Steve Jobs was great and all but he was no Thomas Edison. He didn't invent a lot of what he's famous for and that is perfectly fine. He was an innovator...not an inventor. He brought great ideas and products to the world. His devices were of high quality but they fall under the categories of:
- MP3 player
- Smartphone
- Personal computer
- iPad - a small laptop computer without a keyboard and a cover
- Server
The originals of these categories are the inventions. If I go take a brush and put a long handle on it, I did not just invent the broom.
In the PC world, he sold proprietary, restrictive, and overpriced machines with an uncompromising attitude. He never gave Apple much more that 10% market share and led the company to bankruptcy in the 90's only to be bailed out by Bill Gates. The iPhone, iPod, and iPad were game changers for sure. They saved the company. It won't be long before the iPhone will go the way of the minuscule niche market like their computers.
That said, Jobs may be this generation's Walt Disney. He'll be remembered as a footnote in history but he is no Edison. Here we are, 130 years after Edison created the electricity system which made the world without electricity unimaginable. Look ahead 130 years from now and you will find that our successors will not be talking about the iPhone or iPad in quite the same way.
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