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Being first is irrelevant when it comes to being mainstream. Apple's iPod was not the first mobile digital music player, nor was the iPhone the first smartphone
by saycheese 10y ago
Being first is irrelevant when it comes to being mainstream. Apple's iPod was not the first mobile digital music player, nor was the iPhone the first smartphone.
Being novel also isn't that important. For example, Apple's white earphones played a major role in getting the public to see that their devices were mainstream, but there was nothing truly novel about them.
- ethbro 10y agoBeing first may be irrelevant, but if you're never first then someone else has to come up with the tech first. I believe parent comments are mostly making the point that we still have another generation before Apple would have anything sufficiently advanced enough that they could do their post-90s "polish and package" magic.
- saycheese 10y ago"Polish" is irrelevant as it relates to realism - what matters is people believe it adds value realitive to the cost to them, which includes the social impact it has on them.
- hyperpallium 10y agoYou're right in general, but iPhone was the first touchscreen smartphone. Today, (almost) all smartphones look like an iPhone. (Though Apple didn't invent the touchscreen.)
- saycheese 10y agoIBM Simon was the first phone with a touchscreen in 1992.
- ethbro 10y agoI'll just leave this here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Simon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Simon
- MagnumOpus 10y agoBeyond what the others are saying about IBM's Simon, Apple wasn't even the first with a capacitive touchscreen - they did it a year after the LG Prada...