Re: Shiny, shiny
About the only thing I can think of that Apple actually invented from scratch that I use is CUPS on *NIX systems. Which works well and was light years beyond its predecessor. Many other things they really didn't innovate, but instead built on others' inventions or outright ripped off. (not that Microsoft or Android can't be said to have done the same) I am truly glad that Apple has survived and thrived and offers something different, even if it's usually not my thing.
I suppose you could argue that Apple made the tablet and current format of the smartphone ubiquitous, but they were by no means the first to invent them. And they brought the personal .mp3 player to the masses, but again, weren't the first. But to be fair, I'm not a fanboi and I may be speaking with some ignorance, despite having been a technophile for decades.
Homage should be paid to Apple, but perhaps more so to the likes of Xerox and Commodore, as well as Nokia, Palm, and Blackberry. (and Microsoft) And let's not forget IBM. (although on some level I think the world would be a better place if we were all using Amiga-format instead of PCs) And Microsoft's Kinect is also a real innovation. You could argue that MS's Active Directory is innovative, but you'd be forgetting Novell Netware in doing so. And the ARM processor has some spiritual heritage to MOStek as well as Digital's PDP series. And ARPANET deserves more than a little mention. I could think of probably 50 more without trying too hard.
All of these shaped the face of modern computing, for better and worse. Unfortunately it might be said that aggressive and cutthroat marketing tactics and competition shaped what we're doing now as much as true innovation ever did, and the same could probably be said of life on this planet as we know it.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
