You're vastly underselling the value of mobile internet in 2002 (and through the period up until the iPhone launch in 2007). Email was (and still is) the kille

You're vastly underselling the value of mobile internet in 2002 (and through the period up until the iPhone launch in 2007). Email was (and still is) the killer app, and it worked great. Instant messaging worked great - and at the time, Maxis (where I worked) ran on AOL IM the way people use Slack now. Danger's web browser actually worked through a proxy that chopped up pages and served them in a reduced format, which was effective in 2002 but was a liability by 2007. You could even edit your contacts online with full syncing! The Hiptop was popular and "quality of the integration" was better than anything Apple had produced right up until the iPhone. However, by 2007 the data networks had gotten fast enough that the Hiptop's web browser was feeling a bit antiquated, and navigating web pages with a scroll wheel was cumbersome. The capacitive touchscreen was a major leapfrog, and coming up with all the UI behaviors to leverage that was a major feat - Apple deserves a lot of credit! But maybe not quite as much credit as the OP suggests.