final reason we’re professionally fascinated by O2O platforms is that they really weren’t possible even a decade ago. Many of the businesses described in this chapter rely on powerful mobile computing devices, and as we’ve seen the smartphone era only started in 2007 with the iPhone (and apps from outside developers took another year to arrive). Smartphones were not only the first truly mobile computers; they were also the first location-aware ones, thanks to their GPS sensors. These are indispensable complements to almost every successful O2O system. Cloud computing was also critical
