But 2008 was also a crucial period in the construction of the tech-addled world Americans now live in. The first iPhone sold 10 million units. Google launched its first Android phone, setting up the key rivalry that still animates the American smartphone market more than a decade later. As those world-changing devices made their way into the hands of millions of curious people, another mobile gadget quietly rose to the top of its market. Some disagreement exists over whether 2007 or 2008 was the first year that laptops outsold desktops in the general market, but 2008 was the first year that American employers bought more laptops than desktops.