When I did a lot of dual-platform mobile dev, the teams would always watch Google and Apple events.

The Apple ones were exciting, because they'd usually announce a bunch of OS and development-related stuff we could start using very soon.

The Google ones were kind of a bummer, because the (appropriate and justified) mood in the room was "well, this feature might be cool to use... in five years or so." The only people who got excited about them were the hardcore Android fans who weren't excited about dev-facing features, but because they'd always buy whatever new Pixel or whatever that was announced, ASAP.

> "well, this feature might be cool to use... in five years or so."

At which point they'll deprecate it within a year or 2 in favor of their flashy new thing that will replace it

WWDC and other Apple events justify more hype because they are market leaders in mobile. When you watch an Apple event you are often seeing things for the first time. Google Pixel is blatantly copying the Apple product portfolio, from custom chip designs to now Airpod Pro clones. Where would Google be with Pixel if Apple didn't exist? It is literally spun up division to copy the most valuable company in the world. We shame Huawei and these Chinese companies for copying, but look in our own backyard.

"Picasso had a saying -- 'good artists copy; great artists steal' -- and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas." -Steve Jobs

The question is: are these companies 'copying' or 'stealing'? Hopefully they can improve on things rather than just copying.

I carefully chose the word "copy" because I know this quote well. It's hard to define the difference between copy and steal but it's easy to see by example. You just feel it when you watch.

> Google Pixel is blatantly copying the Apple product portfolio, from custom chip designs to now Airpod Pro clones.

Google relentlessly copies every other company in the industry, and it's been going on for years now.

>You can look at Google’s entire portfolio of launches over the past decade, and trace nearly all of them to copying a competitor: Google+ (Facebook), Google Cloud (AWS), Google Home (Amazon Echo), Allo (WhatsApp), Android Instant Apps (Facebook, WeChat), Google Assistant (Apple/Siri), and on and on and on. They are stuck in me-too mode and have been for years. They simply don’t have innovation in their DNA any more. And it’s because their eyes are fixed on their competitors, not their customers.

https://steve-yegge.medium.com/why-i-left-google-to-join-gra...

You can do the same exercise for Apple and find loads of copying, but Apple fans will say the Apple feature or product somehow wasn't a copy. Even in your own list, there are Apple copies, like HomePod and App Clips. Earin preceeded Airpods (along with a long line of bluetooth earpieces).

Apple has copied tons of features from Android, Chrome, and Maps over the years, mostly ignored, but as soon as Android gets a feature iOS had, Apple fanboys make a huge deal over it. Apple's been playing this game for decades, all the way back to the era of constantly accusing Microsoft of copying "Redmond, start your copiers!"

Apple literally stole Spotify's entire business model for Apple Music, and then turned around and used their platform ownership to punish them. Apple Fitness copied Fitbit and Peleton. Apple TV+ basically followed everyone else getting into streaming. Hell, it appeared at one point, they were even going to copy Tesla by making an EV.

All major tech companies have a 'copy, acquire, kill' strategy for competition. Apple is not different.

The funny thing is the best way to degoogle is to use Hawaii phones.