How Rich People Fund Technology Progress And Still Get Blamed

In 1983 Motorola commercialized the first cell phone in human history, it was called Motorola DynaTAC 8000x weighed 2.5 pounds, had a single-line, text-only LED screen and, more importantly, costed $ 3,995 — $10,070 in today’s money.

I don’t think I need to do a lot of convincing to demonstrate that only very rich people bought this ancient piece of technology. Having one of these inside your car was the ultimate status symbol. In my home country, Italy, these arrived in the early 90s and I still remember the day I saw the first cell-phone and who owned it: the richest guy in town. A couple of years later I too would own one and shortly after, owning a cellphone was no longer a display of wealth.

Fast forward to 2007 and Steve Jobs is presenting the first iPhone. A revolutionary moment in the history of humankind that sparked entire industries and allowed billions of people, of all social and economic background, the access to knowledge. The first iPhone could do everything the first cell-phone did and more, way more for a fraction of a cost: ~$500.

It’s reported that Apple spent north of $150M to develop the first iPhone.

Well, who funded it?

A banal analysis would prompt the reader to the obvious answer: Apple funded it!