I, for one, found the click-wheel to be an innovation strong enough to switch from other MP3 players. I have, and had at the time of the iPhone release, a larg

I, for one, found the click-wheel to be an innovation strong enough to switch from other MP3 players. I have, and had at the time of the iPhone release, a large music collection, thanks to my interest in jam bands that allow for legal downloads of recordings from their concerts. I tried many mp3 players, both before and after the release of the iPod. None matched the ease or speed of navigation provided by the iPod. There's a reason that, after the release of the iPod, no other MP3 player had more than a tiny sliver of market share. The click wheel was an innovation. Yes, they patented it, so nobody could mimic it. But to claim that it was not an innovation is ignoring its functionality and novelty at the time it was released.