Steve Jobs considered building phone network

One of the more forward looking, and some say evolutionary, tech thinker of our time is the late Mr. Steve P. Jobs, and it is said by venture capitalist John Stanton that Steve himself actually mulled over the idea of using unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum in order to bypass carriers in the course of setting up a mobile phone network. This happened years prior to the first iPhone’s release, and needless to say, the idea died because it was not feasible at all. If you look at it in greater detail though, this particular idea does mean Jobs really had this thing of gaining control – and in this case, making sure the entire user experience is controlled from end to end.

Stanton mentioned that “He wanted to replace carriers. He and I spent a lot of time talking about whether synthetically you could create a carrier using Wi-Fi spectrum. That was part of his vision.” However, Jobs had given up on the idea by the time 2007 came around, as Apple worked with AT&T to deliver the iPhone, although they did manage to carve out a rather sizable chunk of influence over carriers in terms of control. I mean, just take a look at poor DoCoMo and you’ll know what I mean.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Apple
Tags: Apple Inc