Microsoft's tablets were PCs. The iPad is a giant iPhone. Similar form factor, far from the same product category. The iPad is best compared to a console gamin

Microsoft's tablets were PCs. The iPad is a giant iPhone. Similar form factor, far from the same product category. The iPad is best compared to a console gaming system: an entertainment appliance with a curated application library. Marrying that to the tablet form factor was the winning insight. "Invention" is probably a better term than "clairvoyance" for what Apple does. They aren't so much predicting the future as creating it.