It seems the article is really about top inventors of consumer hardware products and the rare case of a company environment that attracts them and allows them t

It seems the article is really about top inventors of consumer hardware products and the rare case of a company environment that attracts them and allows them to flourish. At any given time in history there are very few top inventors or really nice products in such a circumstance worldwide. Current examples I can think of are some companies in Northern Europe, Germany, and the US. There's not a huge number making really excellent things, but this is how it always has been. As far as the specific example, much of Apple's current fame comes from the value added by Jonathan Ives, a British citizen who is only temporarily in the US because of his job, and who has said he doesn't really like living in the US. Much other value comes from the NeXT design, both the Mach flavor of Unix which someone else invented and wasn't paid for and Apple monetized, ObjectiveC which someone else invented and wasn't paid for and Apple monetized, and the NextStep/Cocoa libraries which NeXT did invent and was paid for and which Apple monetized.