It's nothing to do with the forum:
Not really... Windows 7 was optimised massively for tablets and that was released way before the iPad. Rumors around at around that time were that windows 8 was going to be even more tablet optimised.
And what was the first mobile of the modern OS to be used on a Tablet? That would be Android... With tablets announced and demonstrated a month before the iPad was announced (in fact before the conference was even announced)...
As I said Apple are masters of "just in time" technology. Getting there just after the market opens up with their version, then the marketing and knowledge that there are several million guarenteed sales (to certain apple faithful who will buy almost anything they make). That alongside a nicely smooth and generally user friendly product (even if it is missing features at first release) meant they got the dominant position at the start of the race. Subsequently though they will then (generally) be overtaken in market share by other companies as the product becomes more mainstream (read cheap) and budget brands start selling tons of products. There is still space for the premium products however (such as high end HTC's, Samsungs, Sonys and Apples).
I'm pretty sure there were no real bagless cyclone vacuum cleaners before the Dyson models, that was innovation.
Not many Apple products have the same level of innovation. There is innovation in making simpler more robust and more ergonomic designs, and also innovation in marketing, but not in the technology itself. Apple make solid designs that appeal to many, full stop.
[TW]Fox;20246470 said:Where was the innovation in an iPad? It's just a tablet - it's not really fundamentally different to the tablets before it. The difference is that its an Apple product - and Apple products are desireable. It took the tablet being produced by a company whose products people aspire to own to get people to buy them.
One thing you have pointed out is that windows is optimised for tablets, optimised being the key word. Not designed for. The whole OS is designed maintain for desktop use with mouse and keyboard. That association also had many draw backs such as CPU power, RAM and actual power usage. The iPad can last 10 hours, a windows based tablet would be impressive if it can do half of that.
I was watching an interview with jobs last night on YouTube, basically how they would identify what is the next big thing and do those projects. Each tech had it's own spring, summer, autumn and winter. They would get on the tech that has the best vectors for growth and push for those. His genius was to see it and most importantly apply it better than most. There may be others who has spotted the trend but they don't execute it the same.
I dont remember them getting this emotional when their own Father died..
I think its sad.
So yes, great business accumen but innovation...? Well no more than any other large company in the last few years.