A more modern take on Leonard Read’s prized essay: ‘I, iPhone’
By Gerhard Apfelthaler
In 1958, Leonard Read, the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) published a famous article titled “I, Pencil”, which was later popularized by Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, particularly in his book and television series Free to Choose (1980).
It’s not that I necessarily agree with all of Mr. Reads or Mr. Friedman’s tenets, but I am a strong believer in free trade and free competition between nations on a global scale –– especially in times like ours.
But times have changed, and so I believe an update to Reed’s ideas are warranted. Hence — “I, iPhone”!
I am an iPhone — perhaps the most ubiquitous and indispensable tool of modern life.
You may think you understand me, but you do not.
No single person on Earth can fully comprehend how I came into being.
My existence is not the result of a master plan or a central authority, but rather the result of the cooperation of millions of individuals across the globe — most of whom have never met and never will.
I am sleek, powerful, and designed with precision, yet my birth is a miracle of human coordination.
My story does not begin in Cupertino, California, though that is where my blueprint was drawn.
Nor does it start in a single factory in China, though that is where many of my components are assembled.
Instead, my origins trace back to raw materials scattered across continents and to minds that have, over generations, advanced science, engineering, and supply chain logistics to a degree unimaginable even a few decades ago.
My body is forged from aluminum, mined from bauxite deposits in Australia and refined in Iceland using hydroelectric power.
My screen gleams with glass made from high-purity silica sand, processed using techniques perfected over centuries, especially in the United States.
My heart — the microprocessor — is an intricate marvel, designed in America on the shoulders of researchers globally, fabricated with extreme precision in Taiwan, and dependent on rare earth elements extracted from the depths of Africa and South America.
Even something as seemingly simple as the battery that fuels me is, in reality, an astonishing feat of global cooperation.
It is dependent on lithium from Chile, graphite from China, and manufacturing facilities in Japan and South Korea.
Who orchestrates this global symphony?
Who ensures that a cobalt miner in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a logistics coordinator in Rotterdam, a semiconductor engineer in South Korea, and an app developer in Bangalore all contribute to my creation?
No one. There is no central authority dictating my production.
No government, no multinational corporation, no single CEO could possibly oversee every step.
Instead, I am the product of free people engaging in voluntary exchange, driven by incentives, expertise, and self-interest, and facilitated by global competition and cooperation.
Their collective contributions are woven together not by a grand design but by the invisible hand of the market — an intricate web of pricing signals, competition, and innovation.
The people who bring these materials together do not need to understand the chemistry of lithium-ion cells or the electronics of a microchip.
They merely need to respond to market demand, to specialize in their trade, and to engage in mutually beneficial transactions.
Despite my sophistication, I am fragile in the face of economic, geopolitical, and regulatory disruptions. A pandemic halts production in a single factory, and suddenly my supply chain falters.
A trade war between superpowers or tariffs imposed as a coercive measure, and my prices rise.
New legislation on data privacy, and my software ecosystem shifts.
My continued existence depends not on central planning but on the freedom of individuals and businesses to exchange ideas, goods, and services across borders.
Protectionism, heavy-handed regulation, or the breakdown of trust between nations all conspire to slow my evolution or limit my accessibility.
I am an iPhone, and my story is your story.
• Gerhard Apfelthaler is a professor and the dean of the School of Management at California Lutheran University.
