10 products that didn't exist a decade ago
The world was a different
place 10 years ago. A decade ago, you couldn't order an Uber on your phone. You
couldn't rent a place to stay on demand with Airbnb. Several incredible
products and services have been invented in the last 10 years -some, in the
last five or eight. Let's take a look at some of the cool, convenient things
the tech world has invented since 2007.
The iPad
When Steve Jobs introduced
the iPad seven years ago, he described it as “the best browsing experience you
will ever have“.Since then, the device has gone through several iterations and
price points. Most recently, Apple unveiled a new $649, 10.5inch iPad Pro and a
$329, 9.7-inch iPad.
Google Chrome
Google unveiled its Chrome
browser in September 2008.“On the surface, we designed a browser window that is
streamlined and simple,“ wrote Google CEO Sundar Pichai (who was vice-president
of product management at the time) on the official blog. “Like the classic
Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast,“ Pichai wrote.
Airbnb
The idea for Airbnb formed
in 2007 when co-founder Joe Gebbia sent an email to his roommate, Brian Chesky,
suggesting they rent out their apartment to make some extra money. After a few
attempts, Air Bed & Breakfast finally launched in 2008 as an online
platform for renting out spare room at one's place.
Spotify
Spotify launched in October
2008 in Stockholm, Sweden. It launched a public beta in the spring of 2007,
but it wasn't until the company signed licensing deals with Sony, Universal,
BMG, and more that Spotify officially launched. Nine years later, Spotify has
140 million active users worldwide.
Oculus
Oculus VR began in a garage
in Irvine, California in June 2012. Then-19-year-old Palmer Luckey launched the
company on Kickstarter, raising nearly $2.5 million for his virtual reality
headset. After raising an additional $16 million in funding, Luckey sold Oculus
to Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion. Now, Luckey has left Oculus, but the VR
company lives on at Facebook.
Stripe
Stripe, a startup aimed at
`disrupting' online payments, officially launched in September 2011. Now,
companies from Target to the NFL use Stripe's technology to power payments in
their websites and apps. Six years after launch, Stripe is worth $9 billion,
making it the most valuable financial technology startup.
Kickstarter
Kickstarter, the platform
for launching and backing independent companies and products, started in April
2009 after co-founder Perry Chen wanted a way to crowdsource the cost of
inviting musicians to a jazz fest in New Orleans. The first-ever product was a
Grace Jones T-shirt created by Chen that didn't meet its fundraising goal.
Uber
Uber was founded in March
2009 as a black-car service called UberCab.Garrett Camp, Oscar Salazar, and
Conrad Whelan built the first version, with Travis Kalanick serving as a `mega
adviser' and later, CEO. Over the years, Uber has expanded to offer
peer-to-peer ride-sharing, car-pooling, luxury rides, and more.
Android
When Google founder Sergey
Brin and engineering director Steve Horowitz debuted Google's Android operating
system in November 2007, they put to bed the rumours that Google was launching
a `G Phone' (although nine years later, Google did just that with the launch of
the Pixel).These days, there are two billion active devices running Android
software.
WhatsApp
Jan Koum incorporated
WhatsApp in 2009 before the app had even been written. He and co-founder Brian
Acton decided to make it a messaging app, build ing the company in a convert ed
warehouse they shared with Evernote. The app grew organically, particularly in
de veloping countries that relied on SMS texting. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
bought the app for $19 billion in 2014.
|
businessinsider.in
|
No comments:
Post a Comment