kaiso:

Apple doesn't create markets. It didn't create the MP3 player, or the music phone, or the internet device, or the wireless router, or the laptop, or the music download, or the personal computer, or the.... It just does everything so much better that it extends the market vastly - to everyone who can't be arsed to deal with the unusability of everyone else's attempts at the market.

I disagree. Apple definitely creates markets, or at least extends existing markets tremendously. Their strength is marketing, packaging existing function in a form that is appealing to image-conscious consumers.

I have a Sprint Mogul, which is a follow-up to Sprint's PPC-6700 I had before. So, for the past 4 years, I've had a touchscreen device with full GPS, voice directions, much faster Internet than the iPhone, music, access to thousands of applications, and many more capabilities (some of which still don't exist in the iPhone). I even considered the iPhone, but it simply can't do all the things I'm used to being able to do with my phone. However, it does not have an Apple logo on it, so having it doesn't make me original and unique, like millions of blind and subservient Apple devotees.