"If anything subsequent iterations of smartphones have shown how nearly perfectly correct Apple got their first device - and not just form, but function."
What a load of crap. The first iPhone couldn't even run apps, you just had to make do with what was bundled with it. Cut and paste in the UI came years later (and long after the competition). The really big deal about the first iPhone was that Saint Jobs had the arrogance and market power to mandate that at least one cellular carrier in each market was signed up to providing an affordable data package. The ability to do internet-related stuff on your phone without needing to take a second mortgage to pay for the data was what transformed the market, not the perfection (or otherwise) of any particular manufacturer's devices.
In other words, you could say it was Steve Jobs ability to get away with acting like an arsehole to business partners which made this all possible, not the iPhone itself. And he would probably be pleased about that.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
