Being first may be irrelevant, but if you're never first then someone else has to come up with the tech first.
I believe parent comments are mostly making the point that we still have another generation before Apple would have anything sufficiently advanced enough that they could do their post-90s "polish and package" magic.
"Polish" is irrelevant as it relates to realism - what matters is people believe it adds value realitive to the cost to them, which includes the social impact it has on them.
Re:Apple is betting on augmented reality
by hyperpallium on Monday March 20, 2017 @09:51AM
(#13914177)
You're right in general, but iPhone was the first touchscreen smartphone. Today, (almost) all smartphones look like an iPhone. (Though Apple didn't invent the touchscreen.)
Re:Apple is betting on augmented reality
by MagnumOpus on Monday March 20, 2017 @11:41AM
(#13915101)
Beyond what the others are saying about IBM's Simon, Apple wasn't even the first with a capacitive touchscreen - they did it a year after the LG Prada...
I'll just leave this here.
Being novel also isn't that important. For example, Apple's white earphones played a major role in getting the public to see that their devices were mainstream, but there was nothing truly novel about them.