they dont even know it. Afaliq talks about of
the easy accessibility of information is a beneficial, but also detrimental. In his blog post,
Afaliqs opinion leans towards the argument that iPhones are more negative than positive
because of the disruption of human interaction. This is important for my discussion because
Afaliqs blog post directly correlates to my thesis of iPhones changing humanity. I also used an
online article by Ryan Kim, "The IPhone Effect: How Apples Phone Changed Everything.", in

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order to pursue further information regarding the effects of the iPhone. Kims article discusses
the presence of Apple in the world of technology because of the iPhone. According the Kims
article, the iPhone affected every business that was associated with it. From phone carrier
companies to competitor phone development companies, the iPhones presence was felt. In the
article, "The Evolution of Apple's IPhone", Ken Mingis describes the evolution of the
technological aspects through each iPhone model. The iPhone has been breaking the idea of
bringing imaginary ideas to life. The ability to access your phone through the scanning of a
fingerprint is something that was only seen in movies. Each model is faster, more durable, and
more technologically advanced than the one before. Ken Minigis article describes the evolution
of the iPhone itself and explains why the iPhone has so much success. Each model has a new
groundbreaking feature that keeps the Apple user population coming back. Kurt Eichenwalds
article, The Great Smartphone War: Apple vs. Samsung.", reflects on the economic influence
that Apple has stirred up with the iPhone. The ongoing war between Apple and Samsung on who
will come out on top in the Smartphone field. Apple was the first to come out with the
smartphone (iPhone) and Samsung continues to copy the ideas of Apple to this day. The
replicating of products has resulted in legal action between the two companies. This article from
Kurt Eichenwald helps my thesis of the iPhones effect on society. The iPhone stirred up an
entire world of technology with companies that wanted in on the smartphone idea.
At the end of my research I have found that the introduction of iPhones has completely
disrupted the development of society. iPhones have sucked in the mind of every teenager in this
world with a grip so strong even parents cant break it. With the development of technology, you
will always have advantages and disadvantages. I found that The Media Groups documentary
about the impact of applications on society was my strongest source. The documentary shared

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information about the rapid success and growth of applications due to the increasing dependency
of the population. The expansion and innovation of these applications has completely change the
way that the human mind works! When you are stumped with a question or simply want to gain
more knowledge nine times out of ten that person will have an app that will give clarity. Dont
get me wrong, the iPhones luxury qualities can be a blessing at times, but that luxury comes at a
price. I can tell you that walking on the campus of The University of Carolina at Charlotte I have
seen at least three people a day either walk into an object, trip, or ignore their surroundings just
because they were on their iPhones. Kids these days have become completely unaware of their
surroundings and fail to develop the ability of an actual thought process.
When I first began this research project I assumed most of the impacts of the iPhone were
going to be mostly positive, but I could not have been any more wrong. The iPhone has evolved
itself, just as much as it has evolved the society around it. The iPhone has impacted almost every
industry you could ever imagine and has even created new industries such as the app store. I
hope the majority consumed by the luxuries of the iPhone will acknowledge my research and
understand the momentous effect of the iPhone. The only question left is, how dependent will
society in the future become with this technology as the iPhone itself evolves and improves?

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Works Cited
Planet of the Apps: A Handheld Revolution. New York, N.Y: Films Media Group, 2009. Internet
resource.
Mingis, Ken, and April Montogomery. "The Evolution of Apple's IPhone."
Computerworld. ComputerWorld, 9 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.computerworld.com/article/2604020/smartphones/the-evolution-of-applesiphone.html>.
Kim, Ryan. "The IPhone Effect: How Apples Phone Changed Everything." Gigaom.
Gigaom, 29 June 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. <https://gigaom.com/2011/06/29/the-iphone-effecthow-apples-phone-changed-everything/>.
Afaliq, Alwaleed A. "Smartphones Improvements: Positive and Negative Impact on
Society." Web log post. Just Another Blog. N.p., 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
<https://sites.psu.edu/alwaleedafaliq/2013/09/19/smartphones-improvements-positive-andnegative-impact-on-society/>.
Eichenwald, Kurt. "The Great Smartphone War: Apple vs. Samsung." Vanity Fair. Vanity
Fair, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. <http://www.vanityfair.com/news/business/2014/06/applesamsung-smartphone-patent-war>.