Shadowing Practice: Steve Jobs introduces iPhone in 2007 - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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This is a day I've been looking forward to for two and a half years.
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Every once in a while,
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a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. And Apple has been...
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Well, first of all, one's very fortunate if you get to work on just one of these in your career.
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Apple's been very fortunate.
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It's been able to introduce a few of these into the world.
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1984, we introduced the Macintosh.
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It didn't just change Apple.
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It changed the whole computer industry.
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In 2001, we introduced the first iPod.
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And it didn't just change the way we all listen to music.
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It changed the entire music industry.
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Well, today, we're introducing three revolutionary products of this class.
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The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls.
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The second is a revolutionary mobile phone.
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And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device. So, three things.
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A widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough Internet communications device.
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an iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator.
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An iPod.
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A phone.
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Are you getting it?
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These are not three separate devices.
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This is one device.
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And we are calling it iPhone.
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Today, today, today, today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone. And here it is.
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No, actually, here it is, but we're going to leave it there for now.
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So, So, before we get into it, let me talk about a category of things.
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The most advanced phones are called smartphones, so they say.
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And they typically combine a phone plus some email capability, plus they say it's the internet, sort of the baby internet into one device.
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And they all have these plastic little keyboards on them.
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And the problem is that they're not so smart and they're not so easy to use.
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So if you kind of make a, you know, business school 101 graph of the smart axis and the easy to use axis, phones, regular cell phones are kind of right there.
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They're not so smart and they're, you know, not so easy to use.
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But smart phones are definitely a little smarter, but they actually are harder to use.
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They're really complicated.
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Just for the basic stuff, people have a hard time figuring out how to use them.
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Well, we don't want to do either one of these things.
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What we want to do is make a leapfrog product
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that is way smarter than any mobile device has ever been and super easy to use.
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This is what iPhone is.
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Okay?
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So, we're going to reinvent the phone.
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now we're gonna start with a revolutionary user interface is the result of years of research
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and development and of course it's an interplay of hardware
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and software now why do we need a revolutionary user interface
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I mean here's four smartphones right Motorola Q the Blackberry Palm Treo, Nokia E62, the usual suspects.
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And what's wrong with their user interfaces?
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Well, the problem with them is really sort of in the bottom 40 there.
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It's this stuff right here.
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They all have these keyboards that are there whether you need them or not to be there.
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And they all have these control buttons that are fixed in plastic and are the same for every application.
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Well, every application wants a slightly different user interface, a slightly optimized set of buttons just for it.
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And what happens if you think of a great idea six months from now?
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You can't run around and add a button to these things.
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They're already shipped.
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So what do you do?
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It doesn't work because the buttons and the controls can't change.
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They can't change for each application, and they can't change down the road if you think of another great idea you want to add to this product.
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Well, how do you solve this?
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Hmm, it turns out we have solved it.
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We solved it in computers 20 years ago.
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We solved it with a bitmap screen that could display anything we want, put any user interface up, and a pointing device.
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We solved it with the mouse, right?
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We solved this problem.
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So how are we going to take this to a mobile device?
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Well, what we're going to do is get rid of all these buttons and just make a giant screen.
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A giant screen.
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Now, how are we going to communicate this?
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We don't want to carry around a mouse, right?
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So what are we going to do?
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Oh, a stylus, right?
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We're going to use a stylus.
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No. No. Who wants a stylus?
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You have to get them and put them away and you lose them.
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Yuck.
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Nobody wants a stylus.
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So let's not use a stylus.
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We're going to use the best pointing device in the world.
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We're going to use a pointing device that we're all born with.
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We're born with ten of them.
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We're going to use our fingers.
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We're going to touch this with our fingers.
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And we have invented a new technology called Multi-Touch, which is phenomenal.
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It works like magic.
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You don't need a stylus.
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It's far more accurate than any touch display that's ever been shipped.
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It ignores unintended touches.
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It's super smart.
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You can do multi-finger gestures on it, and boy have we patented it.
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We've been very lucky to have brought a few revolutionary user interfaces to the market in our time.
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First was the mouse, the second was the click wheel, and now we're going to bring multi-touch to the market.
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And each of these revolutionary user interfaces has made possible a revolutionary product.
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The Mac, the iPod, and now the iPhone.
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So, a revolutionary user interface.
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We're going to build on top of that with software.
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Now, software on mobile phones is like baby software.
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It's not so powerful.
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And today, we're going to show you a software breakthrough.
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Software that's at least five years ahead of what's on any other phone.
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Now, how do we do this?
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Well, we start with a strong foundation.
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iPhone runs OS X.
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Now, why would we want to run such a sophisticated operating system on a mobile device?
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Well, because it's got everything we need.
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It's got multitasking.
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It's got the best networking.
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It already knows how to power manage.
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We've been doing this on mobile computers for years.
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It's got awesome security.
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And to write apps, it's got everything from Coco and the graphics, and it's got core animation built in,
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and it's got the audio and video that OS X is famous for.
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It's got all the stuff we want, and it's built right in to iPhone.
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And that has let us create desktop class applications and networking.
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Right?
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Not the crippled stuff that you find on most phones.
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This is real desktop class applications.
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Now, you know, one of the pioneers of our industry, Alan Kay, has had a lot of great quotes throughout the years.
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And I ran across one of them recently that explains how we look at this, explains why we go about doing things the way we do,
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because we love software. And here's the quote.
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people who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.
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Alan said this 30 years ago, and this is how we feel about it.
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And so we're bringing breakthrough software to a mobile device for the first time.
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It's five years ahead of anything on any other phone.

About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice your English listening and speaking skills using a historical speech by Steve Jobs from 2007, where he introduces the revolutionary iPhone. This lesson focuses on improving your ability to understand and articulate key phrases related to technology and innovation. By the end of this session, you'll feel more comfortable discussing technological advancements in English and using relevant vocabulary effectively.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Revolutionary product: A groundbreaking or innovative item that significantly changes the market or industry.
  • User interface: The means by which a user interacts with a device or application.
  • Smartphone: A mobile phone that includes advanced features such as internet connectivity and application support.
  • Easy to use: Refers to products designed for simplicity, allowing users to operate them without difficulty.
  • Market change: A transformation in how a particular market operates, often due to new technologies or products.
  • Touch controls: A method of interacting with a device by tapping or swiping on a touchscreen.
  • Breakthrough: A significant and dramatic advance in knowledge or technology.

Practice Tips

To make the most of this learning opportunity, consider using a shadowing app to enhance your practice. Here's how you can effectively shadow Steve Jobs’ speech:

  • Listen actively: As you watch the video, focus on the rhythm and tone of Steve Jobs' voice. His delivery style is engaging and persuasive, which is essential for effective communication.
  • Repeat sections slowly: Begin by pausing the video after short phrases or sentences. Repeat them aloud, mimicking his intonation and stress patterns. This will help you sound more natural.
  • Gradually increase your speed: Once you're comfortable with the phrases at a slow pace, try shadowing at the speed of the original speech using a shadowing site. This will challenge your listening comprehension and speaking fluency simultaneously.
  • Record yourself: Use your phone's voice memo feature to record your shadowing attempts. Listening to your recordings can provide insightful feedback, so you can refine your pronunciation and pacing.
  • Practice in short bursts: Engage with the video in sections that are 1-2 minutes long. This way, you won’t feel overwhelmed, and you can focus more on precision and clarity with each segment.
  • Utilize Shadowspeak: If you want to deepen your understanding of the context, discuss what you've learned with a partner using shadowspeaks. This will reinforce the vocabulary and phrases within a practical context.

Integrating these strategies will enhance your ability to learn English with YouTube and help you communicate confidently in discussions about technology and innovation!

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.